The Environment and Sustainable Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee of County Durham Council is scheduled to meet on Thursday 07 May 2026. The meeting's agenda includes discussions on flood risk management, financial outturns for the Neighbourhoods and Environment services, and a review of performance against the Council Plan.

Flood Risk Management Authorities Report

A significant portion of the meeting is dedicated to an update from the Flood Risk Management Authorities (FRMAs) for County Durham. This includes reports and presentations from Durham County Council, the Environment Agency, and Northumbrian Water Limited. The discussions are expected to cover current and future flood mitigation schemes, partnership working, and funding secured for these initiatives.

Durham County Council, acting as the Lead Local Flood Authority (LLFA) under the Flood and Water Management Act 2010, will present details of its Flood and Coastal Protection Team's activities. This includes an overview of completed and ongoing flood mitigation schemes, such as the South Stanley and Craghead Area project funded by the Flood and Coastal Resilience Innovation Programme, and the SuDS in Schools Project. The report will also detail the work undertaken by the Northumbria Integrated Drainage Partnership (NIDP), which aims to reduce flood risk from sewers, rivers, and surface water runoff across the North East.

The Environment Agency will provide an update on its Flood and Coastal Defence (FCDP) capital investment programme for the North East, with a specific focus on County Durham. This will include details of schemes progressing through the NIDP, such as the South Stanley (Park Road) and South Stanley (Avon Road) Flood Alleviation Schemes, and planned investments for 2026-2029. The agency will also outline its community engagement and resilience work, including the establishment of flood warden groups and educational initiatives.

Northumbrian Water Group (NWG) will also present its activities, focusing on its role in flood risk management. This includes updates on the NIDP programme, sewer flooding capital investment, and the development of Drainage and Wastewater Management Plans (DWMPs). NWG will also report on its performance in reducing internal and external sewer flooding incidents and the ongoing Bin the Wipe campaign.

Quarter Three 2025/2026 Forecast of Revenue and Capital Outturn

The committee will receive a joint report from the Corporate Director of Resources and the Corporate Director of Neighbourhoods and Environment detailing the forecast outturn budget for these service areas as of Quarter 3 (31 December 2025). The report indicates a forecast underspend of £4.152 million for Neighbourhoods and a forecast underspend of £54,000 for Culture, Sport & Tourism against their revised budgets. The report will analyse variances against budget heads, including details on the use of reserves and reasons for under and overspending. The capital programme for Neighbourhoods and Environment and for Culture, Sport & Tourism will also be reviewed, with expenditure to 31 December 2025 detailed.

Quarter Three 2025/2026 Performance Management Report

A report from the Chief Executive will provide an update on progress towards the strategic ambitions and objectives set out in the Council Plan 2025-30. The report uses Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) presented through dashboards to show trends, direction of travel, benchmarking, and performance against targets. Key messages will be aligned to the council's five strategic ambitions, highlighting areas that are going well and issues we are addressing. For Supercharging Our Economy, the report notes the success of cultural events like the Lumiere light festival and the Durham Book Festival. Under Building Better Communities, it highlights low fly-tipping rates, high environmental cleanliness, increased long-term properties brought back into use, low anti-social behaviour, and the achievement of highway defect repair targets. The report also notes progress in broadband access, surpassing the government target. For A Practical Environmental Stewardship, the report indicates a high diversion of municipal waste from landfill and that only one monitoring site within the Durham City Air Quality Management Area remains above the government threshold. The report will also detail the progress on heritage conservation, including the removal of sections of the Stockton & Darlington Railway from the Heritage at Risk Register.