Civil Contingencies Act 2004
The Civil Contingencies Act 2004 came into effect on 14 November 2005. It aims to establish a consistent level of civil protection across the United Kingdom.
The act provides a basic framework for people who plan for local and national emergencies. It explains how organisations and agencies should work together.
Definition of Emergency
The Civil Contingency Act focuses on the consequences of emergencies. It defines an emergency as:
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An event or situation which threatens serious damage to human welfare.
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An event or situation which threatens serious damage to the environment.
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War, or terrorism, which threatens serious damage to security.
Which organisations are responsible for responding to emergencies?
The act has identified two categories of organisations that are responsible for planning for emergencies.
Category One organisations include:
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Police, Ambulance, Fire & Rescue services and the Maritime Coastguard Agency
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County, Unitary and District Councils
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The Environment Agency, the Health Protection Agency and Primary and Acute Care Trusts.
These organisations are responsible for:
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assessing the risk of an emergency in their area
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identifying priorities to develop plans
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training programmes and emergency exercises
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developing ways to warn and inform the public
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planning how they will continue to deliver critical services.
Local authorities have an additional duty to promote business continuity within the community and with voluntary organisations.
Category Two organisations include:
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utility companies (gas, phone and electricity suppliers)
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ports and transport providers
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the Strategic Health Authority – each strategic health authority is responsible for the co-ordination, development and performance management of NHS organisations. Our strategic health authority is Surrey and Sussex.
They have a duty to co-operate with each other and with Category One organisations.
How do these organisations work together?
The UK has been broken into a number of Local Resilience Areas. We are part of the Gwent Local Resilience Area.
Each Local Resilience Area has a Local Resilience Forum, made up from chief officers from the Category One organisations.
Each Local Resilience Forum is responsible for creating and maintaining a Community Risk Register. This identifies potential emergency situations in the area, and the possible actions needed to deal with each. To find out what the current risks are in the Gwent area, take a look at the Community Risk Register|.