Agenda item

Serious flooding from the River Thames causes severe hardship and suffering to many Surrey residents and damage to the County’s economy. Many are yet to fully recover from the last major flood event in 2013/14 and the risk of future flooding is significant.

The Environment Agency (EA) is responsible for flood risk management of the Thames and is developing a major flood alleviation scheme that would benefit the Surrey stretch of the Thames. It is called the River Thames Scheme (RTS) and is estimated to cost a total of £461m. The Government and other national bodies do not fully fund such flood alleviation schemes and therefore large contributions from other sources are required if schemes are to be successfully developed and built. There is currently a £213.6m funding gap for the RTS and the County Council is supporting work to secure further contributions.

Although there is a risk, at this stage, that the scheme may not receive the necessary funding, consents and Government approval to facilitate completion, it is proposed that the County Council contribute a total of £2.5m towards its development costs because of the importance of Thames flood protection to Surrey residents and businesses. The total cost of the development phase of the RTS is estimated at £55.7m and in the absence of further financial support from the Government at this stage, this “pump priming” investment by the County Council will help to get the scheme fully developed to a “shovel ready” state and this will increase its prospect of achieving full funding.

Further flood events of the scale of 2013/14 or greater would incur significant costs for the County Council in fulfilling its statutory duties and this risk would be reduced if the scheme is built.

[The decisions on this item can be called in by the Economic Prosperity, Environment and Highways Scrutiny Board]

RESOLVED:

That the Cabinet approved a total funding contribution of £2.5m from 2016-20 towards capital activities in the development phase of the River Thames Scheme.

Reasons for Decisions

Cabinet has previously indicated its support for the scheme by approving provision of £2.5m in the Medium Term Financial Plan in March 2016. A decision is now required for the contributions to be enacted.

Although there is no specific statutory responsibility for the County Council to contribute to flood alleviation schemes, in its capacity as Lead Local Flood Authority SCC has a duty to develop a strategy for flood risk management and to adopt a co-ordinated and co-operative approach with other Risk Management Authorities under sections 9 and 13 of the Flood and Water Management Act 2010 respectively. Delivery of the RTS is both part of SCC’s strategy for flood risk management and a key element of its co-ordinated approach with partners; therefore a contribution towards delivery of the RTS will enable the Council to fulfil these particular statutory responsibilities.

Flooding is a significant concern to the residents of Surrey. The River Thames Scheme would significantly reduce the risk and impact of flooding to a number of communities in the County and provision of this funding would assist with the development of the scheme and will show a strong commitment to supporting the EA and other partners in successfully delivering the scheme.  

This item was introduced by the Cabinet Member for Highways, Transport and Flooding who advised that the decision of whether to commit £2.5m in funding to the River Thames Scheme would be a difficult one for the Cabinet to make given the financial challenges faced by the Council. He did, however, stress that the scheme would significantly reduce the risk of flooding to thousands of homes and businesses in Surrey. The scheme also constituted a great return on investment as SCC would receive a significant return on investment arising from the amount of money committed by other organisations to developing flood defences in Surrey. The Cabinet Member further stated that the River Thames Funding Scheme was the culmination of significant collaboration between a number of organisations including district and borough councils, other local authority areas, the Environment Agency and Local Enterprise Partnerships. Given the number of partners involved, any delay by SCC in deciding whether to commit funding to the project could create a domino effect which would collapse the scheme. Cabinet was further informed that discussions were ongoing with local businesses, other public sector organisations and utility companies in regard to making a contribution towards the River Thames Scheme and make up some of the existing shortfall in funding for the project.

The Chairman of the Economic Prosperity, Environment and Highways Board was invited to speak on this item. He stressed the significant risk that Surrey faced as a result of flooding and asked Cabinet to agree the recommendations in the interests of residents and the economic prosperity of the County.

The Cabinet Member for Schools, Skills and Educational Achievement inquired as to whether there were any similar schemes being developed to improve flood defences on rivers and tributaries in Surrey. The Cabinet Member for Highways, Transport and Flooding responded by stating this scheme was a one-off in terms of the scope of the project but highlighted that there were a number of initiatives ongoing to bolster flood defences across the County.

The Leader of the Council announced that until SCC’s financial sustainability had been addressed, it would not be possible to commit funding to other flood defences of this nature as they fell outside of the Council’s statutory responsibilities.

RESOLVED:

That the Cabinet approved a total funding contribution of £2.5m from 2016-20 towards capital activities in the development phase of the River Thames Scheme.

Reasons for Decisions

Cabinet has previously indicated its support for the scheme by approving provision of £2.5m in the Medium Term Financial Plan in March 2016. A decision is now required for the contributions to be enacted.

Although there is no specific statutory responsibility for the County Council to contribute to flood alleviation schemes, in its capacity as Lead Local Flood Authority SCC has a duty to develop a strategy for flood risk management and to adopt a co-ordinated and co-operative approach with other Risk Management Authorities under sections 9 and 13 of the Flood and Water Management Act 2010 respectively. Delivery of the RTS is both part of SCC’s strategy for flood risk management and a key element of its co-ordinated approach with partners; therefore a contribution towards delivery of the RTS will enable the Council to fulfil these particular statutory responsibilities.

Flooding is a significant concern to the residents of Surrey. The River Thames Scheme would significantly reduce the risk and impact of flooding to a number of communities in the County and provision of this funding would assist with the development of the scheme and will show a strong commitment to supporting the EA and other partners in successfully delivering the scheme.