Council emergency planning group set up

Nov 13 2009 by Lorraine Howard, Irvine Herald

THE Cabinet Secretary for Justice, Kenny MacAskill MSP, paid an inaugural visit to the new Ayrshire Civil Contingencies Team offices, at Glasgow Prestwick International Airport.

Employees from North, South and East Ayrshire Councils, who previously worked in the Emergency Planning sections of their respective councils, have now been formed into one Ayrshire Civil Contingencies Team.

It means if an emergency situation arises or terrorist attack, they have the same power as emergency services.

Since December 2008 they have been working together with funding contributed by the Scottish Government.

Speaking at the meeting, Mr MacAskill said: “Working together with local authorities, law enforcement agencies and other organisations, we are committed to enabling our communities to withstand emergencies of all shapes and sizes where these cannot be prevented.

“We must use resources flexibly and pragmatically, and promote resilience across the public, private and voluntary sectors.”

The team address all aspects of civil contingencies planning, which is governed by the Civil Contingencies Act 2004.

Under this Act local authorities have been classed as a Category One Responder, giving the council the same powers and duties as the emergency services.

Each council has a statutory duty to respond to emergencies, their main role being to care for uninjured people who have been affected by an emergency incident, to assist and support the emergency services and to lead the recovery process.

The aim of the team is to ensure that the Ayrshire councils provide a high quality and effective emergency planning service, by working wherever possible to prevent emergencies taking place – if an emergency situation does occur the team will make sure that all Ayrshire councils have plans and arrangements in place to respond to and counteract the effects of any emergencies that do occur. The provosts, leaders, chief executives and members of the Steering Committee from North, South and East Ayrshire Council were present as were representatives from Scottish Resilience Civil Contingencies Unit, Strathclyde Police, Strathclyde Fire and Rescue, NHS Ayrshire and Arran, Scottish Ambulance Service, Maritime Coastguard Agency, Glasgow Prestwick Airport and Scottish Environmental Protection Agency.

North Ayrshire Provost Robert Rae said: “I am very pleased that the Ayrshire Civil Contingencies Team is now established.

“Thanks are due to all the staff who have brought about this successful merging and I welcome and support any initiative that means improved services to the public and prevents duplication of effort.

“The new Ayrshire Civil Contingencies Team does this.”