Emergency Planning~Civil Defence

What is Emergency Planning?

‘An approach to preventing and managing emergencies that entails six key activities – anticipation, assessment, prevention, response, and recovery. Integrated Emergency Management (IEM) is geared to the idea of building greater overall resilience in the face of a broad range of disruptive challenges. It requires a coherent multi-agency effort’ (Emergency Response and Recovery ).

What is an emergency?

An event or situation that threatens serious damage to:

• Human welfare
• The environment
• Security (effectively war or terrorism)

According to 'Emergency Response and Recovery', in order to constitute an emergency, an event or situation must additionally require the implementation of special arrangements by one or more Category 1 responders - police, fire and ambulance service and local authorities (see below).

How is a major incident co-ordinated?

Multi agency co-operation is requires during a major incident; this is undertaken by the  Local Resilience Forum, or its local equivalent (who cover the designated local the geographical area) ensures this.

The Forum is made up of leading bodies that have specific duties as determined by the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 . They constitute the senior management group who are responsible for undertaking preparations for, and response to, major incidents and emergencies throughout the geographical area covered.

What are Emergency Plans?

Emergency plans are intended to: prepare for unusual circumstances; ensure delivery of pre-planned responses; formulate an easy to use co-ordination ‘check list’; systematically control the actions of others; protect oneself and organisation(s); fullfil statutory duites; create a reference document which can be automatically brought into use under exceptional and pressurised circumstances.

A plan is a written record of agreed future actions intended to be taken to prevent an emergency, or to respond to a disaster or emergency.

Contents of a typical plan: risk and consequence assessment: alerting and mobilising procedures; resources required; roles and responsibilities of responding organisations and personnel; Incident management structures and processes; communication protocols and cotnacts ; strategies, tactics and operational responses; public Information templates and procedures

What is the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 (CCA 2004)

The CCA 2004 repealed the Civil Defence Act 1948 and created a new operational concept of an "emergency". The term includes events which would have engaged the previous civil defence legislation (war or attack by a foreign power), and but has also included terrorism, and “events which threaten serious damage to human welfare in a place in the United Kingdom or to the environment of a place in the United Kingdom”.

The Act imposed a series of duties on local authorities, in addition to those imposed on the emergency services ( police, fire, health services and ambulance services). The Act requires these Category 1 responders to offer rapid response to emergencies, plan for avoidance of risk and area wide business continuity and co-ordinate others to effectively respond (utilities etc) and to maintain arrangements to warn, inform and advise members of the public in the event of an emergency.

The CCA’s Regulations 2005 further describes the duties imposed such as Risk Assessments and maintainance of a Risk Register, Planning and Response, Co-operation (local and pan-London), Publication of Plans (including: warn and inform), Training and Exercising, Advice and Assistance to Business and Voluntary Organisations and Sharing of Information. Two of the key elements are the Risk Assessments and Advice to Businesses, or Business Continuity Management (BCM), which relates to both the activities of local authorities and those of the local business community and require constant reviewing and updating to reduce, control and mitigate the affects of an emergency.

Category 1 and 2 Responders

Category 1 Responders?

• Emergency Services -  Police (including County Services and British Transport Police); Fire Brigade; Ambulance Service
• Local Authorities - Unitary Auhtorities: County Authorities: District Authorities
• Government agencies - Environment Agency
• Health Bodies - Primary Care Trusts: Health Protection Agencies: NHS Acute Trusts (hospitals); NHS Foundation Trusts

Category 2 Responders?

• Utilities:   Electricity; Gas: Water and sewerage; Public communications providers (landlines and mobiles)
• Transport: Network Rail; Train Operating Companies (passenger and freight); Airports; Highways Agency
• Government: Health and Safety Executive
• Health Sector: Strategic Health Authority

What is the role of CDRP's in Emergency Planning?

The CDRP's statutory partners and their co-ordination role and statutory duties for crime and disorder reduction have obvious synergies with Emergency Planning and yet the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 and the Police and Justice Act 2006, or relevant practice guidance, does not recognise this.

The core partners (police and police authorities, local authorities, fire service and health services) of the CDRP will, under different legislation, play a major role - as First Responders - in civil emergencies. We would suggest it is logical that the multi agency strategic, tactical and operational co-ordination of both areas fit together and quite logically should and can be part of the same local planning structures.

In many areas the operation of CDRP's and that of Emergency Planning Management Boards are separate - with community safety plans and emergency plans not linked or even referenced and so we can have the bizarre situation where the same resources are use (say CCTV for crime and disorder reduction and for an emergency situation) by different operational structures for different purposes without the knowledge or support (which clearly is important for prioritisation of use purposes) of the other.

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