REQUEST FOR DIRECTOR DECISION DD899 Title: Drain London programme Executive Summary: A predicted 1.3 million properties in London are at risk from flooding from heavy rainfall (surface water flooding), including much of London s social, transport, emergency and utility infrastructure. Drain London is a GLA-led, DEFRA-funded, London-wide programme to identify, prioritise and manage areas and assets at surface water flood risk. MD455 delegated authority to the Executive Director for Development and Environment to approve the Drain London work programme and associated expenditure. Approval is sought to deliver the stated two year work programme and associated uncommitted expenditure of up to 1,380,737. Decision: The Executive Director is requested to: 1) Approve the stated programme of work. 2) Approve the associated spend to the value 1,380,737 in relation to the delivery of this programme 3) Approve the award of grant funding, entry into and execution of grant funding agreements with: (a) the London Boroughs of Harrow, Lambeth, Southwark, Bexley and the Corporation of London and; (b) Imperial University with a value of up to 10,000 as a contribution to its costs; 4) Approve the procurement and subsequent award of, entry into and execution of contracts for: (a) phase 2 pipeline projects up to a total of 150,000; and (b) critical infrastructure risk assessment consultancy services with a value of up to 100,000; and (c) SuDS training programme services up to a value of 10,000. 5) Approve the award, entry into and execution of contracts and grants for (a) the phase 3 pipeline projects up to a total value of 475,737 and; (b) the Greenstreets programme with a value of up to 500,000. AUTHORISING DIRECTOR/HEAD OF UNIT I have reviewed the request and am satisfied it is correct and consistent with the Mayor s plans and priorities. It has my approval. Name Fiona Fletcher-Smith Position Executive Director, Development and Environment Signature Date 1
PART I - NON-CONFIDENTIAL FACTS AND ADVICE Decision required supporting report 1. Introduction and background 1.1 MD455 delegated authority from the Mayor to the Executive Director for Development and Environment to approve the Drain London work programme and associated expenditure. This paper sets out how the remaining funding will be spent and seeks approval to undertake this work. 1.2 Surface water flooding occurs when heavy rainfall overcomes the capacity of the drainage system to manage it. London has 14 of the top 15 areas nationally at risk of surface water flooding and 28 of the top 50 areas at risk in the UK are London boroughs. A predicted 1.3 million properties are at risk of flooding from an extreme rainstorm (such as Hull, Sheffield and Doncaster experienced in 2007 and Newcastle and Jedburgh in 2012). This includes a significant amount of the capital s social, health, utility, transport and emergency infrastructure. 1.3 Drain London is a multi-year programme to manage surface water flood risk in London. The programme is funded by a grant of 3.2 million from Defra, which is managed by the GLA on behalf of the boroughs. The Drain London work programme has been developed and is managed by the Drain London Board (DLB - chaired by the GLA, and comprising senior level representation from Thames Water, Environment Agency and London Councils). 1.4 The Drain London programme has six key aims. To: Understand where surface water flooding may present a risk to people and property Build the capacity of boroughs to undertake their statutory duty to manage surface water flood risk Create a range of pilot projects that demonstrate the financial and quality of life benefits of proactive flood risk management Create a pipeline of projects to secure significant investment in London Identify critical social, health, utility, transport and emergency infrastructure at flood risk, understand the interdependencies between them, and work with key stakeholders develop action plans to manage these risks. Understand the gap between the level of rainfall London s drainage systems can cope with today and the level that London may need to cope with in the future, and identify measures to bridge the gap. 1.5 The Drain London work programme has been developed in three Tiers of work: Tier 1 collated and digitised relevant data on flood risk in London from boroughs and other stakeholders. Tier 2 produced a high-resolution flood risk map and surface water management plan (SWMP) for every borough. Tier 3 will use the outputs from the previous Tiers to develop and deliver a range of flood risk management projects. 1.6 Drain London Tier 3 has seven workstreams: 1.6.1 Workstream 1: Creating a pipeline of strategic flood risk management projects through encouraging boroughs to bid for Drain London funding for projects prioritised in their surface water management plans (SWMPs). Most of these projects are detailed flood risk investigations that will lead to designed and costed project specifications that can be used to bid for Environment Agency Flood Defence Grant in Aid or Local Flood Levy money for delivery. The Drain London Board has specifically required boroughs to develop and submit bids that demonstrate synergies with other 2
