The Civil Contingencies Act
Local authorities have a number of duties placed on them by the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 (Contingency Planning) (Scotland) Regulations 2005.
The Civil Contingencies Act is a framework that places several duties on local authorities to:
- Assess the risks of an emergency occurring and publish a Community Risk Register
- Prepare and maintain contingency plans to make sure we can respond effectively to an emergency
- Co-operate with other agencies to develop multi-agency emergency response
- Warn and inform the public
- Provide advice to the public
- Prepare and maintain plans to ensure continuity of our services during emergencies
- Promote business continuity to local businesses
To enable the council to meet its obligations under the above Act many organisation work in partnership to address any emergency planning issues including, but not limited to:
- Police Scotland
- Scottish Fire and Rescue Service
- Scottish Ambulance Service
- NHS Ayrshire and Arran
- HM Coastguard
- Animal Health
Business Continuity Advice to Local Businesses
The Civil Contingencies Act (CCA) 2004 places a duty upon local authorities to promote Business Continuity (BC) to local businesses and voluntary organisations.
Business Continuity Management (BCM) is an ongoing process of risk assessment and management with the purpose of ensuring that the business can continue if risks materialise. These risks could be from the external environment (over which you have no control, such as power failure) or from within your business such as accidental damage to systems. It will help ensure that key customers, your brand, your reputation and key suppliers are maintained, helping to ensure you long term survivability.
BC needs to be considered by small companies and organisations as well as larger corporations. Incidents and disasters can have catastrophic effects on business and incidents can originate from many sources from accidents, criminal activity or even natural disasters.
A business continuity plan is essential to protect the wellbeing of businesses. A number of resources and aids are available to help in planning and preparing for disaster.
For further information you may wish to look at the following documents and websites:
- The Business Continuity Institute: The Business Continuity Institute (BCI) was established in 1994 to enable individual members to obtain guidance and support from fellow business continuity practitioners
- The Business Continuity Institute: Good Practice Guidelines - Guidelines that aim to provide a generic framework for BCM.
- Business Gateway - This website provides practical help, advice and support for new and growing businesses in Scotland, including guidelines and templates on Business Continuity planning.
- HM Government: Preparing for Emergencies - Practical, common sense advice on what businesses can do.
- A Guide to Business Continuity Planning for business and voluntary organisations
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