1. The Role of Local
Government in
Emergency Response
Dominic Mellon BSc MICDDS
Senior Civil Protection Officer

2. Emergency what?!
 Emergency Planning
 Emergency Preparedness
 Emergency Management
 Civil Resilience
 Civil Defence
 Civil Protection
 Disaster Management

3. History of Civil Protection

4. Legislation
 Civil Defence Act 1948
 Health & Safety at Work Act
 Seveso II Directive
 Civil Contingencies Act 2004

5. Regulations
 Control of Major Accident Hazards
Regulations 1999 (COMAH)
 Pipeline Safety Regulations 1996
(PSR)
 Radiation (Emergency Preparedness
and Public Information) Regulations
(REPPIR)
 Civil Contingencies Act 2004
Regulations 2005 (CCA)

6. Civil Contingencies Act 2004
 Local Authority - Cat One Responder
 Seven Civil Protection Duties:
1. Cooperation
2. Information Sharing
3. Risk Assessment
4. Emergency Planning
5. Business Continuity Management
6. Warning & Informing
7. BCM Promotion

7. 1: Cooperation
 Cat 1 & 2 responders must cooperate
within Local Resilience Area
 Formation of Local Resilience Forum
 Right to attend vs. right to invite
 LRF subgroups
 Seven Local Authorities in South
Wales LRF

8. 2: Information Sharing
 Cat 1 & 2 responders must share info
 Underpins duty to cooperate
 Requires controlled release of
information
 Classification of information
 Freedom of Information Act
 Data Protection Acts

9. 3: Risk Assessment
 Cat 1 responders must make
emergency plans that are
proportionate to risks
 Community Risk Register
 Challenge of ‘localising’ risk
information: ‘top-down’ vs. ‘bottom-up’

10. 4: Emergency Planning
 ‘Heart of Civil Protection’
 Defines requirements of plans
 Regard to risk assessments
 Generic vs. Specific
 Multi-agency planning
 Involvement of Cat 2 and voluntary
agencies in planning process

11. 5: Business Continuity
Management
 Cat 1 responders must have BCM
plans in place to ensure adequate
emergency response
 Good practice for all organisations

12. 6: Warning & Informing
 AKA ‘Communicating with the public’
 Well informed = better prepared!
 Alerted vs. Alarmed
 Actually two distinct duties
 Media – e.g. BBC Connecting in a
Crisis

13. 7: BCM Promotion
 Local Authority only
 Must promote BCM principles to local
businesses and voluntary
organisations
 Best practice?

14. Emergency Response Role
 Crucial to the emergency response
 Functions often required in
emergency situations
 Temporary mortuaries
 Responder welfare
 Community welfare
 Response  Recovery

15. How do we do it?
 Civil Protection Unit
 3 x Civil Protection Officers
 On-Call 24/7/365
 Help coordinate emergency response
 Liaise with emergency responders
 Lessons learnt?
 Plan review schedule