GLA programmes (eg MRF, ALGG, Town Centre Development, Opportunity/Regeneration Areas). Other projects being funded include localised flood water attenuation schemes. 1.6.2 Workstream 2: Community Flood Plan Programme - large areas of London are at risk of flash flooding, where heavy rainfall can result in flooding with little or no advance warning. In many of these areas, there are no cost-effective flood defence options, so community and household resilience measures are the only short-term options. The Drain London Board has agreed a budget of 100k to develop a Community Flood Plan (CFP) programme to help communities at high flood risk. This includes developing at least three pilot CFPs and a range of tools to help boroughs replicate these with further communities at high-risk. 1.6.3 Workstream 3: Greening the BIDs - Drain London has funded the ten central London BIDs to undertake green infrastructure audits to identify opportunities to manage flood risk and attract investment through urban greening. This has resulted in opportunities for 300 rain gardens, 200 green walls and over 100 hectares of green roofs being identified. The programme is now providing a further 100k as seedcorn funding to catalyse the delivery of priority projects. This is expected this to lever in 1million investment from the BIDs. Expenditure on this element was approved by IPB on 19 July 2012 and in DD848. 1.6.4 Workstream 4: Critical infrastructure assessment - GLA officers have analysed the flood risk to 116 London hospitals and ranked the top twenty according to flood risk and strategic importance. The DLB has agreed a budget of up to 50k in 2012-13 to undertake detailed investigations of the top eight at risk hospitals. The DLB has budgeted an additional 50k in 2013-14 to use this approach with other public infrastructure, as well as encouraging utility companies to do the same. 1.6.5 Workstream 5: Greenstreets - the loss of permeable surfaces in London to parking and development is putting additional pressure on London s drainage system and increasing flood risk. The GLA has used 500k from the Drain London programme to secure a commitment of an additional 500k from both Thames Water and Environment Agency to undertake a project to work with communities to regreen their neighbourhoods. The project will also develop synergies with the Mayor s water, energy, air quality and regeneration programmes. 1.6.6 Workstream 6: The DLB has committed to provide 10k as match-funding to the 7m EU-funded Raingain project. The project will provide quicker and more accurate localised flood warnings and help develop and test the emergency responses to these warnings. 1.6.7 Workstream 7: Defra provided the GLA with an additional 10k to organise training for borough officers in securing sustainable urban drainage systems (SUDs) through the planning system. 1.7 The table below sets out the proposed breakdown of expenditure (note that figures in shaded cells are already committed / spent). The total uncommitted spend is 1,380,737 ( 395k uncommitted spend in 2012-13 and 985,737 in 2013-14) Project Tier 1 & 2 (incl Flood mapping, 33 SWMPs WS1. Pipeline projects - Phase 1 WS1. Pipeline projects Phase1 (grants to LB s) WS1. Pipeline projects - Phase 2 Expenditure to 31.03.12 1,504,263 Budget 2012-13 Budget 2013-14 125,000 125,000 150,000 3
WS1. Pipeline projects - 475,737 Phase 3 WS2. Community Flood 40,000 60,000 Plan WS3. Greening the BIDs 100,000 WS4. Critical Infrastructure 50,000 50,000 risk assessments WS5. Greenstreets project 100,000 400,000 WS6. Raingain contribution 10,000 WS7. Boroughs SuDS 10,000 training TOTAL 1,504,263 710,000 985,737 CUMULATIVE TOTAL 1,504,263 2,214,263 3,200,000 2. Issues for consideration a) Links to strategies and Mayoral and corporate priorities The Mayor s highest priorities are creating employment, securing investment and saving money. The Drain London programme will assist with the achievement of two of the three priorities through: Creating a pipeline of delivery-ready projects that will secure at least 4million investment in London s flood risk management infrastructure Investing in