Lesson 2 – The foundations
The Civil Contingencies Act (2004) and Preparing Scotland underpin resilience activities in Scotland.
The management of emergencies in Scotland is set out in law, with the main legislation being the Civil Contingencies Act 2004. In practice this legislation has been interpreted and developed into guidance called Preparing Scotland. This guidance is aimed at ‘responders’ - organisations who have a legal duty to respond to emergencies. You will find out more about who those responders are in the next lesson.
The law in Scotland
Emergency management in Scotland is underpinned by the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 (the Act) and the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 (Contingency Planning) (Scotland) Regulations 2005 (the Regulations), as amended in the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 (Contingency Planning) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2013. This legislation outlines the key organisations responsible for ensuring the effective management of emergencies in Scotland and what their legal responsibilities are.
Legislation
The Civil Contingencies Act 2004 forms the legal basis for emergency preparedness in Scotland and across the UK. You can read details of the legislation below:
- Civil Contingencies Act 2004
- Civil Contingencies Act 2004 (Contingency Planning) (Scotland) Regulations 2005
- The Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012 (Consequential Modifications and Savings) Order 2013 - Schedule 1, Part 2
- The Civil Contingencies Act 2004 (Contingency Planning) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2013
Businesses and other organisations working with radioactive or other hazardous materials are subject to specific regulations. These are enforced in Scotland by the Scottish Environmental Protection Agenc (SEPA).
Control Of Major Accident Hazards (COMAH) regulations ensure that businesses:
- take all necessary measures to prevent major accidents involving dangerous substances
- limit the consequences to people and the environment of any major accidents which do occur
Radiation (Emergency Preparedness and Public Information) Regulations establish a framework of emergency preparedness measures to ensure that members of the public are:
- properly informed and prepared, in advance, about what to do in the unlikely event of a radiation emergency occurring
- provided with information if a radiation emergency actually occurs
The Health and Safety Executive also regulates health, safety and integrity issues for all major accident hazard pipelines in Great Britain, in territorial waters and the UK continental shelf.
Preparing Scotland
Preparing Scotland guidance sets out the philosophy, principles and practices that act as the building blocks for resilience. It is based on the experience and expertise of the resilience community within Scotland.
Preparing Scotland is set out as a 'Hub and Spokes' model. This means it is made up of a central piece of guidance detailing the overall principles (the ‘Hub’) with a number of ‘Spokes’ of guidance providing more detail about specific elements. The ‘Spokes’ outlined in Preparing Scotland are: