Preparing for emergencies
Overall responsibility for emergency preparedness in Scotland sits with the Civil Contingencies Division of the Scottish Executive Justice Department [External website]. The Scottish Executive [External website] chairs the Scottish Emergencies Co-ordinating Committee, which leads and determines the Scottish national strategy for the development of civil protection.
Different departments in the Scottish Executive lead on particular issues of emergency preparedness (for example, the Scottish Health Departments lead on planning for infectious diseases). The Scottish Executive works closely with the UK Government to ensure that Scottish needs are catered for.
At the local level in Scotland, eight strategic co-ordinating groups based on police force areas promote effective planning by local responders (e.g. emergency services) for all types of incidents in their area. This includes risk assessment and planning, and exercises. You can find out more about risk assessment and exercising in the Central Government section of this website.
The Welsh Assembly Government [External website] works closely with UK government departments to ensure that UK civil protection policy and planning is tailored to Welsh needs. A dedicated team in the Welsh Assembly Government supports co-operation between responders in Wales and engagement with the UK Government on issues relating to civil protection and emergency preparedness.
As in England, Local Resilience Forums (LRFs) are the principle means of local multi-agency co-operation on civil protection issues (see the Local Resilience section for more on LRFs). Local Resilience Forums are based on police areas. So the respective Chief Constables presently chair LRFs in the South Wales, North Wales, Dyfed-Powys and Gwent areas.
The Welsh Resilience Forum provides national level advice and direction on civil protection and emergency preparedness. The forum meets quarterly and is chaired by the Welsh First Minister or the Minister for Social Justice and Regeneration.
The Central Emergency Planning Unit [External website] in the Northern Ireland Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister promotes and co-ordinates emergency preparedness. The Northern Ireland Executive [External website] would normally have oversight of civil protection arrangements for devolved functions. The Northern Ireland Office [External website] in the UK government is, however, responsible for, amongst other things, policing, criminal justice and security in Northern Ireland.
During any period of suspension of the Assembly, Northern Ireland departments are directed by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland in the UK Government. Just as in the UK central government, different Northern Ireland departments take the lead on particular issues of emergency preparedness (for example, the Northern Ireland Health Departments lead on planning for infectious diseases).
The Central Emergency Management Group is the national level Northern Ireland multi-agency forum for the development, discussion and agreement of civil protection policy. It is similar to the Regional Resilience Forums in England and Wales (see the section on English Regions on this website). Co-ordination at a local level in Northern Ireland may be led by a range of organisations, with police district commanders and district council chief executives taking key roles in co-ordination. Unlike in Great Britain many services are delivered on a Northern Ireland-wide (regional) basis, either by government departments or by their agencies.
The Civil Contingencies Act 2004 [External website], which forms the legislative basis for emergency preparedness in the UK, applies to the Devolved Administrations. The differences in the devolution settlements mean that arrangements are different for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. You can find out more about the way in which the Civil Contingencies Act applies to the Devolved Administrations through UK Resilience [External website].