NEARLY £5.5 million has been added to the Fife Council coffers for flood prevention measures.

Half a million is set to be provided per year over the local authority’s 10-year capital plan while a one-off £450,000 will also go to the roads and transportation service.

Members of the policy and coordination committee were due to agree to the funding proposal at their meeting on Thursday.

A report from emergency resilience manager Shona Robertson updated councillors on the work being carried out to improve the council’s immediate and long-term response to flooding.

It follows widespread flooding in August last year which resulted in a state of emergency being declared and saw many parts of West Fife affected.

“Although this type of weather event and the resultant scale of the flooding is rare, there is the risk that it could happen again,” said Ms Robertson.

“Delivering the actions identified in the report through more effective co-ordinated responses and recovery to incidents of this scale will mitigate negative impacts on communities and on the council’s reputation.”

A debrief after the summer flooding led to areas of improvement being identified to help deal with future incidents.

Local Authority Liaison Officers (LALOs) will now be able to ask for the establishment of a local community support team to support those impacted by flooding.

Ms Robertson explained: “These teams will co-ordinate locally the support for residents and businesses impacted by an incident including providing links to third sector organisations who could offer additional support.

“The debrief report highlighted the important role that the contact centre plays in allowing access for individuals and communities to access support and to notify the council of flooding incidents and local requirements. The contact centre is reviewing its approach to staffing in line with severe weather warnings.”