The Civil Contingencies Act was passed in November 2004, bringing together legislation concerned with Civil Protection. Full details can be found on the UK Resilience Website.

The Act is split into two parts. Part one deals with local arrangements for civil protection; part two with emergency powers.

The Act provides for the imposition of emergency powers to enable first-responders and others to deal effectively with emergencies. Emergencies are defined in the Act as an event or situation which threatens serious damage to human welfare; the environment; or the security of the United Kingdom or of a place in the United Kingdom.

Part 1: Local arrangements for civil protection:

Two specific groups are identified by the Civil Contingencies Act. These are:

• Category 1 responders: local authorities, emergency services, health authorities and services, and some government departments and agencies
• Category 2 responders: critical infrastructure owners such as the suppliers of electricity, gas, water, telecoms and transport.

Category 1 responders have a number of specific duties under the Act. They must:

• Access the risk of emergencies occurring and use this to inform contingency planning
• Put in place emergency plans
• Put in place Business Continuity Management arrangements
• Put in place arrangements to make information available to the public about civil protection matters and maintain arrangements to warn, inform and advise the public in the event of an emergency
• Share information with other local responders to enhance co-ordination
• Co-operate with other local responders to enhance co-ordination and efficiency; and
• Provide advice and assistance to businesses and voluntary organisations about business continuity management (Local Authorities only).

Category two responders have only one statutory duty under the Act, which is to provide information to category one responders to help them in their business continuity planning and emergency response activities. However, the Act does leave the door open for future requirements.

The Act introduces two key concepts:

Local Resilience Forum – based on the local Police area, and chaired by the local Chief Constable or deputy, the LRF is to be the “principal forum for multi-agency cooperation under the Act.” The forum is not a statutory body but it is a statutory process. Its purpose is to ensure effective delivery of those duties that need to be developed in a multi-agency environment. Category 1 responders should attend meetings or be “adequately represented”. Category 2 responders should be engaged “where they can add value”.

Since October 2007 the LRF function is discharged through two multi-agency groups. The Chief Officers Group (COG) is a twice yearly meeting of representatives at the most senior level, chaired by the Chief Constable, who considers 'strategic' issues. The Business Managers Group (BMG) comprises operational level officers (DCC's rep is the Emergency Planning Manager) meets four times a year to cover the more routine and business aspects of the LRF's work. Work at a more detailed level - ie preparing emergency plans, considering national guidance, training and exercising - is undertaken by a number of sub-groups. Sub-groups are aligned to the national capability works teams - see the UK Resilience website.

Community Risk Register – the Act introduces for the first time the concept of a systematic risk assessment of the various hazards and threats in a particular area. This will include national concerns such as terrorism and avian flu, through to a local assessment of the risks of flooding or specific industrial hazards. The assessment is a responsibility of the local LRF and must be done jointly between responders, providing a basis for the prioritisation of work programmes and allocation of resources. There is a requirement to publish the risk assessment, to the extent necessary to reduce the impact of an emergency on the community. Full details of the Community Risk Register can be found on the Devon and Cornwall Police webpage

Part 2: Emergency Powers

For the first time it is possible to use emergency powers on a regional and/or devolved administration basis. This ensures any special temporary legislation will apply only in the part of the UK affected by the emergency, leaving those elsewhere unaffected.

There are restrictions in place which limit the extent of the emergency powers. It cannot for example prohibit industrial action or instigate military conscription or alter any aspect of criminal procedures.

Timescales

Part 2 of the Act was brought into force on 10 December 2004. The bulk of the duties in Part 1 of the Act came into force on 14 November 2005, while the duty on local authorities to give business continuity advice came into force on 15 May 2006.