Reviews on Imaging Resource have shutter lag and cycle time measurements, usually in the “picky details” section.
On my Canon A510, I can shoot 1 shot every 2 seconds or so. Shutter lag is noticeable - better than most other compact digital cameras I’ve owned, but not as good as digital SLRs. Then again, I’ve seen film cameras (point & shoot cameras) that had worse shutter lag than the A510.
I don’t know about flash, sorry, I usually don’t use flash.