Roles and responsibilities

Who does what?

A number of organisations work together in Scotland to mitigate flood risk. SEPA's website outlines the roles and responsibilites of these organisations. Please visit http://www.sepa.org.uk/flooding/flooding_who_does_what.aspx

Key deadlines set out in the FRM (Scotland) Act

Source: Scottish Government (2010) Flood Risk Management (Scotland) Act - Annual Report to Parliament. ISBN: 978-0-7559-8312-4 (Web only)

Date

Milestone

Lead

2009

Transpose EC Floods Directive

Scottish Government

Identify units of management for district flood risk management plans and the competent authority

Scottish Government

2011

Issue Ministerial guidance on managing flooding in a sustainable way

Scottish Government

Issue Ministerial guidance on assessing impacts to society, the economy, the environment and cultural heritage

Scottish Government

Produce an assessment of flood risks across Scotland and identify areas most vulnerable to flooding

SEPA

2013

Publish maps of flooding extents and depths and associated impacts

SEPA

Publish an assessment of where changes to land management could help reduce flood risk

SEPA

Publish a statement on steps to engage with the public and stakeholders when preparing flood risk management plans

SEPA

2015

Publish draft district flood risk management plans setting out objectives and measures to address flood risks across Scotland

SEPA

Publish draft local flood risk management plans

Local authorities

Publish final district flood risk management plans

SEPA

Publish final local flood risk management plans

SEPA

2016

Publish implementation plans for delivering all measures set out in local flood risk management plans

Local authorities

2021

Cycle repeated and second set of plans published. Plans and assessments reviewed and published every 6 years thereafter.

Who else is involved?

Scottish Advisory & Implementation Forum for Flooding (SAIFF)

The Scottish Advisory and Implementation Forum on Flooding (SAIFF) was established to support the implementation of the Act and the development of accompanying legislation and policies. SAIFF comprises representatives from the government, government agencies, local authorities and other stakeholders and aims to:

Support implementation of the Act by advising the government on the preparation of a coordinated suite of subordinate legislation and government policies;
Provide a basis for coordinated/partnership working between all parties involved in the implementation of the Act;
Support implementation of the Act through the preparation of agreed technical guidance and procedures that will be commonly adopted by all relevant parties;
Ensure clear opportunities for ongoing stakeholder engagement.

Three core working groups will initially take forward the work of SAIFF:

The work of the groups will be overseen by a control board chaired by the Scottish Government with membership from organisations responsible for managing flood risk in Scotland, including SEPA, local authorities, Scottish Water and COSLA.

Flood Risk Advisory Groups

Flood Risk Advisory Groups will be set up by SEPA to advise SEPA and Local Authorities on flood risk assessment, maps and plans.