ANNUAL REPORT - EMERGENCY PLANNING SECTION, RESOURCES SERVICES

Introduction:

Following the publication by the Home Office of the Standards for Civil Protection in England and Wales in 1999, a report was submitted to Cabinet on 29 February 2000 outlining the standards and the progress the Council had made in meeting the requirements.  It was agreed that an annual report on emergency planning would be prepared, the first of which was issued in 2001.  This fourth annual report sets out the work undertaken in the past year, building on the issues raised in previous years.                       

The Standards for Civil Protection in England and Wales

Previous annual reports have set out the progress made in reaching the necessary standards as set out in the Home Office guidance.  Most of the standards were already fully met, but others
required additional work. 

The progress made towards those other standards since the last report can be viewed in one of the tables listed at the bottom of the pageunder 'Also In'.

A number of courses were organised by the Emergency Planning Section during 2003/4.  Most
of the courses were for staff who have a response role during an emergency.  Officers were also given the opportunity to attend the Emergency Planning College and the following courses were attended:-

• Media (3 day)
• Fundamentals of Emergency Planning (3 day)
• Civil and Military Co-operation (3 day)

The number of staff attending courses throughout the year totaled 178 although particular individuals may have undertaken more than one course.

All courses organised by the Emergency Planning Section are evaluated by asking the participants whether they rated the course "very useful", "fairly useful" or "not very useful". 

A summary of the courses, numbers of participants and evaluations can be seen in one of the tables listed at the bottom of the page.

Evaluations

Participants are also asked to give general comments. The following is a summary of the comments received:-

Forward Control Vehicle Training

Generally, comments included requests for more timely training and exercising of the FCV and requests for headsets for the vehicle telephone equipment.

Rest Centre Training

Comments included requests for more frequent updates and refresher training, more exercising of the plan and better use of 'real incident details'.  The facilitators were described as 'very amusing', 'very well organised' and the training 'well presented and informative'.

Emergency Centre Training

Comments included 'IT systems need updating as very slow', 'Car parking arrangements for call out to emergency centre need revising', 'practical exercise was very useful and felt very real' and 'was well presented and informative', and numerous requests were made to repeat the training at least annually. One person suggested the Emergency Planning role was included in the induction training to raise awareness and encourage recruitment of new volunteers.

Helplines Training

Comments suggested that the presentation was too much talking and not enough practical use of the Helplines equipment.  Headsets were requested by a number of participants.  Other comments included 'in need of updating', more courses more often', 'more practical exercising of the helplines' and 'laminated check list of essential information to ask the caller'.

Refresher Training

Comments included 'Well run and relaxed course', 'better use of IT systems and development of an IT based logging system is required', 'Exercise was extremely useful'.  Again more exercising of the systems was highlighted and 2 people thought the presentation needed to be shortened or broken up and more interactive.

Introductory Training. 

Generally, the comments called for more exercising and regular training/updates and the training was described as very thorough.

Duty Emergency Manager Training

There was a request for electronic procedures format, and all asked for more frequent training
sessions with the emphasis on real scenarios and sharing experiences of practical examples. 
 
Exercises

Wakefield officers participated in the emergency response exercise at C6 Solutions (formerly Hickson and Welch).  This exercise, which is a statutory requirement under the Control of Major Accident Hazards regulations, is used as a training opportunity for staff new to emergency response.

The regional multi-agency exercise "Counterbalance" was held in Wakefield on 11 November 2003.  The exercise was organised by the Home Office and looked at various CBRN related scenarios. 

Emergencies Handbook

Progress has continued on the computerisation of the Emergencies Handbook which is now complete within the Council.  Only two external recipients still receive paper copies of updates and amendments. 

A review of the Handbook took place during the summer of 2003 and a completely revised version issued in August of that year.

Work is ongoing to review Service Emergency plans.  Those for Environment Services and Education and Cultural Services are under way with Social Services and Health due to commence late May 2004.  Plan reviews for the remaining Services will be started in the summer.

Intranet and Internet

The content of the intranet and Internet sites has been updated.  However, arrangements are being put into place with ICT to include a front page icon on the Internet site so when there are emergencies affecting the District there will be a shortcut to updated information for the public.

Discussions are also well under way with ICT for a computerised incident logging system to enable authorised officers throughout the Council to have up to date information on the progress and actions being taken.

Incidents

A number of minor incidents have taken place during the year. 

• A fire in Knottingley meant the temporary evacuation of the residents of a number of
  Council owned bungalows into nearby Social Services premises. 
• A fire in south Wakefield involved the temporary relocation of the residents of a private care home for the elderly
• Flooding in Ferrybridge was responded to by pumping operations and subsequent
  arrangements for property repairs

The Emergency Planning Section has continued to monitor weather and flood warnings during 2003/4. 

The numbers received and actioned can be viewed in one of the tables listed under 'Also In'.

