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The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) provides advice to the public on flood risk as part of its Floodline campaign, which is available online at:

http://www.sepa.org.uk/publications/leaflets/flood/index.htm.

The publications on this website have been distributed to businesses and homes in flood risk areas through a variety of outlets including the SEPA mobile exhibition trailer, local libraries, community centres, post offices and leisure centres, as well as targeted distribution by mail. A business specific publication is being developed for the 2008 campaign.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency has published online guidance on flooding available to the public at http://www.sepa.org.uk/flooding/index.htm. Local authorities produce flood-specific information relevant to their local area at their discretion.

The Scottish Government has published its research reports on Climate Change: Flooding Occurrences Review (2002), available at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/156664/0042098.pdf.

Climate Change: Review of Levels of Protection Offered by Flood Prevention Schemes UKCIP02 update (2003) at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2004/02/18789/32059.

The Scottish Government is providing £200,000 to Western Isles Council for research in the hydrodynamics of the South Ford area in South Uist, and in addition is supporting Angus Council with £70,000 to consider intervention strategies seeking to slow the rate of erosion at Montrose Beach. This research will help in the understanding of coastal processes and assist in developing longer term and strategic approaches to coastal flooding and erosion in Scotland.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency indicative flood maps show land which is at high risk of coastal flooding (where risk is equal to or greater than 0.5% annual probability) or might become so with climate change. These maps are available at:

http://www.sepa.org.uk/flooding/mapping/index.htm.

Contingency planning is primarily a matter for local responders, as defined under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004, to whom the Scottish Government will provide appropriate support.

After the flooding in parts of England during the summer of 2007, the Minister for Environment wrote out to each of the eight regional Strategic Co-ordinating Group (SCG) asking for confirmation that they were adequately prepared to respond to similar events, should they occur in Scotland. All SCGs indicated they had assessed the flooding risk in their area, and had undertaken planning for such eventualities.

In January 2008, a further self-evaluation was commissioned by the Scottish Government from SCGs in relation to their planning for a wider set of extreme weather events that might arise as a result of climate change, including coastal and inland flooding. Responses are currently being collated and evaluated by the Scottish Government.

In addition, an exercise built around an extreme weather scenario is planned for the first quarter of 2009, and is designed to evaluate responders capabilities to deal with resulting challenges.

Contingency planning is primarily a matter for local responders, as defined under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004. The responsibility for warning and informing the public, as well as co-ordinating the response, lies with those responders.

In the event of a major incident, and depending on the circumstances, it is possible that the Scottish Government would invoke its emergency response arrangements. These arrangements would facilitate discussions between responders, and also co-ordinate any appropriate communications strategies. In addition, a sub-group of the Resilience Advisory Board for Scotland has been established to create a national framework for information sharing and communicating with the public.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency flood map shows an estimate of the areas in Scotland with a 0.5% or greater probability of being flooded in any given year. Scottish Planning Policy (SPP)7 “ Planning and Flooding characterises areas within this range as having a medium to high risk of flooding. In such areas the SPP''s Risk Framework sets out the appropriate planning response. The central purpose of the SPP is to prevent further development which would have a significant probability of being affected by flooding or which would increase the probability of flooding elsewhere.

The Contingency Planning (Scotland) Regulations 2005 place a duty upon Category 1 responders, as defined by the Civil Contingencies Act 2004, to have regard to the activities of voluntary organisations.

Voluntary sector involvement in planning will vary from area to area, according to the requirements of the Category 1 responders and the ability of local voluntary sector organisations to provide support.

The Scottish Government works closely with the eight Strategic Co-ordinating Groups (SCGs) in each of the police force areas in Scotland, to ensure that they are prepared for the risks that might be faced in their area, including flooding. Scottish Government is in regular contact with all responders (including emergency planning staff) through these groups.

In 2006, a National Resilience seminar was held that considered severe weather and flooding. After the flooding in parts of England during the summer of 2007, the Scottish Government wrote out to each of the SCGs asking for confirmation that they were adequately prepared to respond to similar events, should they occur in Scotland. All SCGs indicated they had assessed the flooding risk in their area, and had undertaken planning for such eventualities.

In January 2008, Scottish Government also asked the SCGs to complete a self-evaluation in relation to extreme weather (including flooding). The results are currently being collated. Scottish Government is also planning to host an national exercise in 2009 focusing on an extreme weather scenario.