Responders

The Act imposes specific duties on two categories of responders:

• Category 1 responders are defined as the police, ambulance, fire and rescue services, local authorities, NHS Health Boards, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency and Integration Joint Boards. Whilst the majority of Category 1 responders operate exclusively within Scotland, some have a broader range. For example the responsibilities of the Maritime & Coastguard Agency extend to the entire UK.
• Category 2 responders are defined as gas and electricity companies, rail and air transport operators, harbour authorities, telecommunications providers, Scottish Water, the Health and Safety Executive, NHS National Services Scotland, Coal Authority and the MET Office.

The Act refers to the roles and duties of Category 1 responders as “functions” (Section 2(1) (c) & (d). Functions are described as “any power or duty whether conferred by virtue of an enactment or otherwise” (Section 18(1)). This includes statutory duties and discretionary powers, as well as common law powers that relate to the business of the responder. 

Whilst the Act places specific duties on these two categories of responders, it states also that other organisations, such as the voluntary and private sectors, can have an important role to play in consolidating our overall resilience and contributing to effective preparation for, response to and recovery from an emergency incident.

Whilst responsibility rests first and foremost with the responders that have statutory duties under the Act, there may be instances where the scale or nature of the event means that the Scottish Government (or, possibly, the UK government) is best placed to coordinate the emergency. Examples of this may include incidents that affect a wide geographical area, possibly escalating to national and/or transnational1 scale or that put very intense pressures on local responders. Transnational: meaning other UK and/or international nations.