Roles and responsibilities

Scottish Government

• National Policy and Guidance on Flood Prevention and Flood Warning.
• Provision of resources to enable authorities to address flood prevention and mitigation.
• The Town and Country Planning System, national planning policy and advice on flooding.
• Planning applications where flooding is an issue which come before the Scottish Ministers.

Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA)

• Discretionary powers for the provision of Flood Warning for Scotland.
• Operation of formal flood warning schemes in partnership with the Local Authorities and the Police.
• Operation of Floodline including provision of 24 hour Floodwatch cover for all of Scotland by monitoring of data from river levels, rainfall, tide predictions and weather forecasts.
• Advice to Local Authorities on flood risk for planning purposes.
• Advice to Local Authorities on flood prevention.
• Provision of information in response to public queries on flood risk areas and properties.

Scottish Local Authorities (Planning authority / Road authority)

• Establishment of Flood Liaison Appraisal Groups to provide practical guidance and information on flood risk and its implications for development to the Local Authority.

• Assessment of watercourses in non agricultural areas for conditions likely to pose a flood risk.
• Maintenance of watercourses.
• Production of biennial reports.

Other responsibilities in respect of flood risk management:

• Responsible for planning control.
• Provision and maintenance of flood prevention and defence schemes under the 1961 and 1997 Acts.
• Work with the Police, Fire and Rescue services in response to severe flooding.
• Ensure road gullies are operational.
• Deal with road closures (except trunk roads).
• Coordination of reception centres for people evacuated from their homes and arrange temporary accommodation if appropriate.
• Coordination of the aftermath of floods.

Scottish Water Authority

• Management of the discharge of surface water that enters their drainage systems.
• Working in partnership with the local authority and emergency services to alleviate any flooding of foul sewers and the impact of this flooding.
• Maintaining water supply and drainage infrastructure.
• Repairing flood damaged mains and deal with any flooding caused by bursts.
• Managing the storage and release of flood water supply reservoirs.
• Liaison with SEPA, local authorities and the emergency services during a flood event.

Flooding Issues Advisory Committee

The Flooding Issues Advisory Committee (FIAC) has been established by the Scottish Government to:

• advise the Scottish Government on the implementation of the National Flooding Framework;
• continue the work started by the National Technical Advisory Group (NTAG) on flooding issues on the producing guidance for local authorities to bring forward flood prevention schemes; and
• advise on the work on sustainable flood management, including a pilot project and consultation.

In October 2002 an Ad Hoc Committee of Ministers, chaired by the Deputy First Minister, was set up to consider the arrangements for addressing flood risk and how advice and support is provided to those at risk from, and affected by, flooding. In February 2003 Cabinet agreed a Statement of Commitments and an action plan in the form of the National Flooding Framework. The National Flooding Framework aims to address the problems of flooding through four areas of action, namely, Awareness, Avoidance, Alleviation, and Assistance. The Ad Hoc Committee also recommended that a National Technical Advisory Group (NTAG) on Flooding Issues be set up to provide technical advice to local authorities and other parties on flood prevention schemes. NTAG's lifespan ended in September 2004 and FIAC has been set up to replace it.

Details of the Committee's membership, meetings, agendas and papers are available by clicking on the link above.