National Flood Resilience Strategy

Outcome Three: Processes

Flood resilience is blended into our places at all scales; a broader range of actions are being delivered by a broader range of delivery partners.

This outcome focuses on how our processes and how we work together can contribute to our flood resilience.

Creating flood resilient places will require improvements to existing processes, introducing new ways of working and seeking innovative approaches. It will need involvement from a wider range of partners and a new level of cross-sector collaboration to ensure we take all available opportunities to improve our flood resilience. It will also require exploration of new funding models, including how public and private finance can come together to create flood resilient places.

We want to ensure that the processes that are in place to improve flood resilience make the best use of resources we have available and where possible deliver multiple benefits for places and communities. We also want to make sure that everyone involved in flooding in Scotland has access to the information and support that they need to contribute.

What’s already happening

• We are witnessing an increase in collaboration on projects that can deliver multiple benefits for places that include components to increase flood resilience.
• Scottish Government is working across policy areas to understand where there are joint opportunities to deliver multiple benefits to help address the net zero, climate adaptation and nature crisis challenges. This includes looking at how flood resilience can be improved by taking a place-based approach and integrating flood resilience measures in development planning and management, peatland restoration, forestry management and agriculture.
• Scottish Government is developing policy for the future of the water industry in Scotland in response to the climate emergency. This includes exploring how we can bring together partners to improve the drainage of rainwater in our urban areas, provide more resilience to the increasing frequency of intense storm events and reduce flooding and environmental impacts.
• Scottish Water is working with partners across Scotland to improve drainage in our urban areas, to remove or reduce rainwater entering the sewer system to reduce sewer and surface water flood risk and reduce the impact of sewer spills to the environment. Examples of some of these collaborations are set out in this section.
• Property Flood Resilience actions focus on individual properties as opposed to wider resilience actions which benefit a larger number of properties. It is estimated that 81,000 properties in Scotland could specifically benefit from some sort of property flood resilience measures^[15]. Several local authorities are looking at supporting property flood resilience measures for householders in areas not covered by flood protection schemes. Property flood resilience measures can be very effective for low-level flooding and surface water flooding. For example Scottish Borders Council offers residents access to a discount scheme for flood protection products, Fife Council has a grants scheme and West Lothian Council is providing property flood resilience measures for properties at risk in Broxburn.
• Scottish Government is working with COSLA to understand the lessons learned from delivering cycle one Flood Protection Schemes^[16]. These lessons are being used to develop an improved governance model for cycle two schemes to ensure that resources are best used to deliver effective resilience actions for communities. This same group is also considering reform to the funding of flood resilience actions so that the most appropriate flood resilience actions for different local communities can be supported.
• Scottish Government is developing a Flood Recovery Framework to provide greater clarity and coherence around flood recovery responsibilities and support to recover from flooding. Given the increase in extreme weather events it will also set out the terms under which the Scottish Government will provide additional financial support to help communities and businesses return to normal or adapt to a more sustainable arrangement following a flooding event.
• A number of multi-organisational collaborations designed to improve local flood resilience and benefit communities are already underway across Scotland. These include the Metropolitan Glasgow Strategic Drainage Partnership which is transforming how the city region thinks about and manages rainfall to end uncontrolled flooding and improve water quality. It brings together local authorities, Scottish Water, SEPA and other partners to do this.

The two examples on the following pages highlight where new types of approaches are contributing to flood resilience.

Case Study: Water Resilient Dundee

The Water Resilient Dundee (WRD) partnership aims to jointly plan and sustainably manage rainwater in the City of Dundee to help respond to climate change now and for future generations. Scottish Water and Dundee City Council (DCC) recognise the need to develop new ways to manage intense rainfall and stormwater flooding to create future-proofed, flood-resilient communities.

The partnership builds on the collaborative work undertaken as part of the Tayside Integrated Catchment Study (ICS) and is in the process of developing an overall drainage strategy for the city, as well as more detailed community-based strategies and projects.

