Secretariat issues Civil Contingencies Bill update

The Civil Contingencies Secretariat has written an open letter to UK critical infrastructure owners outlining the progress of the bill and giving details of the various working groups, including the business continuity one.

The full text of the letter is as follows (verbatim):

Dear Colleague,

CIVIL CONTINGENCIES BILL: REGULAR UPDATE

As you will be aware, the Civil Contingencies Bill completed its Committee Stage in the House of Commons on 10 February. The next step in the Parliamentary process is Report Stage, where the Bill – as amended in Committee – is discussed on the floor of the House. Like Committee Stage, Report Stage gives MPs an opportunity to debate the merits and content of the Bill, and propose amendments accordingly. While we do not yet have a firm date for Report Stage, it looks increasingly possible that it will take place during May.

All of the working groups established to review the draft regulations and develop the guidance under the Bill have now met and work is progressing well.
We have been approached by a number of local responders wishing to have more detail about the terms of reference of the six working groups and their membership.

I have set out the membership of each of the groups below. It is worth emphasising that the membership of the working groups was decided on the basis of individuals’ expertise and interest in a particular area, rather than simply on a representative basis.

Membership of the groups does not confer any special status on individuals, nor does it mean that we are not interested in the views of others. As you will be aware, we have made a commitment to consult publicly on the draft regulations and to discuss the guidance that emerges with the wider civil protection community.

Risk assessment
- Chair: Paul Willis, Civil Contingencies Secretariat (CCS)
- Membership: Drawn from organisations including the Emergency Planning Society
(EPS); Association of British Insurers; Association of Local Authority Risk Managers; Health and Safety Executive; and the Association of Chief Police Officers

Business continuity planning and promotion
- Chair: Niall Creed, CCS
- Membership: Drawn from a range of organisations including Government
Departments, the emergency services, EPS, Business Continuity Institute, Audit
Commission, Regional Development Agencies; and the regional resilience tier.

Emergency planning
- Chair: Patrick Cunningham, President, EPS
- Membership: Drawn from some of the organisations who will have Category 1 status, or represent bodies who will have Category 1 status. These include ACPO; Chief and Assistant Chief Fire Officers Association (CACFOA); Ambulance Service Association; Health Protection Agency; British Transport Police; and Maritime and Coastguard Agency.

Awareness, warning and informing
- Chair: Fiona Dick, Government Information and Communication Service
- Membership: EPS; National Steering Council for Warning and Informing the Public; Media Emergency Forum; Association of London Government; BBC; ACPO; Environment Agency; Thames Water; and British Energy.

Co-operation, Local Resilience Forums and information sharing
- Chair: Roger Hargreaves, CCS
- Membership: We are aiming to have bilateral meetings with representatives of responder bodies. A working group will be convened after Easter to take forward the issues raised. The group will comprise individuals from the Emergency Planning Society; ACP; Local Government Association; National Health Service; Environment Agency; Southern Electricity; Water UK; Association of Train Operating Companies;

and Voluntary Sector Forum Monitoring and audit
- Chair: Tom Hardie-Forsyth, CCS
- Membership: Drawn from the major audit bodies for Category 1 responders. These include the Audit Commission; HM Inspectors of Constabulary; HM Fire Service Inspectorate; Commission for Healthcare Audit and Inspection.

The aim of all of the groups is to establish what guidance is required in each of the areas; to produce draft guidance; and to consider whether consequential amendments to the draft regulations are necessary. This work is provisionally scheduled for completion in June, which is the earliest point at which we might get Royal Assent. However, this timetable is dependent on the Government’s wider legislative programme and is therefore subject to change.

The Bill Team will issue another bulletin shortly after Report Stage. As always, we would be very pleased to receive any feedback you have on this bulletin.

Roger Hargreaves
Head of Civil Contingencies Bill Team

•Date: 6th April 2004 •Region: UK •Type: Article •Topic: BC general
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