National Flood Resilience Strategy

Current Arrangements

This strategy builds on flood resilience arrangements which are currently in place.

Flood Risk Management Planning process

The current Flood Risk Management Planning process^[4] provides the framework for responsible authorities to work together to reduce overall flood risk. For more than 15 years, Scottish Government has supported this with funding of £42m per year, and an additional £150m over the course of this parliament. We have also provided £11.7 million of capital funding to support coastal change adaptation for the four-year period 2022-23 to 2025-26.

The Flood Risk Management Planning process introduced in 2009 has enabled SEPA, local authorities, Scottish Water and others to work together to deliver actions to increase our flood resilience. New flood protection schemes have been delivered for communities across Scotland such as those completed in recent years in Kirkwall, New Cumnock, Smithton and Culloden and Stonehaven and those currently under construction in Hawick, Campbeltown and Millport. Other actions taken forward under the Flood Risk Management Plans include improvements to drainage infrastructure and advancements in flood mapping and flood forecasting and warning.

Scottish National Adaptation Plan 3

The Flood Resilience Strategy is a key component of The Scottish National Adaptation Plan 2024-2029, Actions today, for a climate resilient future (SNAP3)^[5].

SNAP3, which was published in September 2024, sets out more than 200 actions that will be delivered over the next five years to make Scotland more climate resilient. While broader than flooding, it recognises flooding as our costliest adaptation challenge and includes objectives on community resilience, development planning and nature-based solutions aligned with this strategy.

National Planning Framework 4

Scotland’s Fourth National Planning Framework^[6], published in 2023, sets out a comprehensive set of national planning policies. It recognises the crucial role that planning has in creating communities that are resilient and adapted to climate change impacts. In particular:

• Policy 10 sets out national planning policy on protecting coastal communities and assets and supporting resilience to the impacts of climate change.
• Policy 20 sets out national planning policy on protecting and enhancing blue and green infrastructure and their networks.
• Policy 22 sets out national planning policy on strengthening resilience to flooding by promoting avoidance as a first principle and reducing the vulnerability of existing and future development to flooding.

Scotland’s National Marine Plan^[7]

General Policy 8 in Scotland’s National Marine plan, published in 2015, sets out that developments and activities in the marine environment should be resilient to coastal change and flooding, and not have unacceptable adverse impact on coastal processes or contribute to coastal flooding.

Scotland’s National Marine Plan 2, currently in development and scheduled for adoption in Summer 2027, will set out specific objectives and associated policies relating to climate change mitigation and adaptation, and will include an updated monitoring and evaluation framework to better support adaptive management.

Regional Marine Plans are also under development in the Orkney, Shetland and Clyde marine regions, and will set out locally-specific planning policies once adopted. These will support coastal community decision-making to deliver multiple local-scale benefits, including adaptation to, and mitigation of, coastal erosion and flood risk.

SEPA’s Flood Warning Development Framework 2022-28

SNAP3 refers to flooding as Scotland’s costliest climate hazard. It identifies the flood forecasting and warning services provided by SEPA in collaboration with the Met Office and Floodline as being key to building greater community resilience.

SEPA’s Flood Warning Development Framework 2022-28^[8] supports the SNAP3 Community Resilience Objective (C3). SNAP3 sets out how SEPA will maintain and improve Scotland’s flood forecasting and warning through these principal products and services.

• Scottish Flood Forecast
• Flood Guidance
• Floodline
• Improved multi-hazard warning
• Surface water flood forecasting

Scottish Biodiversity Strategy to 2045 and Delivery Plan 2024-2030

SNAP3 sets out an objective for nature-based solutions (NbS) to be protected and enhanced to support water resilient and nature-rich places. Given the ‘twin crises’ of climate change and nature loss, the Scottish National Adaptation Plan is closely aligned with the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy (SBS) and Delivery Plan 2024-2030.

The SBS sets out a clear ambition for Scotland to be nature positive with restored and regenerated biodiversity across both land and sea by 2045, and the Delivery Plan 2024-30 includes actions to enhance Scotland’s urban green and blue infrastructure which will support flood resilience.

Responsibility for managing flood risk

The roles and responsibilities for managing flood risk and responding to flood events are set out below.

Stakeholder: Property and business owners

• manage their own flood risk and protect their family, property or business.

Stakeholder: SEPA - Scotland’s flood forecasting and warning, and strategic flood risk management authority.

• provides warnings to the public and emergency responders when flooding is likely.
• produces Scotland’s Flood Risk Management Plans.
• provides flood risk advice to Planning Authorities.

Stakeholder: Local authorities

• produce Local Flood Risk Management Plans which set out how actions in the SEPA plans will be implemented.
• implement and maintain flood protection schemes.
• inspect, clear and repair watercourses and gullies on public highways.
• coordinate emergency response within their own functions e.g. housing, etc. working with other key responders to support local communities.
• hold particular responsibilities in respect of council owned properties.
• as planning authorities, responsible for development planning and management including identifying where flood risk may be a key consideration.

Stakeholder: Scottish Water

• assesses the risk of flooding from public surface water and combined sewers that results from higher than usual rainfall.
• operates public foul, surface water and combined sewers and the public sewer network.
• works with local authorities and SEPA to look for ways to reduce risks through its capital investment programme.

Stakeholder: The Scottish Government

• oversees the implementation of the Flood Risk Management (Scotland) Act 2009 including setting the policy framework for flood management and approving the objectives and actions set out in the Flood Risk Management Plans.