A project in Craigie Street is an example of where a community-led design project has transformed the area, providing environmental enhancements, which include the installation of a pocket park which features raingardens and tree planter to manage surface water runoff, as well as street furniture and a mural. Previously the area was drained by a traditional combined sewer network. The new features collect and store surface water before entering the sewers at a slower rate.

The Stobswell Forum community group partnered with Sustrans Scotland, Dundee City Council and Scottish Water, to deliver these improvements within an urbanised area. Raingardens have also been installed on both Balmore Street and Arthurstone Terrace. Such projects demonstrate that empowering communities can not only help deliver flood resilience but can also provide a safe environment, where people are proud to live.

The Douglas project is also an example of a where ongoing efforts to improve local infrastructure and enhance public open spaces has been integrated with flood resilient design. Douglas Community Spaces Group (SCIO SC043807) negotiated a 25-year lease for the site of a former primary school with the aim of creating a Community Park and growing space. After extensive consultation, funding from The Big Lottery (Our Place Fund), and in partnership with other organisations.

Completed in the summer of 2022, Douglas Community Park is a unique landscaped space which offers a variety of activities for the community, and where surface water runoff is stored in a series of basins and swales which are integrated into the landscape.

The long-term vision is that the success of the park will inspire other projects which will improve green spaces in the Douglas area by raising local aspirations, knowledge, skills, support, and resources.

Case Study: Climate Ready Edinburgh

The Climate Ready Edinburgh Plan is the city’s second adaptation plan. The plan has been developed by the Adaptation and Nature Partnership, which includes: The City of Edinburgh Council, Scottish Water, Scottish Environment Protection Agency, Edinburgh World Heritage, Historic Environment Scotland, NHS Lothian, NatureScot, Edinburgh Biodiversity Partnership, University of Edinburgh, Heriot-Watt University, Napier University, Edinburgh College and Sniffer.

The plan sets out actions the partnership has agreed are essential if we are to improve flood resilience and address the risks and impacts of a changing climate. Adaptation is central to the plan, with actions being progressed in ways that are fair, equitable and beneficial to people, communities and businesses, and helping to deliver a nature positive city. Nine priority themes and thirty-one objectives were identified, each having a set of actions for delivery between now and 2030. Objectives include delivering a long-term sustainable approach to water management across Edinburgh. The partnership has agreed to work to reduce flooding and deal with drought in the city through a co-ordinated approach to water management, helping to create well-managed water resilient places.

The Processes Actions in this strategy will build on this. Our aim is to work with partners to develop our processes to improve our flood resilience.

We will do this by:

• Setting up a Flood Advisory Service for Scotland
  One of the strongest messages to come from the stakeholder engagement sessions is that there is a need for a nationally coordinated service that supports delivery partners to take forward a broader range of flood resilience measures and to bring more consistency, efficiency and value into how large value flood actions like flood protection schemes are procured, designed and delivered. Such a service would also enable the sharing of advice, knowledge, skills and best practice between delivery partners.
  • This service will provide support and advice on building flood resilience to delivery partners and communities.
  • It will provide the governance framework and gateway process for progressing high value flood actions such as flood protection schemes.
• Providing support for a broader range of flood actions (including property level flood resilience):
  • We will review flooding budgets to assess how a proportion of flood funding can be directed to support a broader range of flood actions including smaller flood protection schemes and property level flood resilience where the evidence suggests they can provide a positive contribution to improving flood resilience.
  • We will seek new flood resilience partners across the public and private sector to better influence decisions where positive impacts for flood resilience can be achieved.
  • We will seek to influence policy across sectors who can contribute to creating flood resilient places.
  • We will explore how public and private finance can contribute to creating flood resilient places.
• Improving flood resilience through data:
  • We will work with partners to review how we can improve our presentation and use of data to drive flood resilient activity.
  • We will use data to raise community awareness of current and future flood exposure to inform decision making and support communities on their climate adaptation journeys.
  • We will develop new datasets to improve decision making.