CCA

Category Business Continuity legislative, regulatory and government

Environment Agency accepts Pitt Review in Full

The report of Sir Michael Pitt's Review into the floods of Summer 2007 was published in June 2008. The Government welcomes this Review, and pays tribute to Sir Michael Pitt and his team. They have thoroughly reviewed the flooding that happened in 2007 and identified clearly the lessons that should be learned.

While the CCA regime provided a robust and effective mechanism for responding to all of the disruptive challenges that have occurred since 2005 (e.g. floods, Bluetongue disease, foot and mouth, and the Buncefield fire), these events and the subsequent reviews (particularly the Pitt and Newton Reviews) provided much new evidence which indicated that there are various aspects of the CCA regime which would merit a more thorough review.

Minister responds to Pitt Review

Environment Secretary Hilary Benn has pledged to introduce a "prioritised action plan" to improve flood protection which will be published in the autumn. 

Mr Benn was commenting on the official review by Sir Michael Pitt into last summer's devastating floods. Mr Benn said £5m would be spent on surface water management, £1m on making reservoirs safer and £250,000 on a nationwide flood response exercise.

Public sector IT systems at risk

By Steve Ranger Public Sector Magazine

Councils are missing chances to establish up-to-date disaster recovery plans for their IT services. Local government user group Socitm has warned its research from recent disasters that have impacted local authority IT services raises "serious concerns" as to whether councils understand the expectations of the Civil Contingencies Act and are sufficiently prepared to cope with threats to business continuity.

The research focuses on six case studies from local authorities that have experienced major disasters, from an arson attack to major flooding and the Buncefield oil storage depot explosion.

Nature has a way of reminding us that the unexpected will always happen. Earthquakes, forest fires, avalanches, tsunamis, disease and flooding are some of the events that have disastrous outcomes and continue to surprise the world when they occur. How we cope with the effects of such events is determined by the willingness and capabilities of governments, NGOs and individuals.

Whilst unable to predict precisely when and what will occur experience has taught society that preparation and planning at all levels leads to a greater level of resilience for communities. This resilience however is dependent upon the capabilities of the authorities, voluntary organisations and businesses to respond at the time.

 The Act splits local responders into two categories, imposing a different set of duties on each. Category 1 responders are those organisations at the core of emergency response (e.g. emergency services, local authorities, Primary Care Trusts), and are subject to the full range of civil protection duties.

As part of the overall provision of UK civil protection Local Authorities, Emergency Services and parts of the NHS (Category 1 responders) in England and Wales are now required by law to have established effective business continuity management. They must ensure they can continue to perform their functions in the event of an emergency.

This relates to all the functions of a Category 1 responder, not just its civil protection functions. In order to help others in the event of an emergency, they first need to be able to keep their own crisis response capabilities going.

The Government remains on track to bring the bulk of the duties in Part 1 of the Act fully into force in November 2005.