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 three 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 are defined in the legislation as follows:
Category 1 Responders
- Local Authorities
- Police
- Fire
- Ambulance
- Health Boards
- Scottish Environment Protection Agency
- Maritime and Coastguard Agency
- Integration Joint Boards
Category 2 Responders
- Electricity Operators
- Gas Suppliers
- Scottish Water
- Communications Providers
- Railway Operators
- Airport Operators
- Harbour Authorities
- NHS National Services Scotland
- Health and Safety Executive
Other organisations and groups who have an important role in the context of resilience include:
- The military
- The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service
- Transport Scotland
- 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:
- Duty to assess risk
- Duty to maintain emergency plans
- Duty to maintain business continuity plans
- Duty to promote business continuity[1]
- Duty to communicate with the public
- Duty to share information
- Duty to co-operate
The legal duties outlined by the Act and the regulations are described in detail 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[2] and capacity[3] 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).
[1] This duty is only placed on Local Authorities
[2] Capability is ordinarily the expertise, ability and experience required to deal with a range of consequences.
[3] Capacity is the level of resource available to sustain a determined response.