Local Flood Risk Management Strategy

As Lead Local Flood Authority for Buckinghamshire, we have a duty to develop, maintain, apply and monitor a strategy for local flood risk management in its area, under the Flood and Water Management Act (2010). This Strategy updates the previous Local Flood Risk Management Strategy 2017-2022.

The cycle for producing a Strategy is as follows:

1. Understand flood risk
2. Set objectives
3. Choose measures
4. Implement
5. Monitor and review

The Strategy sets out our understanding of flood risk, our objectives and how we will monitor and review. Our Action Plan describes the specific measures we will undertake and how they will be implemented.

There have been national legislation and policy changes since the last Strategy which have an influence on local flood risk management in Buckinghamshire. There are also several emerging changes which may come into effect during the period of this Strategy:

The National Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management Strategy was published in 2020. It set out long-term ambitions to guide the management of future flood risk and investment. An initial 1-year action plan (Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management Strategy Roadmap to 2026) was published in May 2021. The Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management Appraisal Guidance and Partnership funding calculator has also been updated.

It represents a change in emphasis, tone and language towards resilience, adaptation and enabling communities, rather than focusing on protecting property. Resilience and adaptation to the changing climate is integral to all aspects of the strategy, with movement towards considering the measurement of resilience in funding in the future. There is also a strengthening of the importance of partnership working.

The Local Flood Risk Management Strategy and its objectives must align with the National Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management Strategy.

The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) was updated in 2021 to set out revised government planning policies. Flooding and coastal change are now embedded within goals to transition to a low carbon future by taking proactive actions to mitigate and adapt to climate change.

The Environment Agency have since updated the Flood Risk and Coastal Change Planning Practice Guide (PPG (most recent update August 2022), which supports the NPPF. This makes significant changes to the importance given to ‘other sources’ of flooding and climate change in sequential planning, the design flood and the lifetime of development. It also strengthens guidance on Natural Flood Management (NFM) and Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS).

Defra and the Environment Agency produced a Surface Water Management Action Plan in 2018 which aims to strengthen delivery and partnership working, skills and capacity, investment, community resilience and emergency response for surface water flooding. This has also led to reviews looking at specific aspects including the Surface water and drainage: review of responsibilities (Jenkins Review, 2020).

The government asked the National Infrastructure Commission to conduct an assessment of how responsible bodies in England can better manage and mitigate surface water flooding. The 'Reducing the risk of surface water flooding' report was published in November 2022, and sets out a number of recommendations for better management and targeted investment to tackle surface water flooding, which have implications for the role of the Lead Local Flood Authority, including:

• Implementing Schedule 3 of the Flood and Water Management Act 2010
• Identification of flood risk areas and improvements in detailed local flood risk mapping
• National reduction targets for number of properties at risk from surface water flooding
• Clarification of water and sewerage companies' responsibilities
• Joint investment plans for flood risk areas
• Devolved local funding for local flood risk
• Support for properties remaining at risk

The Environment Act (2021) means that Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) becomes mandatory in planning applications from 2023. Biodiversity net gain (BNG) is a way to contribute to the recovery of nature while developing land. It is making sure the habitat for wildlife is in a better state than it was before development.

This will apply from November 2023 for developments as defined in the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, unless exempt. It will apply to small sites from April 2024.

The implementation will have significant positive impacts for sustainable drainage and land use planning.

The enactment of Schedule 3 of the Flood and Water Management Act (2010) has been approved by the government and is expected in 2024. Through this legislation, sustainable drainage will become mandatory on new developments. Buckinghamshire Council will become a SuDS Approving Body. This will change the way SuDS are constructed, adopted and maintained.

The Non-Statutory Technical Standards for Sustainable Drainage in England were reviewed in 2021. Recommendations for updating these standards have been published and will form the basis for statutory standards if Schedule 3 is enacted.

The government's Strategic Policy Statement in February 2022 makes clear that Ofwat and water companies should prioritise action on the environment, deliver a resilient and sustainable water supply, and significantly reduce the frequency and volume of discharges from storm overflows. Water quality is higher up the public and political agenda, with a focus on reducing sewer overflows to watercourses (particularly to environmentally sensitive Chalk streams like those in Buckinghamshire). There has been a push towards including inland locations on the Designated Bathing Waters list.

The UK Government published its Net Zero Strategy: Build Back Greener in 2021, which sets out policies and proposals for decarbonising all sectors of the UK economy to meet its net zero target of 2050.

Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management's 'Surface water management: A review of the opportunities and challenges' report gives recommendations around improvements in:

• Cooperation and collaboration between Risk Management Authorities
• Funding for surface water management
• Capacity and skills for surface water management

There are also a number of local changes in policy, restructuring of local government, and flood history which have a bearing on the Strategy:

In April 2020, local government was restructured in Buckinghamshire from a two-tier (County and District) structure to a single Unitary Authority, Buckinghamshire Council. The Unitary Authority is now the Lead Local Flood Authority.

A new Local Plan for Buckinghamshire is being produced during the period of this Strategy, which will replace the previous District Local Plans by April 2027. The evidence for this Local Plan will include an updated Strategic Flood Risk Assessment for the whole of Buckinghamshire.

Since the previous Strategy, flood events have occurred in July 2017, May 2018, September 2019, October 2020, December 2020, May 2021, August 2022, June 2023.

As part of our statutory duties under Section 19 of the Flood and Water Management Act (2010), we carried out flood investigations into flood events defined as to understand the sources, pathways, and impacts of flooding for each event, and any influencing factors.