green infrastructure that not will only extend the life of existing grey infrastructure (drains and sewers), but also attract investment through businesses and households wanting to locate and invest in an attractive location. Working with communities to improve their resilience to extreme weather, reducing their dependence on boroughs and enabling boroughs to more effectively target limited funding to areas / members of the community at highest risk. Enabling cost-efficiencies through being able to issue groups of projects for tender The community flood programme aims to train local unemployed people to become flood wardens and provide links to pre-employability programmes. (The programme is likely to secure existing employment through using consultants to design and consult on the projects. It is anticipated that jobs may be created through the future delivery of the projects, though it is too early to quantify these at this stage). The programme will also help implement actions in the Mayor s Climate Change Adaptation Strategy and the Mayor s Water Strategy. b) Impact assessments and Consultation The Drain London work programme has been developed by the DLB, which involves the key flood risk management stakeholders (London Councils representing the boroughs, the Environment Agency and Thames Water). The pipeline projects were sourced through a call for project ideas to the boroughs and the projects were selected by the DLB. As such, this constitutes an acceptable engagement with key stakeholders. The projects themselves are flood risk assessments and the flood risk management options designed by the projects will be consulted with the public ahead of delivery. c) Risk There are 3 key risks: 4
Financial risk: There is a risk that the costs of the programme could exceed the budget. This risk will be managed by the Drain London programme management team and the DLB. The project management team will report monthly on expenditure and commitments to Finance and to IPB. All procurement will comply with the GLA procurement code. Reputational risk: There is a risk that the Mayor may be seen as responsible for managing flood risk in London. The GLA is not statutorily responsible for managing flood risk, but is uniquely positioned to identify strategic risks and to enable the collaboration of different partners to manage these risks. The DLB will ensure that the projects are branded as Drain London and that the Mayor is recognised as supporting the projects and providing strategic coordination, but not as responsible for managing flood risk. Delivery risk: The key risk is that a delay in securing approval to commit expenditure may delay the programme, with a risk of project partners being able to submit project bids developed through Drain London for Environment Agency funding for project delivery in the New Year. To manage this risk, additional time is built into the Tier 3 Phase 2 consultants work programmes, but this allows only for limited slippage. 3. Financial Comments 3.1 Approval is being sought to undertake a programme of work up to the value of 1,380,737 relating to Drain London Tier 3. This includes approval for; awarding grant funding, entry into and execution of grant funding agreements with: (a) the London Boroughs of Harrow, Lambeth, Southwark, Bexley and the Corporation of London and; (b) Imperial University with a value of up to 10,000 as a contribution to its costs; procurement and subsequent award of, entry into and execution of contracts for: (a) phase 2 pipeline projects up to a total of 150,000; and (b) critical infrastructure risk assessment consultancy services with a value of up to 100,000; and (c) SuDS training programme services up to a value of 10,000.; and awarding, entry into and execution of contracts and grants for (a) the phase 3 pipeline projects up to a total value of 475,737 and; (b) the Greenstreets programme with a value of up to 500,000. 3.2 MD455 approved this programme and its grant funding of 3.2m from DEFRA. The estimated uncommitted spend in 2012/13 and 2013/14 totalling 1,380,737 is to be funded from this grant. The total, including workstreams already committed, is 1,695,737, broken down as follows: 2012/13 2013/14 TOTAL 000 000 000 Tier 3 workstreams already committed / spent 315-315 Tier 3 workstreams proposed 395 986 1,381 Total 710 986 1,696 3.3 The funding for the commitment of 1,695,737 is to be met in the following ways 000 Budget 2012-13 757 Environment Drainage reserves balance 941 Total 1,698 5
