The Rushcliffe Council's Communities Scrutiny Group is scheduled to meet on Thursday, 16 October 2025, to discuss flood risk management and the group's future work programme. The meeting will feature a presentation from Nottinghamshire County Council, the Lead Local Flood Authority (LLFA), on the latest flood risk data for the borough. Councillors will also consider potential topics for future scrutiny.

Flood Risk Update

A key item for discussion is the flood risk within Rushcliffe. The Director of Neighbourhoods has provided a report, also including a presentation by Nottinghamshire County Council, the Lead Local Flood Authority, that reflects on the latest flood risk data for the Borough.

The report notes that Rushcliffe faces risks from both fluvial (river) and pluvial (surface water) flooding. The main rivers running through the Borough are the Trent, Soar, Smite and Devon, all of which have Environment Agency flood alerts and warnings available.

The report highlights the increasing prevalence of pluvial surface water flooding, which is harder to predict than river flooding. It mentions that the Environment Agency has released a national searchable surface water flood risk map to help residents and businesses assess their preparedness.

Several significant flood incidents since the last scrutiny report in 2020 are listed, including:

• Storm Christoph (January 2021), which affected communities along the Trent and Soar, including Barton, Thrumpton and Radcliffe on Trent
• Storm Babet (October 2023), which caused internal flooding in at least 27 homes and 2 businesses across 9 communities, including Gotham, Edwalton, West Bridgford, East Leake, Ruddington, Tollerton, Cropwell Butler and Radcliffe on Trent.
• Isolated heavy rain in December 2023, which caused localised surface water flooding, particularly in Cropwell Butler and Bingham.
• Storm Henk (January 2024), which led to the evacuation of over 100 properties and affected 17 communities in Rushcliffe, including Barton in Fabis, Costock, Cotgrave, Cropwell Butler, East Bridgford, East Leake, Flawborough, Gotham, Normanton on Soar, Radcliffe on Trent, Ratcliffe on Soar, Shelford, Sutton Bonnington, Edwalton, Thrumpton, Tollerton and Zouch.
• Operation Cleves (January 2025), which caused significant surface water flooding across north Leicestershire and Rushcliffe, followed by elevated river levels on the Soar and Trent, again impacting Zouch and East Leake, as well as Sutton Bonnington, Thrumpton, Barton in Fabis, Kingston on Soar and Normanton on Soar.

The report identifies key stakeholders involved in flood risk management, including:

• Nottinghamshire County Council (Lead Local Flood Authority)
• Rushcliffe Borough Council
• Environment Agency
• Severn Trent Water
• Internal drainage boards

The report also details partnership working and community engagement projects, such as the Flood Warden Scheme run by Nottinghamshire County Council and the Environment Agency, and the council's flood resilience store grant.

The report states that Rushcliffe Borough Council has a service level agreement with Nottinghamshire County Council for a shared Emergency Planning Officer at a cost of £31,000 per year. It also notes that the council has provided additional funding from the Flood Grant and Resilience Reserve for the Flood Resilience Store grant scheme, with a balance of £22,000 as of 1 April 2025.

Work Programme

The Communities Scrutiny Group will also discuss its work programme. According to a report from the Director of Finance and Corporate Services, the work programmes for all Scrutiny Groups are managed by the Corporate Overview Group, which considers proposals for scrutiny items from both officers and councillors.

The proposed work programme includes the following items for future meetings:

• 22 January 2026: Asylum Dispersal and Contingency Accommodation including HMO's
• 2 April 2026: Carbon Management Plan Update and West Bridgford Contact Point
• October 2026: Review of debt collection agents used by Rushcliffe Borough Council, in line with the outcome of the government's consultation on Council Tax and Enforcement.

The report asks members to propose future topics to be considered by the Group, in line with the Council's priorities:

• The Environment
• Quality of Life
• Efficient Services
• Sustainable Growth