National Flood Resilience Strategy: implementation report 2021 - 2025

PART B: Progress by Responsible Authorities

Scottish Government

The Scottish Government oversees the implementation of the Act. Scottish Ministers are responsible for setting the policy framework for implementing how flooding is managed in Scotland including the responsibility for approving the objectives and actions set out in the national flood risk management plans.

The Scottish Government has taken forward or updated policies to help shape the way forward within flood risk management. The Scottish Government has also funded and/or managed flood risk management projects which help to reduce flood risk and increase knowledge and science for the future.

Flood Risk Management Funding

Since 2008, the Scottish Government has made available funding of £42 million per year to enable Local Authorities to deliver appropriate flood protection measures.

The 2020 Programme for Government committed an additional £150 million over the course of the parliament to support flood risk management actions and £12 million to coastal change adaptation, to be allocated over four years from 2022-26.

Both the flood risk management, and coastal change funding were part of the local government settlement. This means that decisions on the distribution of the funding are made jointly by Ministers and COSLA leaders.

Surface Water Management

As outlined later in this report, SEPA has invested significantly in improving flood mapping which means that substantial progress has been made since the introduction of the Act in understanding the impact of surface water flooding in Scotland, where the priorities lie and how organisations can work together to manage the impacts of floods on communities. Approximately 327,000 homes, businesses and services are at risk from surface water flooding and small watercourses and that this is estimated to increase to 530,000^[6] through climate change.

Urban areas in particular face mounting challenges with surface water drainage and related flooding. Despite considerable capital investment by statutory authorities the continued densification of Scotland’s towns and cities is adding to the pressure on drainage systems that are already at capacity and the “total asset” that needs to be flood resilient continues to increase. An integrated, place-based approach focused on blue-green infrastructure has the potential to deliver multiple benefits for communities to help overcome these challenges.

In February 2021 the Scottish Government published the Water Resilient Places Policy Framework^[7] which made 21 recommendations to improve surface water management in Scotland. The framework was well received and has encouraged responsible authorities to consider how surface water can be managed as part of our climate adaptation and placemaking journeys.

In September 2022 Scottish Government and the Scottish Cities Alliance held the Creating Water Resilient Places event in Edinburgh. This brought together chief executives and other senior leaders from across Scotland’s eight cities and key government agencies to discuss the opportunities and challenges of making our urban areas water resilient places to help them respond to climate change.

At this event, local authorities, SEPA and Scottish Water welcomed the Water Resilient Places policy framework and expressed a clear desire to continue to collaborate and work more closely together, both locally and nationally.

This builds on a strong base of existing successful collaborations such as the Edinburgh and Lothians, and Metropolitan Glasgow Strategic Drainage Partnerships, and partnership working in Aberdeen and Dundee.

Flooding and Land-Use Planning

National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4^[8]) policy 22 aims to strengthen resilience to flood risk and reduce the vulnerability of existing and future development to flooding. The policy promotes avoidance of development in flood risk areas as a first principle other than in limited circumstances where flood risk can be managed at the site.

In October 2025, a Chief Planner letter^[9] was issued to support the implementation of policy 22 and to provide guidance on how it should be applied.

This includes clarifying processes, roles and responsibilities in terms of flood risk. Policies in NPF4 should be read and applied as a whole. The planning system requires decision makers to weigh up all relevant policies as well as relevant material considerations in applying balanced planning judgement.

SEPA as a statutory consultee in the land-use planning process provide advice, evidence and support to help planning authorities meet their statutory FRM and land-use planning duties through appropriate development. This ensures that core flood risk management principles such as avoidance are carried through into sustainable place making and included at the heart of the land-use planning decision making process.

A Flood Resilience Strategy for Scotland

Many actions taken forward since the Act was introduced in 2009 are bringing benefits to Scotland. New flood protection schemes, improved flood forecasting and flood warning and increased community support are all contributing towards local and national flood resilience. But there is still much work to do as some communities remain vulnerable and are set to become even more exposed to the impacts of flooding as our climate changes.

The Scottish Government’s 2022 Programme for Government committed to consult on a new flooding strategy for Scotland, including how we can build community flood resilience and engage a broader range of delivery partners to deliver more diverse flood management actions faster.

A National Flood Resilience Strategy was published in December 2024 and identifies six priority action areas under the themes of People, Places and Processes. The strategy puts people at the heart of the process and supports an increase in the range and rate of delivery of actions both to manage our flood exposure, and to reduce the impacts of flooding when it does occur.

To support the implementation of the strategy the Scottish Government established a governance structure, including an implementation group.

The Flood Resilience Strategy forms a key component of the Scottish National Adaptation Plan published in August 2024, with dedicated delivery objectives in the Adaptation Plan dedicated to improving community resilience to flooding and ensuring Scotland’s coasts are adapting sustainably to a changing climate. An implementation plan for the Flood Resilience Strategy will be published in 2026.

