Flood remediation and budgets - Find a freedom of information request

1. Do you have a dedicated annual budget for flood remediation? If so, please state it in pounds.

2. What was your annual dedicated budget for flood remediation last year? Please state your answer in pounds.

3. In the last ten years, how many floods have you had from surface water/fluvial flooding? (Surface water/fluvial flooding is defined as 'flooding that occurs when the volume and intensity of rainfall overwhelms local drainage systems.'; a flood is defined as 'any case where land not normally covered by water becomes covered by water')

4. What was the cost to the council of the repairs and cleanup of your most recent flood (as per the definition above)?

5. Which of the following have you planned to invest in to remediate floods? Please select all that apply.

a. Options:

i. Installing Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS)

ii. Require all news builds/developments to include SuDS

iii. Increasing drainage maintenance

iv. Enhance green spaces to improve drainage and act as a natural buffer

v. Plant trees to help absorb excess rainwater

vi. Engage with home/land owners to reduce paved space

6. Have any of the floods your council has experienced in the last ten years resulted in 'sewer flooding', where sewers become overwhelmed?

1. The annual capital Flood Risk Budget is £500,000.

2. Annual dedicated budget is £500,000. There was a spend of £390,000 on the delivery of major flood risk capital works via schemes delivered on the ground in the calendar year of 2024, utilising the annual capital flood risk budget. In addition, funding will also be utilised to support scheme development and design prior to delivery on the ground. Further spend on flood remediation will have been undertaken by Lincolnshire County Council Highways Authority.

3. In the last 10 years, there have been 629 individual S19 investigations (2015 onwards) into incidents of internal flooding, by which further information on investigations can be found here: https://www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/flood-risk-management/flood-investigations These investigations look into all sources of flooding, and in some cases, there are combined multiple sources of flooding, meaning a specific figure for each in turn is not definitively available.

4. The Lincolnshire County Council Floods & Water Team is not an operational body involved in cleanup post event, and therefore does not hold such a figure. This information may be held by each of the District Councils and the Lincolnshire Resilience Forum (LRF).

5. The Floods and Water Team consider all elements below to some level when assessing potential schemes, on a case-by-case basis.

i. Installing Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS)

ii. Require all news builds/developments to include SuDS

iii. Increasing drainage maintenance

iv. Enhance green spaces to improve drainage and act as a natural buffer

v. Plant trees to help absorb excess rainwater

vi. Engage with home/landowners to reduce paved space

6. Sewer flooding from being overwhelmed has been experienced in the last ten years in relation to flood events, and this is something that is recognised by Anglian Water as the local water authority.