The Civil Contingencies Act

The Civil Contingencies Act (CCA) 2004 lays seven civil protection duties on the Council; these are touched on here.

All Council departments are required to have a Business Continuity Plan whereby within reason, no matter what emergency, the department will continue to be able to deliver essential services to Island residents.

Emergency planning work is directed towards emergency situations that are most likely and situations that are less likely but if they were to occur would have very serious implications for the Island. The Civil Contingencies Act dictates that risk assessment should take place on a Police constabulary basis - for us, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. Identified risks are placed on a Community Risk Register; see this page for more detail.

The Emergency Planning team has expertise in drafting emergency plans, although it looks to departments and organisations with specific responsibilities to contribute to plan writing. Details of generic and specific Island plans can be found on the Plan List page.

The Council seeks to give general information to the public about emergency planning through this website, leaflets and talks. During an incident the Council will use the local radio and television, and if the incident is protracted, will consider a helpline and leaflet distribution.

This is done informally and formally through meetings of the Island Resilience Forum and its sub-groups. See the Working Together page for more details.

The Civil Contingency Act requires that responders share information that is necessary for emergency preparedness within defined bounds of confidentiality.

The Council has special responsibility for providing advice and assistance to businesses and voluntary organisations about business continuity management. For further details go to the Business Continuity pages.