The Environment Agency is currently identifying how it will deliver Flood Incident Management (FIM) services over the next 10 years. We assisted the Agency in reviewing options for implementing a 10-year plan and the investment needed for its delivery. We developed innovative options for FIM investment prioritisation that drew on a wide and detailed bank of experience within our team. This involved close liaison with a wide variety of stakeholders both within and outside the Environment Agency, and a detailed appreciation of the needs of practitioners and beneficiaries of the services provided.
We carried out this work in collaboration with CH2M Hill and the Flood Hazard Research Centre, Middlesex University. Our involvement included base-lining and information gathering to develop a clear understanding and definition of the current FIM service and current plans for service enhancement. We helped define requirements of a new risk-based framework for FIM investment prioritisation and contributed to a review of options for meeting those requirements. We supported the identification of possible futures and high level options and the carrying out of an options appraisal. This included running a “brainstorming” meeting with stakeholders, defining the method for the options appraisal, leading on calculating costs of option packages and contributing to calculating/stating benefits of the options packages.
We also led on drafting implementation roadmaps and investment needs and contributed to defining practical measures and targets for assessing implementation success. We played a leading role in the production of the high level implementation report, briefing note and presentation materials for dissemination.