| Reactions to the Pitt Review report
Government response In response to the report Secretary of State for the Environment Hilary Benn said: "I welcome Sir Michael's report and the direction it sets. I will deliver a detailed response on behalf of Government that includes a prioritised action plan in the autumn. Before this, I am today taking action to help the country be better prepared to deal with the impacts of flooding. "Earlier this year I outlined that at least £34.5 million of the £2.15 billion total Government flood and coastal erosion spend over the next three years would be allocated to implement the final recommendations of Sir Michael Pitt's report. Today I can announce that part of this funding will be used to take forward work in several key areas including: assisting the development of surface water management plans in high priority areas, improving reservoir safety and an initial contribution to a major national floods exercise to ensure we are better prepared for the future." The funding that will be allocated following the announcement today is: * At least £5 million for the development of Surface Water Management Plans in the highest priority areas; * At least £1 million to take forward mapping work to improve reservoir safety; * An initial £250,000 to plan a major national floods exercise to test the new structures and roles put in place to ensure the country is better prepared to deal with future flooding events. The Government will also develop a Long Term Investment Strategy for flood defence with the Environment Agency. Mr Benn continued: "The lives of people and businesses were turned upside down by last summer's floods, and the human and financial costs will be felt for some time to come. The first anniversary today will be a difficult time for many of those who have lost loved ones, as well as the communities who are still trying to recover. The actions we are taking now and in the future in response to this important final report will go a long way to ensuring we are better prepared to deal with future events. We can never eliminate the risk of flooding, particularly as climate change takes hold. But all of us - Government, water and electricity providers, local communities, and individuals - must take flood risk seriously and be as prepared as we can to deal with it. Sir Michael's report will help us all to do so." Hilary Benn's written ministerial statement in response to the report can be found here. The Chief Fire Officers’ Association The Chief Fire Officers’ Association has welcomed the report and highlighted the recommendation that fire and rescue services should have a statutory duty for dealing with flood events. CFOA President Steve McGuirk stated, “I am pleased that Sir Michael Pitt recognises the importance of a statutory duty for the overall management and coordination of the emergency response to inland flood and water events. It is even more pleasing that Sir Michael sees the fire and rescue service as the most appropriate body to deliver on that statutory duty, co-ordinating the work of partners and stakeholders, to protect our communities from the significant threat to life and public health posed by flooding. We believe that Sir Michael’s recommendations will bring clarity to a situation which is presently confused - this can only be good for communities and those who will respond in the event of an emergency.” Mr McGuirk added, “The 2006 CFOA report Management of Major Flood Events - FRS Contribution to the Emergency Phase, and subsequent submissions to various flood reviews, highlighted the crucial gap in managing and co-ordinating the response of a range of stakeholders despite the diverse and complex nature of these incidents. The professional opinion of fire and rescue service leaders, who managed the response to the floods on the ground and who co-ordinated the resources of fire and rescue services and other agencies on a national level, remains that the provision of an effective and co-ordinated flooding response can only be achieved by formalising and regulating existing arrangements by way of a statutory duty that is appropriately funded.” Mr McGuirk concluded, “The 2007 summer floods also clearly demonstrated the nation’s vulnerability in terms of responder safety, critical national infrastructure and property. A key lesson from these floods showed us that local need will almost always require national mutual aid to resolve the situation and this is what makes flooding a national issue which requires a national, properly resourced response capability.” The Emergency Planning Society The Emergency Planning Society issued the following statement: “Whilst it will take time to digest the 400-odd page document, many of the key themes and findings that Sir Michael will outline are already well-known, from his Interim Report and subsequent briefings to Government Ministers and industry experts. “From what we have seen so far, the Pitt Review has provided a comprehensive account of events before, during and after the 2007 floods, covering the wide range of topics and issues in impressive detail. The recommendations offered are refreshingly frank and are welcomed. There is a feeling that the findings of this report will lead to positive change and lessons learned and we fully support them. “We are pleased to note that the Government has fully accepted all of Sir Michael’s ‘Urgent Recommendations’ outlined in his Interim Report and that progress has already been made in addressing many of these. However, there is still much to be done, particularly in three key areas: 1. Building resilient communities that are informed about flood risk and are prepared to take positive and effective action to protect themselves and others. The Pitt Review found that, in England and Wales, less than half of the people in flood risk areas for whom the Environment Agency (EA)’s Floodline Warnings Direct Service is available take up this service. Moreover, few members of the public seem to be taking the EA’s advice and preparing a ‘flood kit’ to help support themselves and their families in the event of a flood. Many people are, therefore, still not engaging with the nature of their flood risks or taking action to inform or to protect themselves. The EPS acknowledges that the EA has worked hard for many years at both a national and grass roots level to raise awareness of flood risk and recent successes in increasing uptake of their warning service are to be commended. However, there is much still to do to ensure we build resilience into our culture and our communities to ensure that we don’t, in Sir Michael’s words, ‘..forget quickly’. One such suggestion from our members is that the EA would benefit from increased support from its multiagency partners in its flood awareness campaigns. Joint campaigns with Fire & Rescue Services have proven particularly successful at the grass roots level. 