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Resilience NSW boss Shane Fitzsimmons at budget estimates in April.Credit:Sam Mooy

A new deputy police commissioner will also be appointed to emergency and disaster management under the recommendations,a source familiar with the report has confirmed.

The government commissioned the former public servants in March to lead an investigation into the causes of this year’s deadly northern NSW floods,the emergency response and the future of building on floodplains.

The inquiry examined the state’s preparedness to deal with major flooding events,while considering the gaps in the emergency response that left inundated residents in the state’s north to be rescued by private boats.

Fitzsimmons was forced to defend the response of Resilience NSW to the February-March floods during budget estimates in April,insisting the body had not “dropped the ball” during the crisis.

A separate Labor-led upper house inquiry into the flood response heard criticism from affected residents,including Lismore Mayor Steve Krieg,that Resilience NSW struggled to manage evacuation centres and treated them “like a nine-to-five job”.

Former premier Gladys Berejiklian created the disaster management agency in response to the Black Summer bushfires,installing Fitzsimmons as its boss.

It has since faced scrutiny over its role,budget and employee-related expenses amounting to $38.5 million for 245 staff.

Fitzsimmons in April said the agency was designed to provide “a more streamlined and co-ordinated approach” to handle recovery operations.

However,the flood inquiry report will recommend a significantly smaller,more agile office.

Responsibilities like emergency accommodation in evacuation centres should be allocated to the Department of Communities and Justice,which has daily expertise in dealing with people in crisis. Increased funding will be critical to supporting this,the report will advise.

The office which replaces the agency should instead focus on the response in the first 100 days after a disaster.

Other recommendations in the report will include strategies to address the future management of flood prone areas.

Perrottet is yet to release the inquiry’s findings,which were delivered by Fuller and O’Kane over the weekend.

The premier’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

Last week Deputy Premier Paul Toole said the government wanted to report back to flood-affected communities as soon as possible,committing to releasing the report in August.

“I think there are going to be things the government can do in the short term,the medium term and the longer term and this is about giving some clarity and certainty to the community.”

NSW Labor leader Chris Minns on Thursday said he had concerns about Resilience NSW,but stopped short of calling for a decision on its future before the report was released.

“I think the evidence is overwhelming at this point,that the massive bureaucracy that is Resilience NSW being placed on top of our emergency services has not worked,” Minns said.

With Natassia Chrysanthos

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