ITEM CA6
CABINET– 21 OCTOBER 2008
FLOODING UPDATE CONCERNING ACTIVITY THROUGH THE THAMES VALLEY LOCAL RESILIENCE FORUM
REPORT BY JOHN PARRY DIRECTOR FOR COMMUNITY SAFETY & SHARED SERVICES AND CHIEF FIRE OFFICER
Introduction
1. A report by the Chief Fire Officer was provided to Cabinet in November 2007 concerning the floods in Oxfordshire, which occurred in July of that year.
2. The report provided information concerning the multi-agency response to the floods and identified several matters to be addressed via future pre-planning with other agencies.
3. The recommendation of the Cabinet report included tasking the Head of Fire and Rescue Service Delivery and Emergency Planning to develop an action plan for collective emergency response improvement through the Thames Valley Local Resilience Forum. Updates are provided below.
Thames Valley Local Resilience Forum Strategic Three Year Plan
4. The Strategic Plan, which runs from 2008 to 2011, acknowledges the issues in relation to the risk of flooding within the Thames Valley area. The Annual Action Plan for 2008 to 2009 now includes a specific workstream in relation to flooding which is to improve resilience to flooding, having regard to the recommendations proposed in the Pitt Review.
5. A flooding sub-group has been tasked with two specific actions in relation to this workstream:
(i) Review and where necessary initiate action to implement the relevant and urgent recommendations from the Pitt Review. (ii) Review the final conclusions of the Pitt Review and produce an action plan to those applicable to the Thames Valley Local Resilience Forum.
Flooding Sub-Group
6. The Flooding Sub-Group, which is Thames Valley wide, has now set terms of reference around producing a Strategic Multi-Agency Flood Plan for the Thames Valley. It is intended that the 92 final recommendations from the Pitt Review are progressed through this Flooding Sub-Group and any recommendations from DEFRA are also included when their report and guidance is issued, which is due at the end of October 2008.
7. Officers from Oxfordshire County Council Fire and Rescue Service and Emergency Planning Unit are members of the group and are tasked with transferring the recommendations from the Thames Valley Sub-Group into Oxfordshire.
8. Flooding Sub-Group areas of activity include site specific risk assessments of risk known to be vulnerable to flooding, data and information sharing, preventative activity with other Category 1 Responders and information to the public.
Oxfordshire Resilience Group / Local Authority Liaison Group
9. The Oxfordshire Local Resilience Forum, chaired by Officers from Oxfordshire County Council’s Emergency Planning Unit, is the vehicle for ensuring that liaison takes place between county and district councils in relation to a seamless approach towards dealing with any future planning. Membership of the group also includes representatives from other Category 1 Responders such as Fire and Rescue, Thames Valley Police and the Oxfordshire district councils.
10. Other Category 2 Responders also attend the meeting including the voluntary sector, British Waterways, BBC Oxford and the utilities companies.
Fire and Rescue Service
11. Many of the lessons learnt from the July 2007 floods have now been incorporated into a number of the standard operating procedures within the Service. Additionally, following the £200,000 allocation from Cabinet for flood related equipment, the following has been achieved:
(i) The purchase and provision of two dry suits per fire appliance to allow a safe system of work to be implemented when attending water related incidents. (ii) The provision of flood related equipment for firefighters to use when responding to flooding incidents including inflatable sledges for casualty removal and buoyancy aids. (iii) All personnel are trained to a nationally recognised qualification which enables entry into moving water, to a limited depth, to undertake rescue activity. (iv) Provision of an instructor, via a 12 month contract (expires March 09), to implement the Water Rescue Training Strategy and continuation of training. (v) Provision of additional telephony and call receipt procedures to respond to high levels of call demand.
12. The Fire and Rescue Service’s Integrated Risk Management Plan (IRMP), which was approved by Cabinet in November 2007, includes a specific project around water rescue and flood provision and consists of the following:
· Objective of the Project To review the Service’s capability to respond to major flood emergencies with a view to securing national best practice in respect to procedures, equipment, skills and personal protective equipment. This will culminate in further recommendations regarding the future provision for dealing with flood emergencies in the Brigade, and where appropriate regionally, in a sustainable manner.
· Risk Analysis The risk analysis for this project relates to the hazards and risks to firefighters, to other stakeholders and to members of the public. The project also acknowledges the risk to the reputation of OCC if we are unable to respond to the growing public expectation around the Fire and Rescue service fast becoming the primary 999 responder to water related incidents and flooding.
· Outcome The report will show both how and what the Service needs to do in the future to achieve national best practice in respect to dealing with flooding incidents and ensuring the effectiveness and efficiency of our response both locally, regionally and nationally.
This specific work project from the IRMP is due to report by November 2008. The contents of the report will incorporate all of the lessons learnt from our emergency response to incidents of flooding and water related rescues in the county of Oxfordshire.
The outcome will also seek to reflect the recommendations of the Pitt Review and take into account any changes in legislation which may place additional statutory responsibilities in the Fire and rescue Service.
Scrutiny Review
13. The Scrutiny Committee of Environment Economy have recently conducted a review into reducing the impact of floods in Oxfordshire. Whilst the review predominantly deals with the assessment and preventative measures associated with flooding, the report does include a recommendation which falls upon the Emergency Planning Unit to ensure that robust emergency plans are in place to deal with future flooding events.
14. It is anticipated that this recommendation will be discharged through the close working between the county and district emergency planners via the Oxfordshire Resilience Group.
Financial and Staff Implications
15. At present it is difficult to identify future financial and staff implications of the outcome in relation to the Pitt Review, DEFRA guidance and the outcome of the work of the Thames Valley Local Resilience Forum and Flood Sub-Group. Future papers will be provided for the Cabinet Member for Community Safety which will identify potential staffing and financial implications of any further policy decisions.
Future Legislation
16. It is possible that government legislation will be forthcoming via a Flooding and Water Bill which maybe timetabled for late 2009. This may provide further and new statutory responsibilities on stakeholders such as Oxfordshire County Council through its Environment and Economy and Community Safety Directorates.
RECOMMENDATION
17. The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to:
(a) note the contents of this report and task the Chief Fire Officer to provide the Cabinet with a further update of progress of the Local Resilience Forum in relation to flood planning;
(b) task the Chief Fire Officer to report to Cabinet on options for ensuring Fire and Rescue operational response and resilience concerning water related incidents; and
(c) task the Chief Fire Officer to report to Cabinet should legislation be introduced which places further or new statutory responsibilities on the functions/services within Community Safety.
JOHN PARRY Director for Community Safety & Shared Services and Chief Fire Officer
Background papers: Nil
Contact Officer: David Etheridge, Deputy Chief Fire Officer (Tel: 01865 855206)
September 2008
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