Flood & Coastal Erosion Risk
Management
Stakeholder update – June 2013
Cockermouth’s £4.4 million flood scheme, officially opened on the 11 June. Part of defences
included a 120 metre self-closing barrier, which only rises when the river is in flood. The scheme also
includes stretches of glass panels, raised embankments and flood gates. The Government
contributed £3.3 million with £1.1 million worth of partnership funding contributions provided by
residents and businesses, local councils and community groups. The images show the barriers at
rest and deployed. Thanks to Sara Vaughan of UK flood Barriers for supplying the images.
Content
1
Get Ready for Climate Change - National Adaptation
Programme
2 Coastal Pathfinder – “How to Guide”
3 Trade Opportunities
4 Partnership Funding Review
5 Flood Defences: Small is Beautiful
6 Insurance Announcement – End of the Beginning...
7 New E-learning Package Enables Better Flood Response
Decisions
8 Retrospect Magazine: Learning from 12/13 FCRM Post
Project Appraisals Programme
9 Flood Risk Management Plan (FRMP) – Publication of the
Consultation Summary Report and Briefing
10 Publication of Catchment Flood Management Plan Annual
Report 2012
1
Get Ready for Climate Change - National Adaptation Programme
The climate is changing and in the future severe weather events may become more frequent
and intense. This could lead to significant disruption to the economy, damage to buildings and
even loss of life. It is important that we take action now to make sure that we are resilient both
now and in the future.
On 1 July, the Government published the first National Adaptation Programme in line with a
commitment in the Climate Change Act 2008. The Programme responds to the evidence about
future climate impacts presented in the UK Climate Change Risk Assessment, published in
January 2012, and sets out government’s objectives, policies and proposals for addressing the
risks identified. The programme was developed in close collaboration with a wider range of
stakeholders. It sets out clear actions that businesses, government, councils and communities
are taking to deal with the urgent climate change risks and prepare for the future. It sets out
clear examples of how businesses, civil society organisations, local government and academia
can tackle climate threats and take advantage of new opportunities.
The National Adaptation Programme is structured around particular themes:
 Built Environment: actions to address future flood risk, reduced water availability, high summer


temperatures;
Infrastructure: how the energy, water and transport sectors are working to address climate risks;
Healthy and Resilient Communities: actions to deal with health risks from heat, flooding, increased
exposure to ground-level ozone and other air pollutants including aeroallergens, food and vector-borne
diseases, sunlight/UV, chemical and biological contamination (such as mould);
 Agriculture and Forestry: work to implement practical soil, water and nutrient
management measures on farms to help increase the resilience to climate impacts,
including promotion of innovation and technology through the Agri-tech strategy and
embedding opportunities to address climate risks through the Rural Development
Programme for England
 Natural Environment: how England’s wildlife and the rate of changes to our natural environment from a
changing climate are being managed
 Business: how risks to business continuity and growth can be managed and how the
opportunities presented from a changing climate can be maximised.
 Local Government describes the cross cutting role council’s play in increasing the
resilience of local places, communities and businesses.
The Environment Agency’s Climate Ready Support Service will be helping deliver a number of
actions from the National Adaptation Programme, working closely with front line delivery agents.
It will aid delivery in the following ways:
 Building active partnerships with national partners and sector specialists in order to
identify user needs, develop materials and communicate through existing channels.
 Focus on working with key 'catalysts', such as the professional bodies, who are best
placed to 'carry' the message by providing them with targeted support, training and
tools.
 Providing specialist local advice, where required, for locally-applied adaptation
knowledge, with the ability to help share and disseminate best practice, case studies
and learning.
 Experienced and expert advice from a practitioner perspective on using climate change
information in impacts assessment and decision-making, and what we need from
climate models.
 Making the connections between existing initiatives (such as flood risk) and a broader
adaptation remit.
 Facilitating and enabling capacity building, shared learning and networking between
those working on adaptation.
Defra has also published its strategy for the second round of the Adaptation Reporting Power.
Government will invite organisations to report on the risks they face from climate change and the
actions they are taking to deal with the risks. Government will be providing on the ground
delivery of advice on developing resilience through the Environment Agency’s ‘Climate Ready
Support Service’.
The National Adaptation Programme report is available at
https://www.gov.uk/government/policies/adapting-to-climate-change
2
Coastal Pathfinder – “How to Guide”
"In 2011, Defra proposed funding a “how to” guide on planning approaches which are specific to
coastal change adaptation. Led by a local authority, the project would collate lessons from the
national Coastal Change Pathfinder (CCP) in a format that could be useful for all coastal local
authorities affected by coastal change in different epochs. Specifically, the guide would draw on
the combined experiences of coastal authorities to introduce a mechanism for establishing
Coastal Change Management Areas (CCMAs), thus forming the basis for consistent adaptation
planning at the national level.
