To receive petitions and public questions in accordance with Standing Order 9.
Minutes:
The Mayor invited Mr Michael de Whalley forward to ask his public question:
"How confident is this Council concerning West Norfolk’s preparedness, in light of the EA’s admission that a "complete rethink" of the UK's flood defences is required, after the recent flooding in Cumbria, Lancashire and Yorkshire. These are areas that have significantly invested in their flood defences which they believed to be of a high standard."
Councillor Long responded as follows:
“Across the Borough we have a number of acknowledged flood risks, the incidents recently in Cumbria and the North of England were pluvial occurrences, whilst it is not impossible for any area to flood as a result of a rain event such as this, West Norfolk is a far drier area of the country and the river catchment of the Great Ouse is far wider and has had far more infrastructure in place on it than some of the faster flowing narrower rivers in the areas in question.
As Council is aware many millions of pounds have been invested locally by our partners including Drainage Boards, The Environment Agency and Middle Level Commissioners in order to deal with water that falls onto the whole river catchment.
In West Norfolk we are aware that our biggest risk comes from the sea, such as the December 2013 tidal surge
This tidal surge was estimated as a 1 in 1,000 year occurrence at King’s Lynn and 1 in 250 year at Hunstanton. At King’s Lynn the tide was recorded at 6.17m.
This was the first time the King’s Lynn flood defences had been subjected to such a high tide since they were constructed in the 1980s.
The defences prevented flooding during the most significant tidal surge in 60 years protecting thousands of properties from King’s Lynn to Hunstanton.
• Since the December 2013 tidal surge the Environment Agency carried out a substantial programme of repairs. Over £3.1m has been spent on repairs and improvements. Our defences are now as good, or better, than they were before the surge.
Work includes the following:
· Repairs to the shingle defences between Heacham and Snettisham at a cost of £128,000. The shingle embankment has been fully reinstated and now provides the same level of protection as it did prior to the Tidal Surge.
· The refurbishment of the defences in King’s Lynn has been completed at a cost of £1,200,000. This investment will ensure the defences are in the best condition to defend the town for another 40 years.
· In addition to the King’s Lynn flood gates the Environment Agency has spent £1,200,000 repairing and refurbishing defences along the coastline between King’s Lynn and Hunstanton and the Tidal River Embankments.
My conclusion is that we and our partners are not just confident in our systems they have been tested and improved, no one can ever say an area won't flood, it would be foolish, however I believe the “complete rethink” has happened, and been tested.”
As a supplementary, Mr de Whalley asked what adaptations to design in dwellings could be expected to minimise the impact of and occupants exposure to flooding?
Councillor Long responded that others would probably be better placed to give detail on that, but the Regional Flooding Coastal Committee had allocated an additional £50,000 to assist with any individual flood events. He offered to meet with Mr de Whalley to show him some of the work carried out in the area, including considerable investment in new pumps by the Drainage Boards. Mr de Whalley accepted this invitation.
The Mayor thanked Mr de Whalley for his question and then invited Ms Jo Rust forward to ask her question as follows:
"On Monday night I and others slept rough on the streets of King's Lynn to raise awareness of the plight of those who have no permanent home. It is widely feared that we will face increased levels of homeless with the introduction of Universal Credit when those in receipt of benefits receive it all in one go. What steps does the council have in place to help those who live in supported housing of the type provided by the Genesis Housing Association, the Benjamin Foundation and the Purfleet Trust when Universal Credit is introduced, giving the benefit claimant direct access to housing allowance which previously went directly to the housing provider?"
Councillor Lawrence responded as follows: “The planned sleep out was arranged by Genesis Housing and although not clearly worded on the flyer it was in relation to planned cost savings by Norfolk County Council in Supporting People funding. This funding is used to pay for the specialist support that is provided in Genesis Housing, The Purfleet Trust and The Benjamin Foundation.
We have been advised that supported housing will be exempt from universal credit meaning that housing benefit will still be payed direct to the provider. This may be reviewed in 2018 as central government is currently being lobbied for the housing benefit to be paid as it is, direct to the provider.”
By way of supplementary Ms Rust commented that the response that those who provided supported accommodation would get the payment direct was contrary to what the housing providers believed. She asked what plans were in place when the providers were faced with closure.
Councillor Lawrence responded that that was the advice officers had received from Government, so the understanding was that until things were rolled out it would stay the same way until 2018.