Working with Other Organisations

Joint working with partner organisations has continued to be a thread running through the
Council's arrangements.  Emergency planning is increasingly becoming a regional issue and the
recently published Civil Contingencies Bill together with the Government's resilience agenda have highlighted the need for close cooperation. 

The joint arrangements are conducted through a number of joint working groups: -

• Regional Resilience Forum
• Regional Multi Agency Resilience Sub Group
• Regional Local Authorities Group
• Regional Local Authorities (Trainers) Sub Group (with associated working groups)
• West Yorkshire Senior Coordinating Group
• West Yorkshire Emergency Planning Officers' Forum (with associated sub groups)

Wakefield is also represented on the National Local Authority Emergency Planning Group, and the Business Continuity and Local Authority Issues Groups of the Emergency Planning Society.

Civil Contingencies Bill

The Civil Contingencies Bill was published in early 2004 and is expected to be enacted in the summer.  Subsequent regulations and guidance are anticipated for later in the year or early 2005.  Although the Civil Contingencies Act is some months away, work has started to put into place some of the requirements.  A major part of this is the commencement of the business continuity planning process, more about which is given later in this report.

Resilience Agenda / Regional Survey

The Government's resilience agenda includes several areas as set out below.  An indication of the progress made in each area is set out below.

• Chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear incidents.  The West Yorkshire Local Authorities have produced a draft local authority plan for consultation.
• Mass Fatalities.  The Regional Government
  Office has established a multi-agency working group to address the issues.  Government Guidance was received in May, 2004.
• Mass Casualties.  This is primarily an NHS issue although local authorities will, no doubt, be requested to provide resources during an incident.
• Mass Evacuation.  The Government has still to define "mass" and to issue guidance.  Generic evacuation plans are included in the Emergencies Handbook.
• Infectious Diseases.  This is primarily an NHS issue although local authorities will, no doubt, be requested to provide resources during an incident.
• Animal Diseases.  Following the foot and mouth crisis, Wakefield produced a comprehensive guide on actions needed.  This guide is currently under review.
• Site Clearance.  No specific arrangements exist within Local Authorities.  However, this
  issue will be addressed during the review of Service emergency plans.
• Warning Informing & Alerting.  This is a significant new function for local authorities
  as warning and alerting in particular have always been the responsibility of the
  emergency services and other agencies.  However, arrangements are in place within Wakefield for regular information updates on the website and via the media.  There is also provision for a helpline if necessary.  Consideration is being given to signing up to
  the BBC initiative "Connecting in a Crisis".
• Assessment of Risk and Consequences.  The hazard assessment recently published includes a risk assessment.  This will be reviewed when Government guidance is issued.

Emergency Planning Audit

In April 2004 the Council's Internal Audit staff audited the Emergency Planning function.  The
Audit was based on a self-assessment questionnaire devised by the West and South
Yorkshire Audit Group and on an interview between the Emergency Planning Manager and
Internal Audit. 

The following are the conclusions contained in the audit report: -

"Many of the expected controls, as recorded on the Self Assessment Questionnaire, are met within present arrangements, providing for a solid framework for provision of the Emergency Planning function. The Emergency Handbook has been produced with a lot of consideration and research, and is a valuable document.  The training programmes and updates ensure that the Handbook is kept up to date as a live reference manual.

Historically, whilst the emergency planning function has been pro-active in promoting emergency planning activity, its preventative role has been limited, due to it being outside of the mandate of the function. The current Civil Contingencies Bill is likely to require a full review of the manner in which this aspect of the function operates.

The exact role and responsibilities of the Emergency Planning Team are different to those perceived by the audit staff involved in the review, especially relating to the preventative issue. Following the inclusion of Business Continuity responsibilities within the Section, a review of the roles could usefully be carried out and publicised to all relevant staff.

The Self-Assessment Questionnaire is a useful control evaluation tool, but does not cover all relevant aspects of the service. The Emergency Planning Manager commented that it does not include arrangements for joint working; new capability programs and does not clearly distinguish between emergency planning and business continuity planning boundaries.

There is no need for an early, detailed Internal Audit review at this stage."

Work Programme

The work programme for the remainder of 2004 can be viewed in one of the tables listed at the bottom of this page.

Business Continuity Planning

A programme has been developed to tackle the threat of major incidents or other disruptive events that could interrupt operational continuity in key processes throughout the Authority.  The programme comprises five targets for operational assurance, five planning stages and five core areas of operational integrity.

The programme has undergone rigorous benchmarking by way of a staff survey, end user consultation, peer review, syndicated feedback and continuing work with other local authorities.  In December, 2003 a workshop was held to raise awareness of business continuity planning throughout Services.  The findings of the workshop were reported to the Corporate
Management Team.

Further Information

For further information please contact us - details are given on the main Emergency Planning page.

(May 2004)