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Plans for Scottish Resilience
03/02/2008
The Scottish Government's Fire and Civil Contingencies Division is to be renamed to reflect its modern role in supporting and strengthening the country's resilience to major emergencies.
'Scottish Resilience' will be formally launched at the end of February.
Cabinet Secretary for Justice Kenny MacAskill said:
"Scottish Resilience reflects the new multi-agency arrangements which have been developed in Government in recent years to support our colleagues across the country.
"It brings together civil servants and professionals from front-line organisations including blue-light services, local government and health partners.
"This rich mix ensures that I and other ministers get sound, practical advice on emergency planning. It is also a vehicle for supporting our emergency responder organisations in very practical ways.
"The Glasgow Airport incident demonstrated that our emergency preparedness is in good shape. But we cannot be complacent.
"The launch of Scottish Resilience gives us an opportunity to build on existing partnerships within Scotland and across the UK.
"As a Government we will respect the role that local government and others play. At the same time we must make the very best use of limited resources by working practically and sensibly towards the shared goal of a safer, stronger Scotland."
Article by Cabinet Secretary for Justice Kenny MacAskill on Scottish Resilience
Later this month I will formally launch 'Scottish Resilience'. The aim is to bring together the work we do with agencies across Scotland to build safer, stronger communities.
Our lives have changed dramatically over the last 20 years. The world is a smaller place, where we are more interdependent and also more vulnerable. This has been highlighted by major emergencies in recent years such as the 9/11 terror attacks and the consequences of these on the world stock markets; the floods in England last summer and the impact on food prices across the UK; and Scotland's sheep farmers suffering export problems following the foot and mouth disease outbreak in Surrey last autumn.
Scotland is a wealthy country which is stable, both naturally and politically. Nevertheless, we are not immune to emergencies. Every day our communities must cope with incidents ranging from house fires to antisocial behaviour and in dealing with these emergencies, we should not forget the risks that people face, as illustrated by the recent tragic death of fire fighter John Noble.
Of course, all our emergency responders must be prepared for major emergencies. In the last year we have witnessed a terrorist attack on our soil and we are told to expect more; we must also cope with extreme and more frequent weather events, and experts tell us that the risk of a global flu pandemic is still real.
We will take all practicable steps to enhance Scotland's resilience so that our ability to respond and cope with major shocks means that we can bounce back quickly, all in the context of a country that is safer and stronger.
Resilience at a local level is the business of many different organisations and our national resilience depends on the health of each one. Traditionally, the Government has set policy, established frameworks and provided funding. But I believe, Government must lead from the front and we must share resources, ideas and energy in the face of the challenges we face.
We must all take note of the lessons from the disaster in New Orleans in 2005, when wrangling and confusion between different layers of Government prevented help being delivered quickly to those who needed it.
So how are we already supporting and working with our front-line responders?
Training is crucial. The Scottish Fire Services College in East Lothian has been an arm of central Government for over 50 years and we are committed to developing and expanding its role in future. The Scottish Police College at Tulliallan is already regarded by some as one of the finest such facilities in the world, and our Scottish Ambulance College delivers high quality, standardised training across the country. Add to that the reputation of our universities and colleges in the field of medicine.
The Scottish Resilience Development Service in Perth works with staff from across the emergency response community. The service runs training events, workshops and exercises where people learn from one another and from experience in other countries.
Scottish Resilience will be investing over £50 million in the next three years to equip our fire and rescue services with a state-of-the-art radio system. We will also be investing £94 million to build police capacity and recruit an additional 1,000 police officers by March 2011.
Support for our emergency services managers is crucial too. Last week we announced that the Fire Inspectorate would be abolished and replaced by a Fire and Rescue Advisory Unit within Government, to work with the service. Operating under the Scottish Resilience banner, the unit will be able to provide independent advice to Ministers and support to Fire and Rescue managers, and to challenge them if necessary. We will examine the role of the Police Inspectorate as part of our review of the scrutiny and complaints landscape, while on Health there has already been significant change with a move to single system working.
The name, Scottish Resilience, reflects the new multi-disciplinary arrangements which have been developed in Government to support our colleagues across the country.
It brings together civil servants and professionals from front-line organisations including blue-light services, local government and health partners.
This rich mix ensures that I and other ministers get sound, practical advice on emergency planning. It is also a vehicle for supporting our emergency responder organisations in very practical ways.
The Glasgow Airport incident demonstrated that our emergency preparedness is in good shape. But we cannot be complacent. The launch of Scottish Resilience gives us an opportunity to build on existing partnerships within Scotland and across the UK.
As a Government we will respect the role that local government and others play. At the same time we must make the very best use of limited resources by working practically and sensibly towards the shared goal of a safer, stronger Scotland.