Report by Public Protection Manager (attached).

The Committee considered a report by the Public Protection Manager (circulated previously) regarding funding for victims of Barnstaple floods which occurred on 17 August 2020.

The Public Protection Manager highlighted the following:

·         The flash flooding which occurred in Barnstaple on 17 August 2020 affected 117 residential and commercial properties.

·         A number of agencies including North Devon Council responded to the incident and a Recovery Co-ordinating group was set up.

·         The Committee was asked to consider whether to utilise part of the Covid 19 Hardship fund to support householders who were flooded in Barnstaple on 17 August 2020.  The suggested funding structure was detailed in paragraph 4.2 of the report.  The views of the Recovery Co-ordinating Group had been sought.

·         The Council had promoted the use of the Devon County Council Flood Online Reporting Tool (FORT) as part of the recovery stage.  One property in Bishops Tawton was shown to be flooded on the FORT map

·         The Council had been advised that properties in Landkey and North Molton had been flooded, but these had not been reported through the online reporting tool.  Any future flooding needed to be reported using the online tool and guidance would be provided on how to report incidents.

·         If the Committee approved the funding, then applicants would be requested to provide evidence of the flooding that had occurred.

Councillor Roome addressed the Committee.

In response to questions, the Chief Executive advised the following:

·         The NDC Covid 19 Hardship fund was for private individuals and not businesses and had been awarded to the Council by Devon County Council.  Devon County Council (DCC) had confirmed that the Council’s own policy could determine eligibility in order to respond to local circumstances and there was discretion to use some for hardship caused by flooding and that DCC would support use of the funds for this purpose.

·         Since the flooding had occurred, the impact of Covid 19 on North Devon’s economy had been firmed up and 7 out of 10 worst affected wards in Devon were within North Devon.  Nationally the full impact of Covid 19 was unknown.  One third of UK employers were planning on making redundancies and the major impacts on individuals and families was still to be felt.

·         If the Covid 19 Hardship fund was used to support householders who were flooded, this fund would not be replaced by DCC and potentially one third of the total fund would be used for this purpose.

·         The flash flood was not a one off event and was likely to occur again and there was concern that this would set a precedent and pressure on North Devon Council to provide funding.

·         The Covid 19 Hardship Fund was there to provide funding to those experiencing hardship and could be used to purchase such items as school uniforms, face masks, travel to medical appointments.

·         The additional flooding that had occurred over the weekend of the 3^rd and 4^th October had not been reported to the Council.

·         The Committee had discretion to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 187