Emergency Planning
What is an emergency and what will the Council do?
The Government has introduced legislation through the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 requiring all local authorities to assist local communities in the event of a wide-scale emergency. The Act says that an emergency is 'an event or situation which threatens serious damage to human welfare or its environment, or war or terrorism which threatens national security'.
Our Responsibilities
Most of the practical experience of dealing with an emergency lies with the emergency services who deal with death, injury and damage on a regular basis. However, there are occasions when the nature of the situation creates problems which are beyond the resources of the emergency services. Because of this, Harborough District Council makes plans to assist in a response and to facilitate a return to normality.
Local Councils have two main roles in an emergency:
- To maintain public services and assist local people in distress
- To coordinate the assistance rendered by various organisations. In Harborough this may involve a response by both the District Council and the Leicestershire County Council.
What will the Council do in an emergency?
The first thing we have to do is make plans to help in the event of an emergency happening. Rest Centre's, for example, are identified in case people have to move out of their homes or are stranded in our District or unable to get home due to an incident. We have a team of staff trained to assist in these circumstances.
Under the co-ordination of the LRF a series of contingency plans have been produced covering the main identified threats to the area. Each of these sets outs the roles and responsibilities of all of the agencies that would be involved in a response, including the Police, Fire & Rescue Service, Ambulance and the Council, and the procedures that would be followed. In the event of a major emergency, we will either lead on emergency response or cooperate to help another lead agency such as the Police. We may suspend some of our normal services at such times.
Our Plans
The Councils Emergency Plan outlines our role in an emergency situation. This Plan sets out the information, procedures and details required to ensure an effective, flexible and timely response to an emergency thus reducing to a minimum the distress and disruption caused by such an incident. The document lists all the key contacts, including out of hours contact numbers. It also lists caretakers/premises and contractors who would be required in certain emergencies.
The document is not available for public inspection as it contains people's private home addresses and telephone numbers.
The Council validates its plans by participating in exercises, assisted by the Partners within the Local Resilience Forum.
