This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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More work to prevent flooding
21/04/2005
An expert group set up to tackle the threat of
flooding in Scotland met for the first time today.
The Flooding Issues Advisory Committee (FIAC) has been
established to advise the Executive on implementing the
National Flooding Framework.
The Committee will provide advice on flood risk
management issues and will assist in the ongoing
development of policy in this area.
It will consider a report on natural flood storage which
was also published today. The report concludes that natural
flood storage will provide a valuable additional response
to reducing flood risk.
Deputy Environment Minister Lewis Macdonald welcomed the
first meeting of the group. He said:
"The Scottish Executive is committed to protecting
vulnerable communities from the risk of flooding.
"I look forward to working with the Committee in order
to determine the best ways of alleviating flood risk for
communities the length and breadth of Scotland."
FIAC will have a fixed lifespan of two years and
sub-committees will also be set up to look at specific
areas of flooding. The Executive will make a final report
to Ministers on the work of the Committee by June 2007.
FIAC is made up of a range of stakeholders to represent
the wider flooding community including representatives from
central and local government, Scottish Natural Heritage,
the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, Scottish Water,
Local Authorities, relevant professional bodies, the
Association of British Insurers, The Forestry Commission,
Agriculture/Land use, academia, Environmental
Non-Government Organisations, Department for Environment,
Food and Rural Affairs, the Environment Agency, developers,
people who have experienced flooding and others.