The SNAP3 Monitoring and Evaluation Framework provides the evidence base for tracking adaptation progress and supports the Scottish Government's annual reporting to the Scottish Parliament on delivery of the Adaptation Plan. It includes a set of indicators that measure both implementation and longer-term resilience outcomes.

For flooding, the framework includes an indicator on progress of actions in Local Flood Risk Management Plans. This helps assess whether flood resilience measures are being delivered in practice

For coastal adaptation and erosion, the framework includes indicators on the proportion of soft shorelines affected by coastal erosion and the number of local authorities with coastal adaptation plans in place.

The 2025-26 Adaptation Plan Annual Progress Report (June 2026) is available here.

Flood Resilience Conference

For over two decades the Scottish Government has supported an annual Flood Resilience Conference that brings together Scotland’s flood risk management community to share knowledge, promote innovation, and encourage collaboration. Hosted by Verture, the conference is a key event in the flood risk management calendar, providing opportunities to discuss challenges, policy developments, and best practice in flood resilience.

The conference has adapted to changing needs over time, including moving online during the COVID-19 pandemic. This increased participation and allowed sessions to be recorded and shared more widely. Since then, the event has continued to attract strong attendance and engagement, supporting professional networks and knowledge sharing across the sector.

By 2025 the conference had built a strong reputation with 408 people attended in person and 214 people attending online. The conference brought together stakeholders from government, academia, environmental organisations, infrastructure providers, consultants, and community groups. The conference continues to play an important role in supporting Scotland’s flood risk management and climate resilience goals.

Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA)

SEPA continues to play a central role in managing flood risk across Scotland, working closely with local authorities, Scottish Water, the Met Office and other responsible authorities. As Scotland’s national authority for flood forecasting, flood warning and strategic flood risk management, SEPA provides the evidence, coordination and services that underpin national and local flood resilience.

SEPA delivers its flood risk responsibilities through three strategic pillars: Avoid, Adapt and Warn.

Avoid – Understanding and Avoiding Flood Risk

Robust, accessible evidence on flood risk is essential to enable informed decisions, support appropriate development and encourage early action to avoid risk. Between 2020 and 2025, SEPA made substantial advances in improving the quality, coverage and accessibility of flood risk information across Scotland.

This work focused on flood mapping and modelling, enhanced flood risk intelligence, and strengthening flood risk advice within the planning system.

In 2025 SEPA published their updated National Flood Risk Assessment^[10].

Flood Mapping and Modelling

SEPA regularly review and update flood maps under Section 24 of the Flood Risk Management Act.

SEPA significantly enhanced Scotland’s flood mapping capabilities during the reporting period, strengthening the foundations of flood risk management through improved data, modelling techniques and transparency.

Key milestones included:

• 2020 – Publication of future river and coastal flood maps, illustrating potential long‑term climate change impacts and supporting strategic decision making.
• 2023 – Publication of updated coastal flood maps for north‑east Scotland, Orkney and the Outer Hebrides, incorporating wave action for the first time. This significantly improved the realism of coastal flood hazard mapping and enables more informed assessment of coastal flood risk.
• 2025 – Publication of new surface water flood maps, which for the first time include small watercourses. These maps incorporate the latest data, science and modelling approaches and represent a step change in understanding flood risk from surface water and minor watercourses across Scotland.

Flood Risk Intelligence and Data Access

SEPA has also focused on improving access to flood risk data to support innovation, collaboration and inclusion across the flood risk community.

• In October 2022, flood datasets were released under the Open Government Licence, improving transparency and enabling wider use of flood risk information by partners, developers and researchers.
• A data architecture pilot was launched to modernise how flood risk evidence is managed and shared. This programme is transforming SEPA’s data infrastructure and improving confidence, consistency and trust in flood risk evidence used across Scotland.

Flood Risk Advice and the Planning System

SEPA’s flood risk advice continues to play a key role in embedding flood avoidance within land‑use planning.

• Updated guidance was published to support implementation of National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4), helping ensure a shared understanding of flood risk policy and its application across planning authorities and stakeholders.
• A 2024 audit of the Regional Flood Risk Advice service highlighted strong performance, including structured training for new staff, improved internal guidance, and enhanced coordination through the Planning and Flood Risk Working Group.
• Ongoing liaison with local authorities has supported early engagement and constructive discussion of development proposals in areas of flood risk.

Adapt – Building Flood Resilience

SEPA has been at the heart of Scotland’s flood adaptation and resilience agenda, contributing both strategically and operationally at national and local levels.

