Civil Contingencies Act 2004
The Civil Contingencies Act 2004 and accompanying regulations and guidance will deliver a single framework for Civil Protection to meet the challenges of the twenty first century and the kinds of emergencies that the UK now faces such as terrorist threats, threats to the environment and threats to health.
The Civil Contingencies Act has moved the emphasis of civil protection from being one of just planning and responding to emergencies towards resilience planning arrangements (which also includes response arrangements ) and in doing so has placed a range of new duties on Local Authorities and other agencies such as the emergency services and NHS.
The additional duties under the Act places greater responsibilities on the Council to ensure resilience within the Community and the organisation.
Resilience Planning involves:
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preparation to provide services to support communities directly affected by major emergencies;
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responding effectively and delivering those services when required;
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the delivery of normal services during times of disruption including major incidents (business continuity management);
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support to communities directly affected by major emergencies to recover and return to normality.
The details of these additional duties are as follows.
New Responsibilities under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004
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To assess the risks of an emergency occurring, this includes the need to carry out a risk assessment on past incidents and likely incidents happening in Gateshead;
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Plan so that if an emergency occurs the council can respond to the situation and continue to perform its functions, ensuring business continuity arrangements are in place internally;
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Provide an internal business and service continuity plan to prevent or mitigate the effects of an emergency;
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Put in place arrangements to make information available to the public about Civil Protection matters and maintain arrangements to provide warning and information to the public in the event of an incident and regular briefings thereafter;
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Share information with other local responders to enhance coordination and efficiency;
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To provide business continuity advice and information to commercial and not for profit organisations within the Borough of Gateshead, in advance of a major incident.