As the project lead, East Riding of Yorkshire Council worked closely with Defra and coastal local
authorities to develop an initial project brief. Halcrow Group Limited, a CH2M Hill company,
subsequently secured the project contract, and is currently inviting comments on its draft
guidance. As the 'how to' guide is aimed at coastal managers, engineers, planners and
professionals involved in coastal change management, the draft has been circulated for
comment to key stakeholders including Coastal Groups (via e-mails to the chairpersons),
Coastal Change Pathfinder local authorities, and the Environment Agency. Other organisations
seeking to make comments on the draft guidance are advised to contact Halcrow's coastal
scientist, Alan Frampton: Alan.Frampton@ch2m.com / 01392 354 666.
All comments on the draft guidance must be submitted via e-mail to Alan Frampton, by no later
than 12 noon on Monday, 15th July 2013. Specific questions about the project or the current
consultation should be directed to Halcrow, or East Riding of Yorkshire Council (Jennifer Kippax,
Coastal Officer: jennifer.kippax@eastriding.gov.uk / 01482 391728).
Once the consultation has ended, Halcrow will use the feedback to finalise the guidance, which
will in turn enable Defra and East Riding of Yorkshire Council to finalise product dissemination
and hosting arrangements."
3
Trade Opportunities
The Minister for Environment, Water and Rural Affairs, Richard Benyon, will lead two
international water trade missions in 2013 as part of work to encourage innovation and
international trading opportunities of the UK’s skills, knowledge and products in relation to water.
The visits will be to:
 Brazil (Sao Paulo and Belo Horizonte) 30 September – 4 October
 China (Beijing and Chongqing, a sustainable city) 2 - 9 December
 The delegation will visit the Water Expo China; a major water business exhibition
A delegation of industry representatives will attend with the Minister and UK Trade and Industry
(UKTI) will shortly be advertising for companies to express an interest in being involved. These
visits will be invaluable opportunities to build business contacts in High Value Opportunity
countries as part of UK ministerial trade missions.
If you would like further information or to express an interest, please contact Darren ForbesBatey in UK Trade and Industry at Darren.Forbes-Batey@ukti.gsi.gov.uk
NB - SMEs may be able to apply for grants from UK Trade and Industry to help cover the cost.
You may also wish to note that UK Trade and Industry have campaigns running in other priority
markets where there are water opportunities, including Thailand, USA, Europe Bulgaria, India
and the Middle East.’
4
Partnership Funding Review
The way that Government funding is allocated to flood and coastal erosion risk management
projects has changed since the introduction of the Partnership Funding approach in 2011. Defra
has commissioned an independent evaluation (being conducted by JBA Consulting, with SQW
and Haverlea Consulting) to understand the impact of the funding system and any issues with
the implementation of the process experienced to date.
You can find out more about partnership funding online. The outcome of the evaluation will be
published by the end of the year.
5
Flood Defences: Small is Beautiful
A changing climate and the increasing prevalence of
surface water flooding means we can no longer rely
only on large defences to protect people and
property. New small-scale technologies can be
applied to buildings to manage surface water Flood
doors, flood guards and perimeter barriers are
becoming a crucial tool to counter flooding caused by
intense rainfall, however not enough people or
organisations are aware of these technologies and
how to use them. They can be used in addition to
large scale defences, or where defences are
unaffordable.
The Research designed new guidance on how to use
these measures aimed at local authorities, property
owners, and flood risk professionals in England. A
six step process guides users on how to implement
new technologies from surveying, through to design
and maintenance.
Dr Iain White said “Based on the latest research and
working with industry partners, our guidance
simplifies the process and shares best practice. We
hope this guidance achieves the longer term goal of
improving the route to market for innovative
technology to prevent flooding at the building scale.”
The research project (SMARTeST) was collaboration
between The University of Manchester, The Building
Research Establishment and Manchester
Metropolitan University.
http://www.sed.manchester.ac.uk/research/cure/research/in
dex.htm#smartest
6
Insurance Announcement – End of the Beginning...
Ministers announced an initial agreement between Government and the Association of British
Insurers on the 27th June to ensure people living in the most flood prone areas will be able to
access affordable flood insurance (https://www.gov.uk/government/news/flood-insurance-
agreement-reached). The industry’s proposal – called Flood Re – would protect many of those
most at risk by effectively placing a limit on flood insurance premiums.
