Emergency Response and Recovery: non statutory guidance accompanying the Civil Contingencies Act 2004

Emergency Response and Recovery is the Cabinet Office guidance on what responders do once an emergency has happened. The gov.uk guidance page describes it as aiming to establish good practice based on lessons identified from responding to and recovering from emergencies, both in the UK and internationally. It complements Emergency Preparedness, which deals with the duties under Part 1 of the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 before an emergency.

Versions

The page records that version 1 was published in November 2005, that the guidance was updated in April 2010, and that it was refreshed in July 2012 following the coroner's report on the 2005 London bombings. The latest version is version 4, last updated in July 2012, and the page says the version shown will always be the latest. The guidance is published online only. This entry carries 2012 as the year of the current version; the gov.uk page itself was first published on 20 February 2013.

Who it is for

Emergency Preparedness is aimed at civil protection professionals. Emergency Response and Recovery is described as likely to be useful to all staff of responder agencies, in particular senior officers or managers who may become involved in emergency response and recovery work, as a stand-alone briefing document for training before emergencies and for reference during them. It is primarily aimed at an English and Welsh audience, and describes arrangements in Scotland and Northern Ireland for context only.

The eight guiding principles

Chapter 2 sets out eight principles that the guidance says apply at every level, from local to national:

• Anticipation: ongoing risk identification and analysis
• Preparedness: everyone with a role should be prepared and clear about their responsibilities
• Subsidiarity: decisions taken at the lowest appropriate level, with co-ordination at the highest necessary level
• Direction: a strategic aim and supporting objectives agreed and understood by all involved
• Information: collation, assessment, verification and dissemination supported by proper information management
• Integration: co-ordination between and within organisations and levels to produce a coherent effort
• Co-operation: positive engagement and information sharing between all agencies at all levels
• Continuity: response grounded in organisations' existing functions and familiar ways of working, on a larger scale and at a faster tempo

The chapters

Chapter 3 covers the agencies that respond: police, fire and rescue, health bodies, the coroner, local councils, government agencies, the armed forces, the private sector, the voluntary sector and the community. Chapter 4 describes the national framework for the local multi-agency response, distinguishing single-agency command and control, often termed gold, silver and bronze, from multi-agency co-ordination at strategic, tactical and operational levels, and covers scientific and technical advice cells, evacuation, the Bellwin scheme of financial assistance to local authorities, and debriefing. Chapter 5 covers recovery, defined as rebuilding, restoring and rehabilitating the community. Chapter 6 covers resilient telecommunications, chapter 7 humanitarian assistance, and chapter 8 working with the media.

Chapters 9 to 12 cover arrangements in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Chapter 13 covers central government: when central support or co-ordination becomes necessary, the lead government department, and co-ordination through the Cabinet Office Briefing Rooms in the most serious cases. Chapter 14 covers emergency powers under Part 2 of the Act, which it calls a last-resort option, stating that there must be no expectation that the government will agree to use them. The central government and COBR and emergency powers pages draw on these chapters.

Related documents

The page lists supporting documents including the central government's concept of operations, the expectations and indicators of good practice for Category 1 and 2 responders, guidance on spontaneous volunteers, evacuation and shelter, and people who are vulnerable in a crisis, and the national recovery guidance. It names the Emergency Planning College as a training provider; that role now sits with the UK Resilience Academy.

Keeping it current

The page says the guidance will be updated as required, with the version number and date on the footer of every page of the document. Readers should check the gov.uk page for the current version rather than rely on a downloaded copy.