2. Managing the social impacts of flooding. The Report has emphasised the 3. Protecting critical infrastructure (such as electricity sub-stations and water treatment works) that our communities rely upon. Last year’s flooding highlighted the difficulties faced by emergency planners responsible for preparing for and managing flooding emergencies: there was a lack of information on the locations of such infrastructure, their vulnerability to flooding and the knock-on impacts that would be felt by our communities in the event that they were compromised. We fully support Association of British Insurers The ABI called on the Government to act on the recommendations of Sir Michael Pitt’s report into the 2007 summer floods. The Met Office The Met Office welcomed the report’s calls for a joint centre to deal with the issue of severe weather and flooding in the UK. Phil Evans, Met Office chief advisor to Government, said: "The Met Office believes that an integrated approach to issuing flood warnings could provide important benefits. These include more consistent, clearer and earlier alerts and warnings to emergency responders, householders and operators of critical national infrastructure, plus an effective means of predicting surface water flooding. Such an approach would also bring the UK in line with international best practice." Rob Varley, Government Services director, said: "The Met Office and the Environment Agency work closely together. Earlier this month we unveiled significant developments in our capability to provide more precise pinpointing of where and when extreme rainfall will occur. "We have also set up a team of specialist forecasters to provide early warnings and risk assessments to those involved in flood forecasting, emergency services and operators of critical national infrastructure. "This latest recommendation will encourage us to do even more with our colleagues in other Government agencies, to protect the public from severe weather, flooding and its consequences." BSI BSI has published the following press statement (verbatim): Businesses, utilities and government agencies need to make significant changes to cope with the increased risk of flooding and other incidents according to the Pitt Report Sir Michael Pitt’s independent, Government requested review into the floods of 2007 has made a wide-ranging number of recommendations considered vital to avoid future disasters. One of the key recommendations to the Government in the report is to insist that many organisations undertake business continuity planning to a standard equivalent to BS 25999, with annual benchmark assessments. BSI Management Systems audits and certifies organisations in many industries against BS 25999, the business continuity standard. These include utilities and other Category 1 and 2 responders under the Civil Contingencies Act. BSI is leading the world in this field and has been working with the Pitt Review team in the Cabinet Office over the past few months to explore ways that businesses can plan more effectively for disasters and disruptions. One of the senior figures involved with BS 25999 and business continuity planning is BSI Management Systems Director Andrew Morris, who welcomes the recommendation in the Pitt Review. “The widespread introduction of the standard, BS 25999 will have a key role to play in making the country safer,” says Mr. Morris. He added: “I’m convinced that proper business continuity management needs to take centre stage in minimising the potential for disruption from future incidents, large or small. “We are already working successfully with many local authorities and companies throughout the UK to offer certification to BS 25999 and facilitate best practice in business continuity management. We’re now expecting an even greater number to heed the recommendations in the report and put measures in place to protect their business and ensure that they are acting responsibly.” Mr Morris pointed out that organisations awarded BS 25999 certification from BSI will have independent assurance that they meet business continuity management best practice. This is important because the Pitt Review revealed that business continuity planning has been ignored by many companies. It found that a third of all utility companies that responded to questions have not exercised or tested their business continuity plans at all, and that numerous companies across the UK are failing to provide adequate protection for members of the public and their key assets. The report also raises important points covering the preparedness of individual companies and the delivery of a joined-up service before and during future incidents. The Pitt Review highlighted that infrastructure organisations across the UK are failing to provide adequate protection for their key assets, and therefore the public. The industry-wide adoption of BS 25999 will help to ensure that not only individual companies are as prepared as they can be for a variety of incidents, but also that complex joined-up services are understood and protected. Andrew Morris said: “Business Continuity plans and processes should not be designed or implemented on their own but should be created with an holistic understanding of all the other organisations with which they work. From now on reliance on a third party without independent verification of their abilities is simply not sufficient.” BSI’s ability to certify many hundreds of organisations to the same standard provides a benchmark process where industry best practice can be demonstrated and perfected. As a result of the recommendations in the Pitt Review, it is likely that legislation will be enacted to mandate organisations to use BS 25999. For those companies who have not yet taken action BSI recommends making an immediate start. Those who do not may quickly find themselves being asked painful questions. There are many real benefits of certification to BS 25999 for organisations including: In summary, BS 25999 certification can improve overall performance, remove uncertainty and widen market opportunities for all organisations. For further information about BS 25999 certification please call BSI Management Systems on 0845 080 9000.
•Date: 26th June 2008• Region: UK •Type: Article •Topic: Emergency planning
|
