Legislation
The Flood Prevention and Land Drainage (Scotland) Act 1997 imposes a clear statutory duty on local councils to maintain watercourses, initiate flood defence projects, and issue reports every two years on all flooding problems and what they are doing about them. There is no similar legislation in England . The Act could potentially give rise to a legal liability on the part of the Council to compensate flood victims or their insurers. The first such case was announced in September 2002, and is currently sub judice, so the author is not at liberty to give details at the time of writing. According to press reports in September, it will involve a consortium of insurers and loss adjusters seeking to recover between £50m and £70m in damages from Edinburgh City Council in respect of flood claims payments arising from the April 2000 floods.

For some years, the author has made most Councils in Scotland very aware of their potential liabilities through discussions in Flood Liaison and Advice Groups, and they take their duties seriously. Each has a duty to publish reports every two years under Section 6A of the Act, showing all flood events in their area since the last report, along with details of properties affected, causes of the flood, and what action they are taking to prevent a recurrence. Most of these reports are very detailed and demonstrate that most local authorities are working hard to ensure that watercourses, drainage channels and culverts are properly maintained. . The reports provide a wealth of free information which can help insurers to review their strategies for insuring properties in a council's area. Increasingly the full reports are being published on the councils' web sites.

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