The Government is now seeking powers to address the future availability and affordability of
flood insurance through the Water Bill. We want to hear views from as wide a range of interested
parties as possible on the Government’s preferred approach. Further information can be found
on the Defra website: https://consult.defra.gov.uk/flooding/floodinsurance’
7
New E-learning Package Enables Better Flood Response Decisions
As part of the Joint Responder Training
Programme, the Flood Forecasting Centre (FFC)
has been working closely with the Environment
Agency and DEFRA’s Capacity Building
programme to develop a new training module for
the Flood Guidance Statement called ‘Making
Better Decisions with the Flood Guidance
Statement’. The primary aim of the module is to
develop a shared understanding across all first
responder agencies of the Flood Guidance
Statement and what we mean by flood risk.
Defra has already delivered a series of nationwide
workshops supported by e-learning packages for
lead local flood authorities (LLFAs), Environment
Agency/Natural Resources Wales staff and others
involved in flood response. This package builds on
that work by including an ‘interactive impact
scenario’. This is based on the FFC’s popular
“Impact Game” that requires users to decide
whether they think the impact level is minimal,
minor, significant or severe when presented with descriptions of flooding.
This innovative approach to increase the level of interactivity will enhance the learners
experience and understanding as well as providing the FFC with feedback from users.
Information on customer perception of flood impacts is particularly important to the FFC to help
benchmark how their flood forecasts and guidance are aligned to the initiation of emergency
plans.
At the end of the training users will understand what the Flood Guidance Statement is all about,
why it’s so important that we have a shared understanding of it and flood risk, and be able to
include flood impact when they’re analysing flood risk.
The e-learning module can be accessed as follows:
1. Click http://learning.environment-agency.gov.uk/capacitybuilding/
2. Scroll down to the field 'Search by title' and enter the word ‘making’
3. Click 'Apply'
4. Select the module title link (Making better decisions with the Flood Guidance
Statement) that appears below
5. Click 'launch' from the bottom of the module summary that appears to the right
6. Click 'Send'
Further details on the wider Joint Responder Training Programme will be rolled out to LRFs
through the year by the Environment Agency.
For further information please contact Andy Lane at andrew.lane@environment-agency.gov.uk
8
Retrospect Magazine: Learning from 12/13 FCRM Post Project
Appraisals Programme
Retrospect Magazine highlights the successes and key learning points from 12/13 FCRM Post
Project Appraisals Programme.
Twenty four projects were reviewed from across the country including fluvial, tidal, coastal and
mechanical/electrical schemes. A number of these projects have included habitat and wetland
creation. Sharing and embedding lessons learnt is one of the key themes of the Environment
Agency’s efficiency agenda and this magazine is a step in that direction.
For further details, please contact Ann.Jacob@environemnt-agency.gov.uk
9
Flood Risk Management Plan (FRMP) – Publication of the
Consultation Summary Report and Briefing
Defra, Welsh Government, the Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales consulted on
the approach to developing Flood Risk Management Plans in October 2012. We the feedback
has been considered received and the Environment Agency has now published a summary
report of the consultation responses:
https://consult.environment-agency.gov.uk/portal/ho/flood/plans/approach.
The Consultation Summary Report outlines the views received and drawing conclusions from to
inform the proposals for the approach to developing FRMPs. Further guidance on the proposed
approach will be shared over the next few months.
For more information on the Flood Risk Regulation and Flood Risk Management Planning
please see the Environment Agency Website at the following link http://www.environmentagency.gov.uk/research/planning/135520.aspx or send any question or queries you may have to
FRMPConsultation@environment-agency.gov.uk.
Contact Sue Reed on 07769670867 or email sue.reed@environment-agency.gov.uk.’
1
0
Publication of Catchment Flood Management Plan Annual Report
2012
The Environment Agency has now published its second Catchment Flood Management Plan
(CFMP) Annual Report. It covers the period from 1st April 2011 to 31st March 2012 and also
takes a forward look to Flood Risk Management Plans.
Progress is summarised for each of the seven types of CFMP actions and case studies provide
examples of work with partners and local communities that has helped to deliver them.
Highlights in the report include the following:
 over 500 actions have been completed this reporting year


16% of actions in England are now complete
Half of the remaining actions are in progress
Monitoring the Catchment Flood Management Plan progress helps the Environment Agency
prepare to deliver Flood Risk Management Plans (FRMPs) and meet the requirements of the
Flood Risk Regulations. A copy of the report can be downloaded from http://www.environmentagency.gov.uk/research/planning/33586.aspx