Purpose

Proposed decision
 

·        
To adopt
the Kent Local Flood Risk Management Strategy 2024-2034 on behalf
of Kent County Council.

 

·        
To delegate
authority to the Corporate Director of Growth, Environment and
Transport in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Environment
to refresh and/or make revisions to the Strategy as appropriate
during the lifetime of the strategy.

 

·        
To delegate
authority to the Corporate Growth, Environment and Transport to
take relevant actions, including but not limited to finalising the
terms of, and entering into required contract or other legal
agreements, as necessary to implement the decision.
 
Reason for the decision
 

-     
KCC has a statutory duty to maintain and Local Flood
Risk Management Strategy, under the Flood and Water Management Act
2010. The current Local Strategy was adopted in 2017 and ran until
2023. We have drafted a new Local Strategy to replace the previous
one.
 
Background – Provide brief additional context
 

-     
KCC is the Lead Local Flood Authority for Kent with
a strategic overview for local flooding, flooding from surface
water, groundwater, and ordinary watercourses. As part of this role
we have to maintain and strategy that sets out how we will manage
local flooding.
 
Options (other options considered but discarded)

 

-     
This is a statutory duty, there are no other
options.
 
How the proposed decision supports the

Framing Kent's Future
- Our Council Strategy 2022-2026
 

-     
The Local Strategy is a key part of helping KCC
achieve objective 5 of our commitment “to ensure the county is well placed to adapt to climate
change”:

o     
Working with partners, improve the safety and
wellbeing of Kent’s residents and the economy of Kent through
appropriate flood risk management, including the promotion of
sustainable flood risk management practices in development,
regeneration and land management, utilising natural processes where
appropriate.
 
How the
proposed decision supports Securing Kent’s Future 2022
-2026:
Securing Kents Future
- Budget Recovery Strategy.pdf
 

-     
The Local Strategy sets out objectives for managing
local flood risk in the county. It will primarily be delivered by
the Flood and Water Management Team (FWM) alongside partners. It
sets some high-level targets and ambitions for flood risk
management in Kent.

-     
The FWM team is funded from the core KCC budget. The
Local Strategy can be delivered within this budget. External
funding is available to support the delivery of flood risk
management measures, which the FWM team will secure as part of
delivering the Local Strategy.

-     
The Local Strategy will not place any additional
burden on the budget. An ambition of the Local Strategy is to
increase investment in the county and support economic
growth.
 
 

Decision

As Cabinet Member for Environment, I agree
to:
 
•         to adopt
the Kent Local Flood Risk Management Strategy (dates) on behalf of
Kent County Council;
 
•         to
delegate authority to the Corporate Director of Growth, Environment
and Transport in consultation with the Cabinet Member for
Environment to refresh and/or make revisions
to the Strategy as appropriate during the lifetime of the
strategy; and
 
•         to
delegate authority to the Corporate Growth, Environment and
Transport to take relevant actions, including but not limited to
finalising the terms of, and entering into required contract or
other legal agreements, as necessary to implement the decision.