EFFORTS to better protect the district from flooding disasters in future will go under the microscope on Thursday (Oct 26).

Bradford Council had faced criticism over its response to the devastation brought about during the 2015 Boxing Day floods.

And last year, an in-depth scrutiny review into its response to the floods made seven recommendations for improvements.

Now the same corporate scrutiny committee will consider what progress has been made since then.

One committee member, opposition Conservative leader Councillor Simon Cooke, of Bingley Rural ward, said he felt progress was still too slow.

He said there had been some good work in helping communities to become more resilient against flooding, although there was “more that could be done”.

But he said in terms of mitigating future floods by building the “key bits of flood infrastructure”, there was a lot of work still ahead.

A new report, by strategic director of place Steve Hartley, lists a number of key improvements the council has made since the 2015 floods, including setting up a permanent stock of 6,000 sandbags and around 2,000 other water blocks.

Road drains are now inspected on either a monthly or quarterly basis, depending on how likely they are to get clogged up, and flood information packs have been sent out to 6,000 of the most at-risk properties.

But more work needs to be done before any big flood alleviation projects can begin, the report reveals.

Parts of the district badly hit by the floods included Stockbridge, where homes and businesses were affected, Crossflatts and Mill Hey, Haworth.

The Environment Agency and Bradford Council have finished desktop studies looking into how to better protect 15 areas across the district.

Now more detailed studies are either under way or in the pipeline, looking to highlight the exact improvements needed and how they might be funded.

Among the studies is one into the River Worth and its tributaries.

A major look at the whole catchment of the River Aire through the district has yet to start but should be commissioned within this financial year, the report says.

Councillor Alex Ross-Shaw, executive member for regeneration, housing, planning and transport, said: “The floods that hit our district two years ago had a devastating effect and I know how hard residents and communities have worked to get back on their feet and the council has done all it can to support them in that.

“This report shows our progress so far, that work is ongoing and has not stopped but we know there’s always more to do.

“Bradford Council takes flooding very seriously and I think this report shows that.”