Measuring the effects of the Sustainable Drainage legislation on SABs in Wales

Description

Measuring the effects of the Sustainable Drainage legislation on SABs in Wales Scope of Work Introduction & Background 1. Since 7 January 2019, all new developments of more than 1 dwelling house or where the construction area is 100 square metres or more, require Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) for surface water. SuDS must be designed and built in accordance with statutory standards and be approved by the local authority acting as a SuDS Approving Body (SAB), before construction work begins. 2. As part of the process leading to the implementation of Schedule 3 of the Flood & Water Management Act 2010 the Welsh Government undertook a Regulatory Impact Assessment of the proposed secondary legislation needed for its implementation . Through the Regulatory Impact Assessment, the Welsh Government considered three main policy options (see table 1) using a range of tools which led to the preferred option being Option 2: Commence Schedule 3. Policy option Name Description 1 Do nothing The baseline option, involving continuation of current nonregulatory policy. 2 Commence Schedule 3 Mandatory use of SuDS compliant with national standards on all minor and major development (more than 1 dwelling or sites larger than 0.1 hectares). 3 Planning approach Expectation that SuDS will be provided on all minor and major development wherever this is appropriate and unless demonstrated to be inappropriate. Use of planning conditions or planning obligations to ensure that there are clear arrangements in place for ongoing maintenance over the lifetime of the development. Table 1: WG Policy options 3. The cost benefit analysis leading to the preferred option considered a range of impacts including potential impacts on Local Authorities as Sustainable Drainage Approving Bodies (SABs). This being new and untested legislation there was no direct previous experience to draw upon with the potential costs provided in the development of the impact assessment being based on estimates. 4. Furthermore, it has been difficult to foresee the various workstream that would require specific attention, or the level of support SABs would need to implement and deliver the legislation. Whilst the WLGA has worked with SABs in specific areas to improve consistency and streamline delivery, there is still a need through this work to identify and deliver a targeted approach to improving delivery of the Sustainable Drainage legislation at a local level whilst identifying potential areas of improvement within the legislation. 5. Local authorities as SABs have now been delivering the function for over 18 months and have gathered a range of evidence and data to better evaluate how the legislation is working. This commission is therefore looking to build upon this evidence and understanding of the legislation to measure how it is working, identify where it is not and provide options for improvement. It is anticipated that this commission will also be used as supportive evidence to inform the forthcoming post implementation review pledged by the Welsh Government. Purpose & Objectives 6. The research should provide the necessary evidence to help inform WLGA’s thinking on how to improve service delivery and influence the forthcoming review announced by the WG. As such, the objectives of this research should primarily focus on identifying areas within the whole SAB process where improvement is needed from a legislative and delivery perspective and where applicable identify recommendations for improvement. As a suggestion, the successful bidder should focus the research on the below headings but not restricted to if the need arises: - Application process From the offset the WLGA has worked with SABS to ensure consistency in this area of work by developing pre-application and full application forms which reflect the legislative and statutory standards requirements. We would suggest for the successful bidder to engage with SABs and selected applicants