Between 2020 and 2025, SEPA:

• Led and contributed to numerous partnerships supporting coordination and knowledge‑sharing across the Flood Risk Management regime.
• Hosted a joint public consultation on Flood Risk Management Plans and Local Flood Risk Management Plans (2020–2021), with feedback directly shaping the final plans.
• Delivered the Flood Risk Management Plans for 2022–2028, published in early 2022, and supported preparation and delivery of 14 Local Flood Risk Management Plans.
• Supported publication of Coastal Change Adaptation Guidance in 2023.
• Commissioned a pilot study in 2023 exploring options for a national approach to flood defence asset management.
• Undertook consultation and published updated Potentially Vulnerable Areas (PVAs) in 2024, introducing a shift towards community based PVAs for the 2028–2034 planning cycle.
• Played a central role in developing Scotland’s Flood Resilience Strategy, published in December 2024, setting a long term, collaborative vision for resilience.

SEPA also continued to engage directly with communities across Scotland, supporting flood awareness, preparedness and resilience through in‑person and digital engagement.

Warn – Flood Forecasting and Warning

SEPA continued to deliver and modernise Scotland’s Flood Warning Service, ensuring readiness to warn communities and partners of flood risk.

Key developments during the reporting period included:

• Introduction of new flood warning schemes, expanding coverage to 38 additional communities, including Eilean Siar, Aberfoyle, Ayr and Annick and the River Carron.
• Publication of the Flood Warning Development Framework 2022–2028, setting out a clear programme for service enhancement.
• Delivery of the Future Flood and Incident Messaging Service in 2024, significantly improving digital accessibility and account management for over 40,000 Floodline users.
• Launch of the Scottish Flood Forecast in 2023, providing a public facing, mobile friendly forecast of flood risk up to three days ahead.
• Operational adoption of PREDICTOR in 2024, a next generation surface water forecasting tool using high resolution Met Office ensemble forecasts and flood impact data.
• Launch of a new satellite emergency mapping service in 2024, supporting near real‑time situational awareness during major flood events.
• Upgrade of FEWS Scotland to a resilient cloud-based forecasting system, improving security, reliability and continuity of forecasting operations.
• Targeted review and improvement of existing flood warning schemes in the Scottish Borders and the Forth and Tay catchments, ensuring alignment with updated hydrology and new flood protection schemes.

Hydrometric Monitoring and Data

As Scotland’s Hydrometric Measuring Authority, SEPA continued to strengthen the quality, resilience and accessibility of hydrometric data.

• Improvements to Scotland’s contribution to the UK Peak Flows Dataset increased the number of sites meeting required quality standards and strengthened the evidence base supporting major investment decisions.
• Continued investment in SEPA’s hydrometric network, comprising over 700 gauging stations, enhanced resilience, access and data quality.
• Completion of work enabling full use of statutory access powers under the Flood Risk Management (Scotland) Act 2009 ensured faults can be addressed promptly to maintain critical data continuity for flood forecasting and warning.

Overall, SEPA’s work between 2020 and 2025 has strengthened the foundations of flood risk management in Scotland. Through improved evidence, modernised forecasting, partnership working and community engagement, SEPA continues to support a more informed, prepared and flood resilient Scotland.

Scottish Water

Scottish Water has continued to play a key role in managing flood risk in Scotland, working in partnership with local authorities, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency and other responsible authorities. Its contribution focuses on understanding and managing flood risk associated with sewerage and drainage systems and supporting integrated, catchment-based solutions.

Integrated Catchment Studies

Throughout the reporting period, Scottish Water led a programme of Integrated Catchment Studies in partnership with local authorities. These studies provide a comprehensive understanding of how surface water, sewers and watercourses interact within urban catchments, identifying the sources and mechanisms of flooding and opportunities for sustainable interventions.

All actions required during the first cycle of flood risk management planning were completed by 2021 and 2022. The studies have delivered valuable evidence to support joint decision making and prioritisation, particularly in areas identified as shared priorities by Scottish Water and local authorities.

Five studies identified options for sustainable flood risk management solutions suitable for further development, while twelve studies delivered detailed catchment flood risk assessments. The outputs from this work have directly informed actions included in the second cycle of Flood Risk Management Plans and Local Flood Risk Management Plans.

Assessment of Flood Risk from Sewerage Systems

Scottish Water completed modelling assessments of flood risk from sewerage systems across 201 catchments during the first planning cycle. As required under the Flood Risk Management (Scotland) Act 2009, this information was shared with partners to support the development of national surface water flood maps and local surface water management planning.

For the second planning cycle, Scottish Water and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency jointly identified 67 catchments requiring further assessment of sewer flooding. These assessments are included in local flood plans and are being delivered through a six-year modelling programme that commenced in 2023.

Scottish Water has continued to support local authorities in developing surface water management plans and coastal adaptation planning, helping to align investment, responsibilities and long-term flood resilience outcomes.