Emergency planning
Emergencies
A disaster can occur unexpectedly, anywhere, at any time and can take many forms, e.g. flooding, storms, transport incident etc.
The Civil Contingencies Act places responsibilities on us to make plans and train to respond to emergencies. Our aim is to ensure that we are prepared for any major emergency, are able to respond to support the emergency services as required, and can assist those affected.
We are part of the Gloucestershire Local Resilience Forum which provides a multi-agency response to major emergencies in the county. For more information please:
Gloucestershire Community Risk Register
The Gloucestershire Community Risk Register identifies the following:
- potential hazards for Gloucestershire
- the impacts they might have and
- the mitigation put in place.
Community resilience
Many communities already help one another in time of need, but experience had shown that those who have spent a bit of time preparing a simple Community Emergency Plan are better able to cope and recover more quickly from emergencies. Through the Local Resilience Forum Community Resilience Group, multi-agency partners work together to promote community resilience in Gloucestershire. The group has developed a community emergency plan template and supporting guidance to help communities produce a plan. Gloucestershire Rural Community Council has developed some additional guidance on Places of Safety and has useful emergency planning guidance and Community Emergency Planning Toolkit on their website.
If you do prepare a plan we would be grateful if you could then share it with our emergency planning team as this will allow us to work closely with you should an emergency occur. Please email your emergency plan to corporatesupport@cotswold.gov.uk.
Priority service users
If you or a member of your household are vulnerable you may be eligible to register for Utility Priority Services. Please visit the below links to register;
Most energy providers also have a user priority register so you may also like to register directly with them.
Business Continuity Management
Business Continuity Management (BCM) is a process that helps to manage the risks of the running of an organisation and aims to ensure it can continue to operate during a disruption.
The Gloucestershire Local Resilience Forum provides advice and guidance to businesses and voluntary sector organisations about preparing for an emergency. For more information please:
- visit the Gloucestershire prepared website
Weather advice
The government has published advice on getting ready for winter, and the Environment Agency is promoting a National Flood Campaign.
Waste collections are sometimes disrupted due to winter weather; if this is the case please:
- visit our waste collection in severe weather page
Help preparing for and responding to an emergency
Gloucestershire Local Resilience Forum has produced the ‘Are you ready’ booklet is to provide clear practical advice to help you prepare for and respond to an emergency. You can significantly reduce the risks for you, your family, and your property by being informed and ready to respond to events.
