Developing a tool and guidance for local authorities to record assets relating to all sources of local flood risk
A project exploring the current ways in which organisations gather and store data about drainage structures, and the best ways of sharing it effectively.
Documents
There are no documents with this project
Details
The Environment Agency, Defra and local authorities worked together to address the Pitt Review’s recommendations about the way they gather and share information about local drainage.
This work was designed to support local authorities preparing for new duties under the Flood and Water Management Act 2010. The Act means lead authorities are responsible for compiling and sharing registers of structures or features that have a significant effect on flood risk in their area.
Approach
This project researched the current situation in a range of organisations which have responsibilities for flood risk management. They either already keep asset registers or are looking to begin compiling them.
It looked at:
- the type of information collected
- the systems used to store information
- how information is used
- how information is shared
- how often information is updated
It also examined whether there were any overlaps between the ways and formats in which the data was stored.
The project explored what users would want from a generic IT system or ‘tool’ to help them compile the registers, and what they’d need in terms of guidance to begin this work. It suggested and assessed three possible levels of tool development.
The project started in 2009 and was completed in 2011.
Further information
The research was supported by:
- Communities and Local Government (CLG)
- Construction Industry Research and Information Association (CIRIA)
- Local Government Association (LGA)
- the Association of Geographic Information (AGI)
A survey developed with their support was developed and sent to local authorities. This looked at the use and development of asset registers.
Findings
A third of local authorities in England and Wales participated in the survey. The results identified a wide range of approaches is being taken when developing asset registers. Some users are already using Geographic Information System (GIS) technologies, others are working towards implementing such systems and others have no systems in place.
The lack of technical and staff resources were reported as barriers to using GIS technology, and clear guidance and support is required to enable them to progress this work.
It was also found that when information is gathered, it’s not carried out at regular intervals. Also, no formal use of data standards or generic database structures were used.
Considerations
There was, however, a mutual agreement (27% of all authorities) that a GIS-based approach to create asset registers was a preferred approach.
The first step to developing a standard GIS solution would require agreement between users of a common database structure. This ensured that asset information is recorded and described in the same way across different organisations.
Standardising data formats and structures will allow information to be more easily shared. It also helps understand what the data represents between users in different organisations.
The main recommendation of the work being taken forward is to provide advice for a common data structure.