Deputy First Minister and Perthshire MSP John Swinney praised Perth’s flood defences for saving the city from devastation even as he continued to face criticism over disaster funding.
Mr Swinney said he was “relieved” the system in Perth and Kinross had stood firm, saying it shows the “wisdom and value” of “sympathetic investments” to protect communities.
But opposition MSPs have called for him to think again on cuts to the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa), which is responsible for flood warnings, forecasting and strategic risk management, and to review flood prevention schemes, which are the responsibility of local authorities.
Mr Swinney told MSPs: “Sepa have no responsibility for flood protection measures, none whatsoever.
“Sepa has responsibility for the flood warning system, which is fully and entirely funded by the Government and which is utterly protected 100% by my budget settlement in December.”
He said Sepa is facing a 6.8% reduction because public authorities across the board have to help meet Scotland’s financial challenges.
On the situation in his constituency, he added: “Today (Tuesday) in the city of Perth we have to wrestle with the challenges of surface water run-off and drainage challenges within the city itself, although the flood defences proved themselves to be entirely secure in the face of an astonishing volume of water that came down from the catchment area of the River Tay yesterday.”
Sarah Boyack MSP, Scottish Labour’s environmental justice spokeswoman, called for an “urgent review” of flood defences in Scotland’s 32 local authority areas.