What is a Section 19 investigation report?

Under Section 19 (S19) of the Flood and Water Management Act 2010, Shropshire Council as the lead local flood authority (LLFA), has a duty to investigate incidents of flooding. The act states that:

1. On becoming aware of a flood in its area, a lead local flood authority must, to the extent that it considers it necessary or appropriate, investigate:
   (a) Which risk management authorities have relevant flood risk management functions, and
   (b) Whether each of those risk management authorities has exercised, or is proposing to exercise, those functions in response to the flood.
2. Where an authority carries out an investigation under subsection (1) it must:
   (a) Publish the results of its investigation, and
   (b) Notify any relevant risk management authorities.

We will therefore investigate incidents of flooding that are considered to be ‘locally significant’. Further guidance is given below on the number of properties deemed to be locally significant, at which point an S19 report will be produced. We will continue to investigate as many other incidents of flooding as our resources allow, however not all of those will meet the criteria for a Section 19 report. 

When will a Section 19 investigation report be undertaken?

Following major flood events, it can often be difficult to identify the source of the flooding and with whom actions to help resolve flooding issues may lie. The purpose of Section 19 of the Flood and Water Management Act 2010 is to ensure that, where this uncertainty occurs, LLFA’s assist with identifying the sources of flooding and notifying those Risk Management Authorities (RMA’s) which have responsibilities.

When we become aware of internal property flooding, (classed as ‘over the doorstep’ level in line with other RMA’s), it will endeavour to investigate the source of the flooding and notify the relevant RMA’s which have specific responsibilities.

It may not be possible to carry out an investigation into every reported flooding incident following major events, when the Council is likely to have received a large volume of enquiries. On these occasions we will prioritise our response based on the associated risk to properties and infrastructure.

We will undertake a formal S19 investigation for locally significant flood events when one or more of the following criteria are met:

• Five or more residential properties are reported to have been internally flooded during a single flood event in one location;
• Two or more business properties are reported to have been internally flooded during a single flood event in one location, or;
• One or more items of critical infrastructure are reported to have been adversely    affected during a single flood event in one location.

This information can also be found in our Local Flood Risk Management Strategy (LFRMS).

What is not included in a Section 19 investigation report

A Section 19 report will aim to identify the most likely cause of the flooding and set out the responsibilities of each of the RMA’s however it will not include catchment modelling or detailed rainfall analysis. It is also not intended to provide solutions and mitigation options to individual flood events.

There may be instances where it is identified that there is a need for further, more detailed investigations, such as modelling, and in these situations we will continue to work with our partners, such as the Environment Agency and Severn Trent Water, to obtain this more detailed analysis of a flood event.

Appropriate records will be kept monitoring the frequency of flooding in locations where a Section 19 report is required. These actions and the content of the Section 19 reports will support the justification for flood risk management schemes and other relevant flood risk management actions in the future.

How will we publish the results of Section 19 reports?

We will provide completed Section 19 reports when requested by third parties, to comply with the Flood and Water Management Act 2010. If you would like to receive a copy of a specific S19 report, then please contact us.