In the table above reserves balance includes IPB approved the carry forward of 248,000 from 2011/12, 243,000 budget for 2012-13 not required this financial year and budget provision of 450,000 for 2013-14. The sum of the approved budget of 757,000 and the balance in reserves represents the unspent balance ( 1,698,000) of the 3,200,000 DEFRA grant received. This unspent grant will fund the proposed programme and will require 47,000 of 2012/13 budget being placed into reserves to fund the planned 2013-14 986,000 expenditure. 3.4 All requisite budget adjustments will be made. 3.5 Part of the proposed funding above is to be governed via funding agreements. Consequently, officers are reminded to ensure that they liaise with both the Legal and Finance Teams in the preparation and execution of the funding agreements. In addition, the monitoring of the funding and associated payments must be in line with the Authority s Funding Agreement Toolkit. 3.6 As part of the programme relates to contracts, officers have to ensure that the requirements of the Authority s Contracts & Funding Code are adhered to. 3.7 As part of the contracts are consultancy based, officers also have to ensure that the requirements relating to consultancy services within the Authority s Financial Regulations and Expenses & Benefits Framework are adhered to. 3.8 Any changes to this proposal must be subject to further approval via the Authority s decisionmaking process. 3.9 The Environment Team within the Development and Environment Directorate will be responsible for managing this project and associated funding agreements. 4. Legal Comments 4.1 Sections 1-3 of this report indicate that: 4.1.1 the proposals in respect of which the Director s approval is sought relate may be considered to fall within the Authority s powers to do such things as are facilitative of or conducive the promotion of the improvement of the environment in Greater London ; 4.1.2 in formulating the proposals in respect of which a decision is sought officers have complied with the Authority s related statutory duties to: (a) pay due regard to the principle that there should be equality of opportunity for all people; (b) consider how the proposals will promote the improvement of health of persons, health inequalities betweens persons and to contribute towards the achievement of sustainable development in the United Kingdom; and (c) consult with appropriate bodies. 4.2 Officers have indicated in sections 1 and 2 of this report that the contribution of funding to the proposed recipients and projects will amount to the provision of funding and not a payment for services rendered. Officers must ensure that the funding is distributed and managed fairly, transparently, and in accordance with the Authority s Contracts and Funding Code. 6
4.3 Services required must be procured by Transport for London Procurement who will determine the detail of the procurement strategy to be adopted in accordance with the Authority s Contracts and Funding Code and officers should liaise with TfL Procurement in this regard. 4.4 Officers must ensure that appropriate contract documentation and funding agreements are put in place and executed by the successful bidder(s) and proposed recipients and the Authority before the commencement of required services or any commitment is made to fund the recipients. 5. Investment & Performance Board The Drain London programme was approved by IPB on 19 September 2012. 6. Background/supporting papers None 7
Public access to information Information in this form is subject to the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOI Act) and other legislation. Information on this decision will be included in the Mayor s report and decision list. The form will be available publically from then. Any facts and advice that should not be made automatically available on request should not be included in Part 1 but instead on the separate Part 2 form. Deferment is only applicable where release before that date would compromise the implementation of the decision being approved. Is the publication of this approval to be deferred? No If yes, for what reason: Until what date: Is there a part 2 form NO ORIGINATING OFFICER DECLARATION: Drafting officer: Alex Nickson has drafted this report in accordance with GLA procedures and confirms the following have been consulted on the final decision: Assistant Director/Head of Service: Stephen Tate has reviewed the documentation and is satisfied for it to be referred to the Sponsoring Director for approval. Advice: The Finance and Legal teams have commented on this proposal. Tick indicates approval () Executive Director, Development and Environment I have been consulted about the proposal and confirm that financial and legal advice have been taken into account in the preparation of this report. Signature Date 8