Public reports pack PDF 6 MB - East Lindsey District Council

Skegness Area Committee21.03.2011Town Centre Manager (a copy of this update was circulated at the Meetingand is attached at Appendix A to these Minutes).Exercise Watermark – Members received a verbal update following therecent Operation Watermark from the Communications Officer, Mr. JamesGilbert.During the week commencing 7 March 2011, the Council took part in anational emergency flooding exercise, which tested the arrangementsacross Lincolnshire to respond to service wide area flooding. The exercisetested the County’s preparedness while also testing a number of other keyrecommendations from the Pitt Review and other recent flood reviews.The exercise used scenarios based on severe weather conditions includingflooding from the sea, rivers, surface water and reservoirs.Members noted there would be a central core exercise that would takeplace nationally in the future, which would involve governmentdepartments and would be supported by regional exercises and locallybased community events.Members were informed the District Council’s involvement in the exercisewas mainly at the recovery stage and the exercise was designed also toprovide the Council with an indication as to the resources it could deployto deal with an emergency.The Communications Officer advised that on the whole the exercise wassuccessful. The next step would be to compile a full review of the exerciseto look at lessons learned and how things may need to be done in thefuture.It was agreed that an update would be provided at a future Meeting.24. LINCOLNSHIRE CARERS PARTNERSHIPMs Sarah Oliver, Carers’ Lead at Lincolnshire County Council, thankedMembers for their kind invitation to the Meeting. She informed Membersthat around 1 in 6 people in the community were carers, but many did notconsider themselves to be as they were caring for a spouse or elderlyparent if they were adults or for a parent or sibling if they were children ofschool age. Members were also informed it was anticipated that thenumber of carers in the County would increase dramatically in the nextcensus which was due to be carried out in March 2011, as thequestionnaire for the previous census did not ask specifically about carers.According to current statistics, there were around 66,000 registeredcarers in the County.Members noted that, as a result of the work of the Lincolnshire Carers’Partnership, many carers in the community were able to accessinformation and support to help them with their role on a day-to-daybasis. Ms Oliver showed Members the Information Pack and newsletterSAC 2Page 178