Preparing for emergencies
Most emergencies are completely unpredictable. But local
authorities are required by law to prepare an emergency plan
so that resources and experienced people are on standby to respond
quickly and in the best possible way when a major crisis - of
whatever kind - occurs.
In Kent County Council this work is carried out by
our Emergency Planning Unit. It draws up, maintains and
reviews arrangements for dealing with major incidents. It
co-ordinates responses across the council, and works closely with
the county's emergency services and 12 district councils to ensure
that the right people with the right skills are well-briefed and
ready to react.
What is the Emergency Plan for?
The purpose of the Unit's main 'generic' emergency plan is to
provide vital information and supporting details that will enable
teams to:
- make good, immediate decisions
- co-ordinate their efforts to be most effective.
The plan is not designed to specify what actions need to be
taken when a crisis happens. But rather to provide the information
that's essential to any emergency response.
You can view a full version or an outline of the Kent Major
Emergency Plan.
We also look after specific plans for any emergency at a
particular site or of a particular type. These cover, for instance,
emergencies involving the Channel Tunnel or the Dungeness power
stations, or oil pipelines.
View or download our specific emergency plans.
And we help Kent businesses cope when faced with major
disruption to their operations, by providing expertise and plans
for business continuity.
Central government provides some of the funding for emergency
planning and recently introduced new legislation to improve the
UK's ability to deal with the consequences of major disruptive
incidents. The Civil Contingencies Bill received the Royal Assent
in November 2004 and replaces the Civil Defence Act of 1948 and the
Emergency Powers Act of 1920.
The Cabinet Office provides detailed information about the new
act at the UK
Resilience website.
View our frequently asked questions
on you and emergency planning in the county.
The Kent Community Risk Register
The Kent Community Risk Register is published by the Kent
Resilience Forum. This is a partnership of all of the organisations
that have a role to play in the response to a major emergency, such
as the emergency services, local authorities, health services, the
various utility companies, the military and voluntary
organisations.
View the Kent
Community Risk Register.
The purpose of the Community Risk Register is to assure the
people of Kent that:
- an assessment of potential risks has taken place
- this assessment is informing Kent's approach to joined-up
emergency planning - at a local, regional and national level.
The Kent Community Risk Register was prepared by the Kent
Category 1 Responders in accordance with the Civil Contingencies
Act 2004 and its associated regulations and guidance.
Kent Resilience Forum Pandemic Flu Plan
The Kent Resilience Forum has also developed a Pandemic
Influenza Plan to ensure an effective local response. View the
Kent Resilience Forum Pandemic Influenza
Plan (PDF, 625k).
Kent County Council's Flood Response Plan
Read about the flood response plan for
Kent.
Find out more about flooding in
Kent.