Agenda item

The Chief Executive advised that the following questions had been received:

 

1.     Question to Councillor Anne Dorrian from Councillor James Cantwell

 

Can the portfolio holder please update us on the Council’s efforts to support residents who are affected by the recent flooding near the Wyberton West Road?

 

Response from Councillor Anne Dorrian

 

I would like to thank Councillor Cantwell for notice of his question.

 

I am responding to this question in my capacity as Portfolio Holder for Emergency Planning.

 

Firstly, I would like to express my sincere sympathy to those that have been impacted by the recent floods in Boston and across the County of Lincolnshire. I have seen for myself the dreadful impact that flooding has on peoples lives. Whether its flood water entering peoples homes, their gardens or their businesses, the psychological and physical impacts have caused immense stress and anxiety in our communities which as Councillors and Local Leaders, we work so hard to protect.

 

The Council has provided immediate assistance to householders, deploying skips to the area to assist with disposal of saturated household items, providing free bulky waste collections to householders who have endured flood water entering their property and undertaking a deep clean of the highway and pavements to remove flooding debris.

 

The Council have also made immediate financial assistance available to those householders impacted by internal flooding through a dedicated flood relief scheme of £1000, through the Household Support Fund offering supermarket vouchers up to a value of £150 and connecting householders who need support with their Council Tax.

 

I am also working in collaboration with Lincolnshire Resilience Forum partner agencies who are collectively responsible for recovery operations, assisting those householders and businesses to return to normality as swiftly as possible. This involves ensuring that each property that has been flooded is recognised as such by the Lincolnshire County Council as Lead Local Flood Authority, that cause of flooding is swiftly investigated and that remedial measures are identified and implemented.

 

We as locally elected Leaders are also lobbying Government to exercise their discretion and activate the Flood Recovery Framework releasing funds for immediate financial relief for householders and to facilitate improvements to homes and businesses making them more resilient to future flooding events.

 

Supplementary question to Councillor Anne Dorrian from Councillor James Cantwell

 

Thank you very much Councillor Dorrian.

Will you join with me in thanking the Council officers, Red Cross, volunteers and local businesses, as well as all others, who supported flooded residents during this time?

 

Response from Councillor Anne Dorrian

 

Yes, Councillor Cantwell. The simple answer is yes. But I am way ahead of you. I have already thanked those officers and those partner agencies for the work that they undertook. So, the answer is yes.

 

2.     Question to Councillor Anne Dorrian from Councillor James Cantwell

 

Does the portfolio holder agree that this Council needs to be steadfast and unified in its approach so that we can find ways to mitigate flooding along the Wyberton West Road?

 

Response from Councillor Anne Dorrian

 

I would like to thank Councillor Cantwell for notice of his question.

 

I am responding to this question in my capacity as Portfolio Holder for Emergency Planning.

 

I am fully committed to working with the Environment Agency, Black Sluice Independent Drainage Board and Lincolnshire County Council as Lead Local Flood Authority to investigate why flooding occurred on Wyberton West Road and Park Road in Boston, identify the cause of it and seek a commitment from those responsible that any remedial action identified will be delivered.

 

Supplementary question to Councillor Anne Dorrian from Councillor James Cantwell

 

Thank you, Councillor Dorrian. Will the portfolio holder support the various campaigns to get the Black Sluice pumping station fully recommissioned, following the floods?

 

Response from Councillor Anne Dorrian

 

Well, I'm not sure, Councillor Cantwell. What I will commit to do is what I said in my first answer, that we identify the cause of the flooding and we seek a commitment for any remedial action to be undertaken as soon as practicable. What we mustn't do is put the cart before the horse and we must find out initially if the Black Sluice pumping stations being recommissioned will have the effect that you think it will. Now I don't know if you're an expert, I'm certainly not an expert and I know there are various schools of thought even in this Chamber, as to whether even the Environment Agency are the expert.

 

With that being said, I think it's incumbent upon us to work together to examine the data and then make a coherent and intelligent response to the evidence.

 

Question to Councillor Anne Dorrian from Councillor Ralph Pryke

 

The Council’s policy of refusing to supply sandbags to residents and businesses affected by flooding has been described as mean and cruel.

 

In the light of growing fears about flood risk and the ever more frequent floods damaging local properties, will the Council help residents by reversing the policy and provide sandbags in flood affected areas, as other councils do?

 

Response from Councillor Anne Dorrian

 

I would like to thank Councillor Pryke for notice of his question.

 

I am responding to this question in my capacity as Portfolio Holder for Emergency Planning.

 

There is no duty upon the district or any flood risk management authority to provide householders or businesses with sandbags in the event of a flooding incident or where a risk of flooding is anticipated. The current operating arrangements adopted through the Lincolnshire Resilience Forum is that Lincolnshire County Council, through their Highways Division, will provide sandbags at the request of householders during a flooding incident. Requests are handled via the County Councils Customer Service team or online through the FixMyStreet webtool.

 

The response from Highways is entirely reliant upon the resources they have available in a particular locality to deliver sandbags with priority afforded to those householders least able to help themselves.

 

During the recent flood event, Highways received 183 calls, of which 73 were sandbag requests, and they delivered over 2000 sandbags. 11 of those requests related to Boston and 200 sandbags were delivered to the Wyberton West Road area.

 

Rather than rely upon assistance from agencies whose resources are likely to be stretched in a widescale flooding incident, I strongly encourage householders and businesses at risk of flooding to prepare in advance, make adaptations to their property to mitigate the impact of flooding and sign up to Flood Warnings via the .Gov.uk website.

 

Communities are more resilient and able to self help when they come together to prepare a Community Emergency Plan and assistance is available via the Lincolnshire Resilience Forum website to do this as well as support from the Emergency Planning Officer at the Council.

 

Supplementary question to Councillor Anne Dorrian from Councillor Ralph Pryke

 

I am grateful to all. The original question was put to me by a resident who knew that sandbags had not been supplied. I would ask about the timescale for a practical report on South Forty Foot Drain. Residents have never been flooded before and it was less expected than other flooding events. We know we live in the Environment Agency blue area, which means we are all at flood risk – sea and river – but drainage flooding is very unusual. I would welcome her opinion.

 

Response from Councillor Anne Dorrian

 

Your thanks is well noted for the officers and councillors who made themselves available to local residents during the flooding event. Of course, many of our elected members work full time or part time and can't drop things just like that and make themselves available, so all that being considered I think the response from this Council was one to be celebrated.

Celebration seems the wrong word, doesn't it? But it's one to be proud of that those residents received the response they did, and in fact one senior officer commented to me that in getting our Flood Relief Fund of £1000 per property out in such a short turnaround time was mightily impressive, and we made it as simple as possible for residents.

 

They didn't have to fill in forms, they didn't have to jump through hoops, provide pictures or evidence of any kind. If they had flood water in their habitable part of their home then they could claim up to £1000 and we got money out the door within 24 hours for the first householder.

 

To your point about the timescale of report, certainly our internal lessons learned exercise has already been undertaken and that will feed into the Flood Resilience Forum at the county.

 

I understand that today a meeting took place. Councillor Middleton is our representative on the Flood and Water Management Scrutiny Committee at County Council and I believe that they're looking at this as well. As to that time scale that you asked about, I genuinely don't know, couldn't pinpoint it to the day of the week, but I'm happy to take that away and find out for you.