The main focus of everything we do is aimed at preparing for, preventing, responding to and recovering from emergencies.
What do we do?
PREPARE:
The emergency planning unit (EPU) has a duty under the Civil Contingencies Act (2004) to plan for reasonably foreseeable emergencies within South Gloucestershire. Some of our roles and obligations under this act are described below. For more detailed information please visit the UK Resilience website.
1. Assess local risks and use this to inform emergency planning. By assessing the risks in the area the Council can, along with our professional partners prepare, develop and maintain emergency plans to reduce the impact of an emergency on the community.
2. Put in place emergency plans. These plans are developed as a result of the risk assessments carried out by the Council and Local Resilience Forum.
3. To promote business continuity management arrangements. To help businesses respond to an emergency, the Council can offer business continuity advice to local businesses and voluntary agencies.
4. Put in place arrangements to make information available to the public about civil protection matters and maintain arrangements to warn, inform and advise the public in the event of an emergency. To increase the resilience of the local community the EPU is developing a community engagement project designed to increase community awareness of emergency preparedness and also promoting the need for people to become prepared in their own home, ready for an emergency. If you would like advice on how to prepare for emergencies please contact the EPU. Details can be found under Contact Information on the right hand side.
5. Plan,Facilitate and Assess Emergency Exercises. To test plans, and provide an opportunity for joint training with professional partners. Another objective of the exercising process is to enhance the Council’s capability to respond to an emergency.
Some of the work that we have undertaken under these arrangements includes:
• Working with local businesses to promote the importance of business continuity. eg: pandemic flu planning.
• Working to encourage the community to raise awareness of the importance of being resilient at home.
• Creating multi agency emergency plans in accordance with CCA (2004), on the identified risks within the South Gloucestershire Area.
RESPONSE
During an Emergency the Emergency Planning Unit will be involved in the following:
During an Emergency the Emergency Planning Unit will be involved in the following:
• Assisting in the initiation of the Council’s response.
• Assisting the Emergency Services in the provision of rest centres for evacuees and longer term temporary accommodation as required.
• Dissemination of public information.
• Leading the recovery and rehabilitation of the community post incident.
• Providing specialist advice and guidance to both Counci departments and the emergency services.
RECOVERY
Following the emergency, the Council lead in the recovery from the incident and assisting the residents in returning to ‘business as normal’ as soon as is reasonably possible.
Where are we located within the Council?
Within the South Gloucestershire Council organisation, the EPU is part of Street Care. However, due to the nature of our work, we work very closely with every other section and department across the Council.