the civil contingencies act & its implications for emergency planning, a practitioners view ian...
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The Civil Contingencies Act & its Implications for
Emergency Planning,A Practitioners View
Ian HoultCounty Emergency Planning
Officer
Me? A practitioner?
Don’t be cynical & get on with it!
Presentation Outline
• Brief History• Why the Act• The Requirements of the Act• What’s in place already• The Challenges Ahead• Conclusion
Brief History
• Civil Defence Act 1948 (& subsequent amendments)
• End of the Cold War• Lockerbie, Clapham, Kegworth,
Hilsborough, Herald of Free Enterprise etc etc
• 1993 Regs• Decemeber 3rd 2000 Prescott orders
Review• Then…..
Why The CC Act?
• EP throughout the Country is “patchy”• No sound foundations• Many examples of good practice but
no consistency• Poor relationship between local and
central government responding departments
• Insufficient Funding
The Act
• 2 parts:– Part One about emergencies and the
local response– Part Two amends the 1920s
emergency powers acts
– This presentation only relates to part 1.
Background to the Act
• Act describes organisations as either category 1 or 2 responders (or ignores them)
• Category 1 responders:• Police, Fire, Ambulance, Local
Authorities (all types and tiers), Health, Coastguard, Environment Agency.
Background to the Act
• Category 2 Responders:– Utilities (gas, water, electricity,
telecomms), Railway operators, airports, harbour authorities, HSE, Highways Agency.
Cat 1 responders must liase with each cat 2 in the same police force area at least twice a year
Background to the Act
• The Ignored:– Voluntary Agencies– Government Departments– Central Government generally except
Regional Offices– Airline companies– Various other ancilliary support
agencies
Background to the Act
• The Act is “enabling legislation”• The detail is (or will be) in the
Regulations and Guidance– Beware the word “Guidance”
– “Statutory Guidance” Oxymoron?
Requirements of the Act
• Duty to assess, plan and advise:– Formal Risk Assessment Process– Plan for those events or sites which
require a plan as identified by RA, or other legislation or under direction by the Minister
– Publish the plans and warn inform and advise the public
Risk Assessment
• Volcano Planning• Formalised Process “Statutory
Guidance”• Will we only plan for the
foreseeable?
Requirements of the Act
• Business Continuity Planning– The requirement upon Local
Authorities is threefold:• Do it yourself - i.e. have a BCP• Promote the concept to all businesses in
your area• Provide those businesses that ask with a
BCP service at cost
What’s in place already (in Hampshire)
• It is generally agreed that Emergency Planning in Hampshire is in pretty good shape and in the main the CCA serves to ratify our current arrangements
• Liaison and co-operation particularly are long established and sound
So…. The Challenges
• Formalise the Group Structure and reporting chains
• Risk Assessment• Business Continuity Planning• Warning and Advising the Public
The Challenges
• New duty on District Authorities– Previous legislation only applied to
1st tier authorities, Districts had only one duty – to provide the County with people to train in emergency response.
The Challenges
• Funding (& money generally)– Good news – the CSR announcement July
04 doubled the amount of money LA’s will receive for EP (£19.1M to £40.5M)
– Bad news – not ring fenced, but going into RSG (EPCS block)
– For Provision of Service County will charge Districts – but a subsidised service
The Challenges
• Checks and Balances– Audit Commission, Self Assessment
Tool– CPA, key line of questioning– Regional Government feedback– District Audit– Etc..
Conclusion
• We welcome the Act ( with certain caveats and the odd misgiving)
• Be careful what you wish for, you might just get it
• Ancient Chinese Curse – May you live in interesting times!
The best thing about not planning is that failure comes as a complete
surprise and is not preceded by a period of worry and depression
Sir John Harvey-Jones
Any Questions?
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