Lesson 3 – Who responds in Scotland?
It's not all about the ‘blue lights’.
You might think that emergency management is mostly focused on the emergency services, but in planning for an emergency in Scotland, and during recovery, a number of different organisations work together. The groups and organisations involved in emergencies are defined in the CCA 2004. There are three category types known as ‘responders’.
Category 1 responders
Category 1 responders are public sector organisations providing vital services in an emergency and include:
- Local Authorities
- Police Scotland
- British Transport Police
- Scottish Fire and Rescue Service
- Scottish Ambulance Service
- Health Boards
- Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA)
- Maritime and Coastguard Agency
- Integration Joint Boards (IJBs)
Category 2 responders
Category 2 responders can be described as ‘co‑operating bodies’. They can be either public or private sector bodies which are regulated by additional legislation related to preparing for an emergency. These are:
- electricity operators
- gas suppliers
- Scottish Water
- communications providers
- railway operators
- Public Health Scotland
- airport operators
- harbour authorities
- NHS National Services Scotland
- Health and Safety Executive
- the Met Office
Other important partners
Other agencies can have an important role in the context of resilience. These include but are not confined to:
- the voluntary sector and community groups
- the military
- the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS)
- Transport Scotland
- commercial organisations
- the Scottish Government
Resilience partnerships
Working together, these organisations form ‘Resilience Partnerships’, which help them to coordinate, collaborate and share information. This approach to collaborative working allows organisations to plan, prepare and respond to, as well as recover from, emergency situations.
There are three levels of Resilience Partnerships in Scotland:
- National – 1 Scottish Resilience Partnership
- Regional – 3 Regional Resilience Partnerships
- Local – 12 Local Resilience Partnerships
National
This national level group is made up of the most senior statutory responders and key resilience partners. It provides assurance to Ministers on resilience priorities and advice to the resilience community on how best to ensure that Scotland is prepared to respond effectively to major emergencies.
Regional
Based in the North, East and West of Scotland are three Regional Resilience Partnerships (RRPs) who have an oversight of plans for their specific region.
Local
The 12 Local Resilience Partnerships (LRPs) include the ‘blue light’ agencies as well as local authorities, NHS, coastguard agencies, key voluntary sector organisations and other partners as required. Together they support local resilience planning, response and recovery arrangements.