Agenda item
REVIEW OF THE TOWER HAMLETS EMERGENCY PLANNING AND CIVIL CONTINGENCY ARRANGEMENTS - PRESENTATION
The Committee will receive a presentation on the review of the Tower Hamlets Emergency Planning and Civil Contingency Arrangements
Minutes:
Steve Crawley the Civil Protection & Business Continuity Co-ordinator, made a presentation to the Committee outlining incident response in London. Following this, he was supported by Mark Broom (Metropolitan Police Service) and Ann Corbett (Divisional Director, Community Safety), in a question and answer session.
The Committee:
· Noted the role of councils in emergencies such as the provision of support for the emergency services; support and care for the local and wider community;
· Noted the use made of uses of their resources to mitigate the effects of an emergency; and taking the lead in the recovery stage;
· Noted what councils do in emergencies such as giving technical and engineering advice; building control; highways services; and public health and environmental issues;
· Noted that councils provide physical resources such as reception centres; accommodation and housing needs; and transport;
· Noted that welfare support is provided to those affected and the wider community e.g. such as social services; psychosocial support; helplines; and welfare and financial needs;
· Was advised that the Local Authority Liaison Officer (LALO) was required to attend Tactical Coordination meetings, act as the link between the incident and the Borough Emergency Control Centre; and was in possession of effective communications with senior levels of the local authority;
· Felt that elected members have an important community leadership role in reassuring and communicating with local residents. Therefore, it was felt that that guidance/training should be made available to elected members in how to respond to emergencies and major incidents in their communities so they can respond appropriately and effectively;
· Felt that it was important that that LBTH was confident that any messages being communicated to the community were validated and consistent;
· Consideration needed to be given to how to reach those harder to reach groups in the local community who did not speak English as a first language during emergencies and major incidents;
· Noted that the Police Service in Tower Hamlets now had in post a community faith officer who would be reaching out to communities and building trust between them and the Police Service;
· Noted that the Police Service have utilised their twitter feed to get out messages in an informative and timely fashion during emergencies and major incidents;
· Was informed that the Government has established plans to provide an effective response to all types of emergencies and major crises at national, regional and local level. This involves pre-planned and coordinated responses from the emergency services, civil authorities and where appropriate, the Ministry of Defence (MOD). Therefore, if there is an emergency, local emergency services provide the first response; government departments or civil authorities may then request military assistance from MOD. The support of the armed forces to civil authorities in the UK it was noted was officially termed Military Aid to the Civil Authorities (MACA);
· Was advised that the MOD’s role is concentrated on 2 main areas: (i) Providing niche capabilities, which MOD needs for its own purposes and which would not be efficient for the rest of government to generate independently, for example logistic assistance may be provided to civil authorities in carrying out their duties; and (ii) Standing ready to support the civil authorities when their capacity is overwhelmed. However, MACA is subject to the availability of resources, without affecting core MOD objectives. As the MOD does not generate and maintain forces specifically for such tasks. However, it was noted that the Council considers its resources to be sufficient and there are also established mutual aid arrangements across London Local Authorities should these become stretched;
· Requested that the Council explore the possibility of providing reports during emergencies and major incidents to elected members in the same style as those offered by the Police Service; and
· Enquired about the recent series of attacks involving the use of a corrosive or acidic substance and in particular what was being done to reassure the local communities. As a result it was noted that the Borough Commander had held an event with women at East London Mosque. Accordingly, it was hoped that this sort of engagement with women from across different communities would be supported and developed.
Actions
The Chair Moved and it was:-
RESOLVED
That:
1. Guidance/training be made available to elected members in how to respond appropriately and effectively to emergencies and major incidents in their communities; and
2. The Council explore the possibility of providing incident reports to elected members in the same style as those offered by the Police Service.
Supporting documents: