Agenda and draft minutes

Venue: Microsoft Teams Meeting

Items
No. Item

1.

Apologies for Absence

Minutes:

There were no apologies made.

2.

To consider the extent, if any, to which the public and press are to be excluded from the meeting.

Minutes:

None

 

3.

Declarations of Interest, if any

Minutes:

Declarations of interest were made by Cllr Sue Wilkinson and Cllr Chris McGuinness in virtue that they are both members of the Doncaster East Internal Drainage Board.

4.

Minutes of the Communities and Environment Overview and Scrutiny Panel held on 20th January, 2020 pdf icon PDF 110 KB

Minutes:

The minutes of the meeting held on the 20th January, 2020 were agreed as a correct record.

 

5.

Public Statements

Minutes:

There were no public statements made.

 

6.

Flood Recovery in Doncaster – Partnership Update pdf icon PDF 458 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Panel received a report and considered updated information regarding recovery activity across the Borough of Doncaster following the November 2019 floods.  The information included actions that had been undertaken and were planned by the Council, the Environment Agency, Independent Drainage Boards and water companies to safeguard the residents and businesses of the Borough over the short, medium and longer term.

 

Following an overview from the Director of Adult and Social Care, the Panel discussed the following areas;

 

Long Term Funding and Investment - It was explained that ongoing close work and frequent meetings were taking place to consider future investment, accelerating plans for future projects, recovery works, repairs and works that will reduce future flood risks going forward.  It was outlined that funding was currently being taken through a process and there was further partner funding that could be matched against that. 

 

It was recognised that there were potential benefits of the schemes to the wider economy, the environment and climate resilience, which were also of interest to investors. It was explained that by working together to better understand the scope, benefits and costs, the Environment Agency was in a much stronger position to work with Doncaster to secure investment and schemes right across the Borough.  Reference was made to the benefits of the work undertaken by the Climate Commission for Doncaster that had a current focus on “shovel ready” projects.  It was explained that the Government was particularly interested in projects that will assist with an economic recovery and therefore to look at those with investment appeal.  It was noted that steps would be undertaken to consider further economic and environment benefits and work was being undertaken with Sheffield City Region to secure match funding against the allocated Government funding.

 

It was clarified that £11 million had been allocated through the Environment Agency project to repair damage caused by the floods and to improve standards of protection.  It was viewed that this was something that had worked successfully in Doncaster.

 

Impact of Climate Commission and the Council’s Environmental Strategy on Flood Management in Doncaster - It was explained that there was a range of hard and soft solutions available and natural flood management should not be focused on alone.

 

Members were assured that the flood agenda was part of the Climate Commission Report and the Environmental Strategy, which were currently in the process of being developed.  It was acknowledged that climate change would continue to be a risk in terms of flooding.

 

Members were informed that the Environment Agency was now leading on the total catchment plan for the River Don.  It was further explained that the catchment plan would not only bring the water together but also enable better partnership working to understand what was being done and to provide transparency to communities and potential investors as part of a living process.  It was felt that as well as the need to keep driving forward with traditional hard engineering approaches, there was a need to work better  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

7.

Overview and Scrutiny Work Plan and the Council's Forward Plan of Key Decisions. pdf icon PDF 705 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Senior Governance Officer presented the 2020/21 Scrutiny Work Plan for consideration and reminded Members of the current Forward Plan of key decisions. There was a brief discussion around future items for the Overview and Scrutiny future workplan following the meeting’s discussions.

 

RESOLVED the Overview and Scrutiny Work Plan 2020/21 and Forward Plan of key decisions be noted.