Verbal update to be given at the meeting.

The Chief Executive gave an update following the recent water shortage on the Isle of Sheppey being declared as a major incident. She explained that due to a burst water pipe near the Kingsferry Bridge, residents on the Isle of Sheppey were without water until it was fixed. Southern Water (SW) had fixed the initial leak, but upon fixing this, they had discovered a second leak was present and this was the reason that water had not yet been turned back on. The Chief Executive said that several Council staff had been redeployed temporarily to set-up an emergency centre at Swale House and to give water to residents on the Isle of Sheppey. She informed Members that the Council were liaising with several government organisations through the Kent Resilience Forum meetings and SW to get regular updates on the situation. She added that vulnerable people were receiving water and staff would be redeployed until Tuesday 19 July 2022 if necessary, but she hoped the situation would be resolved by Sunday 17 July 2022and staff could return to their normal jobs.

Members were invited to ask questions and make comments which included:

·         Complimented the Chief Executive and officers at the Council for the swift response, updates and providing aid to the residents of the Isle of Sheppey;

·         considered the Council did not have enough staff to provide water to all the residents on the Isle of Sheppey and should ask the army for help;

·         requested an update on the bridge closure;

·         why were the Kent Fire & Rescue service pumping water onto the Isle of Sheppey?;

·         frustrated at SW’s response to the leak and the locations of the water stations;

·         could the Council consider asking local housing agencies for help?;

·         had voluntary groups been asked to help?;

·         could the Chief Executive ask Swallows Leisure centre if they could extend their opening hours at the weekend if the situation had not improved by then?;

·         concerned that once this situation had resolved SW would pump all the sewage back into the sea;

·         SW were too concerned about their reputation, rather than the residents of the Isle of Sheppey;

·         once this situation had resolved the Council needed to invite Southern Water to a future committee meeting to find out what happened and their future plans on preventing this situation happening again;

·         the road network to deliver water was vulnerable and could the Council consider a different method of getting water onto the Isle of Sheppey?;

·         a similar incident occurred in 2016 at a lower scale, and SW should have reviewed their pipes then to ensure it did not happen again;

·         did the Council have a list of emergency centres if the residents of the Isle of Sheppey needed to be evacuated?;

·         situations like this caused financial implications and the Council had reserves to cover this, but expected SW to compensate the Council, residents and any other business impacted from this; and

·         emergency training should be given to Councillors on how to respond to these situations and the media for any future emergencies that could occur.

The Chief Executive explained that the Military could only be called upon once the situation had reached certain criterion and the decision would be made by Government. She explained that the Kent Fire & Rescue service and Kent County Council (KCC) Highways & Transportation were in discussion to close the bridge so that a water pump could be placed on it to provide the Isle of Sheppey with some water for livestock, prison and vulnerable sites. However, there were some late sudden decisions that resulted in a last-minute closure of the bridge and mixed with some traffic collisions caused issues on the road. She added that the Kent Fire & Rescue service had contingency plans of their own which included delivering water by boat if that was needed.

The Chief Executive picked up Members’ queries on local housing agencies and volunteering groups providing assistance to Council staff and explained that the voluntary groups were represented on the tactical command group and they were the link to coordinate the volunteer groups. They created plans for the voluntary sectors, and then the voluntary groups did what they could to fulfil the plan. She added that although the local housing agencies had vans and people that could help on the Isle of Sheppey, they still had to do their normal job, providing support to those in social housing, so it was difficult for them to redeploy staff to provide aid.

In response to queries on the emergency centres, the Chief Executive confirmed that there were a list of emergency centres and officers that were available if the Isle of Sheppey needed to be evacuated. She confirmed that the list included those centres that were suitable for vulnerable people with medical needs and those centres that could provide basic temporary accommodation.

The Chair proposed that the committee gave a vote of thanks to Council staff and the volunteers that worked around-the-clock to provide assistance to the residents on the Isle of Sheppey, and this was seconded by Councillor Mike Whiting.

The Chair proposed that no matter the cost, the resources that were needed to combat this emergency were to be made available to the Chief Executive, and this was seconded by Councillor Monique Bonney.

Councillor Roger Truelove proposed that Swale Borough Council (SBC) condemned SW’s response to this emergency for the failure to ensure sufficient water for residents, their lack of response over previous years, failures to learn from previous emergencies and, failure to have a proper emergency plan in place. This was seconded by Councillor Mike Whiting.

The Chair proposed that SBC approached SW for reparation, and worked with KCC to scrutinise SW’s approach to the water disruption on the Isle of Sheppey. This was seconded by Councillor Monique Bonney. 

Resolved:

(1)  That the Policy and Resources Committee thanked Council staff and the volunteers that worked around-the-clock to provide assistance to the residents of the Isle of Sheppey.

(2)  That  all the resources needed to combat the emergency were to be made available to the Chief Executive.

(3)  That Swale Borough Council condemned Southern Waters response to the emergency for the failure to ensure sufficient water supply for residents, their lack of response over previous years, failures to learn from previous emergencies and, failure to have a proper emergency plan in place. 

(4)  That Swale Borough Council and Kent County Council had a joint meeting to scrutinise Southern Water’s approach to the water disruption on Isle of Sheppey.