| Local authorities need more cash for emergency planning Local authority emergency planning units need more cash to fund their increased workload. According to a survey of top tier authorities in England and Wales, published by the Local Government Association (LGA), it has emerged that these authorities are spending on average just over £32m on emergency planning, while the current Civil Defence Grant is just £19m. If the new Civil Contingencies bill is implemented, 81 per cent of emergency planning units estimate that they will need to increase staff levels. Cllr Susie Kemp, chairman of the LGA Public Protection Executive said: “All areas of workload for top tier emergency planning units have increased in the last two years since 9/11 while the resources have not. The areas with the biggest increase in workload are multi-agency co-operation mentioned by 88 per cent of authorities, plan writing (81 per cent) and risk assessment (76 per cent). “Resources have not increased to meet the overall rise in workload. Emergency planning units have worked an average of 374 hours of unpaid overtime in the last year and almost all authorities provide ‘around the clock’ cover."
•Date:
7th August 2003 • Region: UK
•Type: Article •Topic:
Emergency
planning
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