What is Emergency Planning?
Incidents, whether human or natural, occur from time to time. They can be either small or large scale - a transport disaster, chemical incident, coastal flooding or a terrorist attack; and of course, there is always the unexpected.
The aim of the Ceredigion County Council Community Safety and Civil Contingencies Unit is to assess the threats and risks to Ceredigion, and plan for the response and recovery should an incident occur. The ultimate objective is to minimise the impact of disaster on the day-to-day lives of the community and the environment, and to assist the return to normality.
The Community Safety and Civil Contingencies Unit, working with a wide range of other agencies, prepares contingency plans and organises major incident training events and exercises to prepare for emergencies - just in case. Whatever the incident, the role of the County Council is always to provide support to the community, and to ensure a return to normality as soon as possible.
In addition to this service to the people of Ceredigion, it is also incumbent on every Authority to have plans in place to ensure its own survival - either from an internal disaster, or from the effects of an external one - in order that it can continue to deliver the services required to the public. The Civil Contingencies Act requires Ceredigion County Council to maintain plans to ensure that it can continue to perform its functions, so far as is reasonably practicable, in the event of an emergency.
Emergency Planning and Civil Contingencies
The Civil Contingencies Act 2004 came into force on the 14th November 2004, and provides single framework for civil protection in the United Kingdom capable of meeting the challenges of the 21st century.
The Act places civil protection duties on organisations at the core of emergency planning and response, and divides local responders into two categories depending on the extent of their involvement in civil protection work.
"Category 1" responders at the core of emergency response are: Local Authorities, Emergency Services, Health Bodies and Government Agencies.
"Category 2" organisations are "co-operating bodies" who, while less likely to be involved in the heart of planning work, will be heavily involved in incidents that affect their sector: eg Utilities, Transport and some Health Bodies and Government Agencies.
Further information of what this means in practical terms can be found at: