Emergency plans

Preparing for and responding to emergencies

The Civil Contingencies Act 2004 issued local authorities with a responsibility to respond to civil emergencies. This responsibility also extended to certain other organisations.

Under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004, Chichester District Council have created plans which fulfil our responsibilities. We have worked with our partner agencies to write these plans. The Civil Contingencies Act defines an emergency as:

• an event or situation that threatens serious damage to human welfare in the UK;
• an event or situation that threatens serious damage to the environment in the UK; or
• war or terrorism, which threatens serious damage to the security of the UK

Working alongside other responding agencies we:

• support the emergency (blue light) services;
• provide support and care for the wider community;
• use resources to mitigate the effects of an emergency; and
• take a leading role for recovery for local incidents

These emergency response roles and responsibilities are an extension of our normal day to day activities. These include:

• Communicating with other local authorities and organisations.
• Assisting with warning and informing the public.
• Deployment of officers to incidents. This enables an effective communications between ourselves and other responders at, or near the scene.
• Provide temporary accommodation for those made homeless due to an emergency.
• Plan for response to local risks such as coastal flooding.
• Respond to local coastal pollution incidents.
• Organise the removal of waste after an incident.
• Technical and engineering advice.
• Environmental health advice and services.
• Building Control Services e.g. structural safety advice.

Sussex Resilience Forum

We are part of a multi-agency partnership known as the Sussex Resilience Forum. This partnership coordinates the implementation of the Civil Contingencies Act in Sussex. The agencies work together to prepare and respond to emergencies. The partnership produces a local risk register that identifies potential major risks for Sussex.

Sussex Police has further information on preparing for an emergency (opens new window)