The Civil Contingencies Act 2004
The Civil Contingencies Act 2004 ('the Act') and the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 (Contingency Planning) (Scotland) Regulations 2005 (as amended) ('the Regulations') is the legislation which outlines the key organisations and their duty to prepare for civil emergencies within Scotland.
In Scotland, under the terms of the amendment regulations, the structures which support multi-agency co-operation are the RRPs. The 3 RRPs were established in November 2013, and are the North of Scotland (NoS), the East of Scotland (EoS) and the West of Scotland (WoS).
The RRPs are comprised of representatives from Category 1 and Category 2 responders, which are key organisations responsible for ensuring the effective management of emergencies, as well as other organisations and groups who have an important role in the context of resilience.
Category 1 and Category 2 responders
Category 1 responders are defined in the legislation as:
- Local Authorities
- police
- fire
- ambulance
- Health Boards
- Scottish Environment Protection Agency
- Maritime and Coastguard Agency
- Integration Joint Boards
Category 2 responders are defined in the legislation as:
- electricity operators
- gas suppliers
- Scottish Water
- communications providers
- railway operators
- airport operators
- harbour authorities
- NHS National Services Scotland
- Health and Safety Executive
- Mining Remediation Authority (previously Coal Authority)
- Met Office
Other organisations and groups who have an important role in the context of resilience include:
- the military
- the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service
- commercial organisations
- the Scottish Government
- the voluntary sector
Statutory duties
The Civil Contingencies Act places a number of legal duties upon Category 1 responders.
These are the duty to:
- assess risk
- maintain emergency plans
- maintain business continuity plans
- maintain business continuity (only for Local Authorities)
- communicate with the public
- share information
- co-operate
The legal duties outlined by the Act and the R egulations are described in Section 2 of the Act. For Category 2 responders the basic legislative principle is that they must co-operate with Category 1 responders in connection with the performance of their duties, including proper sharing of information.
The RRP RPA is not set out in the legislation, rather it has been developed to assist responders discharge their duties under the Act.
Specifically, the purpose of the RRP RPA is to:
- provide an accurate and shared understanding of the risks which may affect a region based on available evidence so that consequence-based planning has a sound foundation
- provide a rational basis for the prioritisation of effort and allocation of resources
- identify and assess the capabilities and capacities (preparedness) of the region to deal with the consequences of the risks
- develop a work plan aimed at closing any identified capability (ability to deal with consequences) and capacity (resource available) gaps
- provide an overview of emergency planning and business continuity arrangements for responders and resilience partners within the region
- provide a basis for risk communication to the general public through community risk registers (CRRs)