Preparing for emergencies

This service enables us to react effectively to infrequent Major Emergencies, in partnership with other agencies, as required by the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 and is not associated with planning for building development or the response to day-to-day emergencies. The latter are dealt with by the relevant teams as part of their normal response.

Our response to emergencies is initially co-ordinated by a delegated member of the management team, who will be alerted through agreed multi-agency procedures.

Following the introduction of the 2004 Civil Contingencies Act, local councils became known as Category One responders, alongside the emergency services such as the Police, Fire Service and Ambulance Service.

The Category One responder duties require us to extend the emergency planning functions we performed previously and created additional duties for us to undertake.

These additional duties for local councils are:

• To complete a risk assessment for hazards that may pose a threat to the particular area.
• To maintain business continuity management plans to ensure the council can function in the event of an emergency.
• To maintain plans to prevent, reduce, control or mitigate the effects of emergencies and the response to emergencies.

General information on the multi-agency response to emergencies and available plans can found on the Suffolk Resilience website.

Joint Emergency Planning Unit

Local authorities emergency planning in Suffolk is organised in a joint unit comprising all of the Suffolk councils.

The aim of the JEPU is to facilitate the development, management, support and validation of integrated civil preparedness and business continuity management within Suffolk local authorities.

District Emergency Planning Officers (DEPO) and Emergency Planning Officers (EPO) maintain the special links they have within their respective districts/boroughs and continue to provide a local service.

• Contact our District Emergency Planning Officers

Community Resilience

Local communities have an important role to play during an emergency as they have a clear understanding of the risks and resources within their area.

There is a framework for local communities to work together and with the emergency services.

Guidance to help communities in becoming more self reliant can be found on the Suffolk Resilience Forum. 

There are guides and templates available on the website and, by accessing the team at the Suffolk Joint Emergency Planning Unit for advice and support, communities can work towards becoming more resilient to emergency situations, building a more consistent approach across the county.

This will assist the emergency services by making the extensive resources available in Suffolk communities more visible and accessible.

The website has been developed following a period of consultation with residents across Suffolk from communities that have completed or started an emergency planning process and from those who as yet are still to take steps in formal emergency preparation.