Dear Colleague
REVIEW OF SCOTLAND'S EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS
1. Cathy Jamieson MSP, Minister for Justice, has today announced that she is commissioning a consultative review of Scotland's preparedness for dealing with simultaneous, major emergencies, to be facilitated by HM Chief Inspector of Fire Services Jeff Ord, in conjunction with officials from this Division. I enclose a copy of the Minister's announcement, which refers to two documents published today on which we would particularly welcome views. These are available at:
2. I am writing to key stakeholders to set out the detailed background, and to request your assistance and that of the organisations or members you represent in the review. A list of all those receiving a copy of this letter is attached at Annex B.
The purpose of the review
3. The purpose of the review is to assess Scotland's overall preparedness to deal with major emergency situations that would severely stretch local capacity and capabilities - in particular, simultaneous no notice incidents and those requiring multi-agency response across administrative borders - and to identify potential gaps. The review will also consider the adequacy of communications within and between the blue-light emergency services and other stakeholders with responsibilities for dealing with the impacts of major emergencies, and the potential for increased collaboration between those organisations.
4. The review team would like to hear your views on the issues set out in this letter and its enclosures. Wherever possible, we hope to do that at regular scheduled meetings with your organisation which the Executive chairs or attends. If necessary, we will arrange a dedicated meeting with your organisation. Dorothy Edwardson will be in touch with you to finalise the arrangements.
The current arrangements for emergency preparedness
5. In recent years, there have of course been a number of initiatives aimed at improving emergency planning procedures and enhancing resilience, most of these flowing from the Civil Contingencies Act 2004, and summarised in "Preparing Scotland" which was published earlier this year. Strategic Co-ordinating Groups have already made a detailed risk assessment of potential risks in their areas through the compilation of Community Risk Registers. We are grateful for all the work which has gone into preparing and publishing these.
6. Ministers are very pleased with all that has been achieved and the forward work programmes that are in place across the country. However, in the light of the London bombings last July they are not complacent. That is why the review is being undertaken. The approach is consistent with the processes that support the Civil Contingencies Act and its implementation. For example, the maintenance of Preparing Scotland is intended to be dynamic and proactive if its guidance is to be appropriate to the environment. Structures and processes need to evolve continually to take into account lessons learned and the changing nature of the risks we face.
Broad Issues the review will consider
7. The review will consider the following broad themes in relation to simultaneous, major emergencies:
(i) the integration of the multi-agency response within current structures and allocation of responsibilities for emergency planning and response;
(ii) integration of the first response and the longer term recovery from major emergencies through multi-agency collaboration;
(iii) specific issues raised by simultaneous "no-notice" incidents, possibly of varying types, especially where these occur across administrative boundaries and requiring a multi-agency response;
(iv) the effectiveness of operational procedures and processes for prevention and mitigation of all types of emergencies.
Specific issues the review will consider
8. These include:
(i) the potential for increased collaboration between the blue-light services, and between all agencies involved in emergency planning and response;
(ii) the recommendations set out in HM Chief Inspector of Fire Services' report "Simultaneous Terrorist Attacks: are Scotland's fire and rescue services best prepared to respond?"
(iii) the Scottish Executive's analysis of the issues raised in response to the Mott Macdonald report on fire service control rooms published on 8 July 2004;
(iv) the outcomes of the Scottish Executives capabilities mapping exercise and its recommendations for local responders' management of preparation, response and recovery.
Methodology of the review
9. The review will be facilitated by HM Chief Inspector of Fire Services, in close collaboration with officials from the Fire & Civil Contingencies Division of the Justice Department, and will comprise the following elements:
(i) face-to-face meetings between the review team and key stakeholders , at which the issues outlined above will be discussed using the enclosed questionnaire (Annex A) as a basis for discussion. Agreed minutes of the meetings will be published on the Scottish Executive website;
(ii) Individual stakeholders are also welcome to make written representations on the issues if they wish. Any such representations will also be published on the Scottish Executive website unless the organisation explicitly requests otherwise;
(iii) following the completion of the series of stakeholder meetings and receipt of any written representations, Justice Department officials will analyse the responses and submit policy advice to Ministers. Once Ministers have considered the advice, they will report their conclusions to Parliament.
Timescale
10. The meetings with stakeholders will take place over the course of the summer and early autumn. The review team will then consider the findings and report to Ministers in summer 2007.
11. Please feel free to contact John Nicholls in my division on 0131 244 2163, email john.nicholls@scotland.gsi.gov.uk if you have any queries about the review.
Yours sincerely
Ian Walford
Head of Fire and Civil Contingencies Division
1 June 2006