Partner Working - How we work with other organisations
We work very closely with Warwickshire County Council's dedicated Emergency Planning Unit and with colleagues at the other district and borough councils in Warwickshire. We also work with agencies like:
- the Police
- Fire and Rescue
- the Ambulance Service
- the Environment Agency
- Health agencies
These are known as "Category One Responders" under the Civil Contingencies Act.
We also work with "Category Two Responders":
- Utility companies
- Transport agencies
- Airports
As well as:
- the Armed Forces
- Voluntary organisations
- Representatives from various faith organisations
We work with these organisations during times of emergencies but also on a day-to-day basis as part of the Warwickshire Prepared Local Resilience Forum to make sure that we could all work together efficiently and effectively to plan for and respond to emergencies.
What is Warwickshire Prepared?
Warwickshire Prepared is the Local Resilience Forum (LRF) for Warwickshire and brings together all agencies with a significant role to play in responding to and recovery from the effect of emergencies. An LRF structure is a requirement of the Civil Contingencies Act 2004.
The Civil Contingencies Act defines emergencies as:
Any event or situation which threatens serious damage to human welfare in a place in the United Kingdom, the environment of a place in the United Kingdom, or war, or terrorism, which threatens serious damage to the security of the United Kingdom.
The agencies involved in Warwickshire Prepared are the six Warwickshire Local Authorities, the Police, Fire and Rescue Service, Ambulance Service, the Environment Agency, the Strategic Health Authority, the NHS trusts working in Warwickshire and the Health Protection Agency. These are classified as Category 1 Responders.
There are also other agencies and partners who are classified as Category 2 Responders, such as Transport, Airports and Utility Companies, all of whom may be involved in responding to and recovery from emergency situations.
These Category 1 and 2 responders work together under the remit of the Warwickshire LRF to minimise community risk and where emergencies occur respond collectively in the most appropriate manner.
How does Warwickshire Prepared Work?
The LRF members are Chief Executives and senior members of staff from the agencies mentioned above in Warwickshire, e.g. local authorities, police, fire, ambulance, Environment Agency, Health Protection Agency, etc. It is chaired by the Chief Executive of the County Council and meets four times a year.
There are various sub-groups working on different areas of emergency planning. These include Risk Assessment, Business Continuity Management and Communicating with the Public among others. This work is co-ordinated by the Act Compliance Group, who also meet quarterly and report back to the LRF.
For more information, please see Warwickshire County Council's website.
