With incidents and emergencies being such rapid onset events, the speed of a response, especially during the initial stages of its arise, is extremely critical in determining its outcome on the surrounding environment.
Hence it is not the time or place for people to be maundering around asking 'what do I do?' and 'where do I go?' It is the time for forward thinking and decisive action.
Emergency Planning aims to develop plans and procedures that can be implemented immediately following major incidents so that both a response and recovery (both short and long term) may be achieved in the most efficient of manners.
It also has the intention of making everyone more aware of the dangers posed by any number of different circumstances so as to be fully prepared should the situation ever arise.
As a local authority it is our role to support the emergency services in the case of a major incident. Together with Derbyshire County Council’s Emergency Planning Service, we will co-ordinate the Councils response during a major incident, together with the responders.
Major Emergency Incidents can happen anywhere, at any time and often take many forms. Fortunately Major Incidents happen very infrequently, however, when they do happen, the size of the incident means that special arrangements are needed to help organisations work together and respond as quickly and efficiently as possible.
We define a "major emergency" as any emergency that requires the implementation of special arrangements by one or more of the emergency services, for example:
We will play a major role in restoring normality to the community and area affected as quickly as possible by:
We work closely with Derbyshire County Council, the 'Blue-Light' Emergency Services, Voluntary Agencies, Private Industry and other responding organisations to an incident, to ensure that there is an efficient and co-ordinated response to an emergency.
High Peak Borough Council has an Integrated Emergency Management Plan, in order that it can contribute to the co-ordination of emergency responders and support services during a major incident.
The plan contains details of actions to be taken following a request for assistance by the emergency services or the Council.
The following are contained in the plan:
As a designated 'Category 1' responder under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004, we are required to carry out Risk Assessments within our area.
This process began when guidance was issued by the Government in July 2005. By working closely with our partner organisations in Derbyshire, work is well advanced in assessing the level of risk for a range of potential hazards in our area. The types of hazard we are looking at cover a wide range and include the threats to human health, for example caused by a serious outbreak of a new human influenza virus, sometimes called "Pandemic Influenza". We are also assessing the likelihood of, and potential impacts associated with industrial accidents, flooding, transport accidents, the terrorist threat and serious disruption to supply of fuel, energy, communications and other essential services. There are 16 hazard categories overall and approximately 75 individual Risk Assessments to be carried out.
A 'Community Risk Register' has been compiled to show the results of these assessments. This enables us to decide our priorities and identify the further actions required, including contingency planning. Our joint aim within Derbyshire, is to improve our capability to respond to any disruptive challenges and minimise the effects on our communities.
We must also ensure that our own services are 'resilient' and can continue to be delivered at this required level.
The link below will take you directly to the Community Risk Register for High Peak.
Community Risk Register (External website**)
Business Continuity is similar to that of Emergency Planning in that the Council aims to develop contingency plans and procedures so that preparations are in place to both respond to and recover from a major incident affecting the High Peak.
The Council's Business Continuity plans focus on the recovery of the Council's critical/essential service processes needed to maintain an acceptable level of output in the event of any significant interruptions to Council activities so that the Council may continue to provide all of its services.
We define "Business Continuity" as a series of management processes that identifies any potential threats to the Council and the services that it provides. Thus enabling for a framework that builds resilience within the Council with the aim of providing an effective response to any disruption; safeguarding its value-creating activities, image and reputation, brand and the interest of key stakeholders within the community.
As a local authority it is our duty to continue to provide all the services within the Borough’s responsibility to the highest of standards that our service users and residents have come to expect.
However, major incidents may happen at any moment and at any time without warning causing disruptions to many of the Council's internal and external processes.
Therefore in regards to us here at High Peak Borough Council, Business Continuity is all about being able to successfully continue to deliver our key business processes that are essential to the provision of critical services in the event of a disaster or crisis.
In response to recent government legislation and the Civil Contingencies Act 2004, High Peak Borough Council have prepared Business Continuity Plans that will help to achieve continuity of critical services when faced with disruption to normal business.
The plan will contain details of key actions to be taken by Corporate Management, Heads of Service and Individual Service Managers to ensure that plans and procedures are not only in place for all the 'what ifs' but also to oversee that they are regularly reviewed, tested and kept up to date.
The following will be contained in the plan:
Business Continuity is the process of identifying the main functions of your business and assessing the threats to them. Plans and procedures can then be written to help ensure that the main functions of your business can continue in the event of a major crisis.
It is a fact that your business is more likely to survive major disruption from an external problem (fire, flood, loss of IT, power failure, flu epidemic, fuel shortage etc) if you have a Business Continuity Plan.
To put this into perspective, during the bombings of Manchester's Arndale centre in 1996, more than 40% of businesses went out of business due to a lack of business continuity.
A new website has been launched to help keep Derbyshire residents to be prepared and informed before, during and after major incidents such as severe weather and flooding. The site is called ‘Derbyshire Prepared’ (External website**) and will include up-to-the minute information about ongoing incidents, useful contacts and advice for residents and businesses.
It has been developed by members of Derbyshire’s Local Resilience Forum (also called Derbyshire Prepared) - the police and emergency services, county, city, district and borough councils, health agencies, the Environment Agency and Highways Agency. These groups already work together to manage incidents like severe weather, flooding, large fires, chemical spills or explosions but the website will allow residents to check information quickly and easily in one place.
The Government's aim is to reduce the risk from emergencies so that people can go about their business freely and with confidence. A website (External website**) exists to provide a resource for civil protection practitioners, supporting the work which goes on across the United Kingdom to improve emergency preparedness.
**Please note: High Peak Borough Council is not responsible for the content of any external websites.
