UK Resilience
Last updated: 28 October 2008
Successful response to emergencies in the UK has demonstrated that joint working and support can resolve very difficult problems that fall across organisational boundaries. Large scale events have shown that single organisations acting alone cannot resolve the myriad of problems caused by what might, at first sight, appear to be relatively simple emergencies caused by a single source.
Mutual Aid can be defined as an arrangement between Category 1 and 2 responders and other organisations not covered by the Act, within the same sector or across sectors and across boundaries, to provide assistance with additional resource during an emergency, which may overwhelm the resources of an individual organisation [Emergency Response and Recovery].
Although the Act lays down duties regarding bi-lateral co-operation, that should not be seen to restrict responders working closely together outwith its provisions. For example, it would be anticipated that adjacent local authorities in differing police force areas would co-operate in matters of mutual interest in the same way that their respective SCGs/LRFs would. In this way, good practice can be identified and shared across boundaries.
In some instances, Category 1 responders may wish to go beyond bi-lateral co-operation and enter into formal joint arrangements with other Category 1 responders. Care should be taken to ensure that joint arrangements have taken into consideration the needs of all partners which might have an interest in the arrangements being made. Failure to accommodate the needs of all partners will prove both wasteful and inefficient, and ultimately will undermine the benefits of local partnership working.
While there is no UK wide policy specifically relating directly to mutual aid, many areas such as police, fire, NHS and local authorities have inter (and intra) agency mutual aid protocols in place. Most of these are formal, but many are informal.
Formal protocols detail how each partner will undertake or allocate responsibilities to deliver tasks. Protocols may cover matters of broad agreement or details for working together, including how to hand over tasks or obtain additional resources. Protocols may or may not be legally binding depending upon the nature of the agreement between the parties.
The Local Government Association and Civil Contingnencies Secretariat are currently undertaking a project to provide support and guidance to enable local authorities to develop effective mutual aid arrangements. This work will be informed by the Sir Michael Pitt Flood Review. More information on the project’s outcomes will be made available as the project progresses.
A significant part can be played by the voluntary sector and others - partnerships may also embrace a wider group of organisations at the appropriate level. For example, WRVS and the Red Cross may work with local authority social services to open rest centres and deal with the needs of displaced people, and local businesses might work with the emergency services regarding evacuation plans for a shopping centre. The National Voluntary Sector Civil Protection Forum, in partnership with the Civil Contingencies Secretariat, has produced a Voluntary Sector Engagement Guidance Note which provides some suggestions to support Category 1 responders' and their voluntary sector partners' work when considering collaborative arrangements.
Local emergency plans should take into consideration the possible requirement for assistance which may be outwith the local government sphere and these should be fed into the plans themselves. As well as the voluntary sector, there may be a need to work with other organisations such as utilities and transport providers, and it is good practice to make contact with these organisations and maintain links with them to make the contact easier in the event of an emergency.
It is likely that many offers of help will arrive from the general public, businesses, charities, voluntary agencies and others both during the response and recovery phase. Some will be of practical assistance, others goods for those directly affected.
Consideration should be given to:
Local Resilience Forums (LRFs) ensure effective delivery of those duties under the Civil Contingencies Act that need to be developed in a multi-agency environment including the recovery aspects. LRFs can also facilitate the provision of formal mutual aid agreements between its members.
Regional Resilience Forums (RRFs) can also be used for facilitating wider mutual aid agreements, eg. between all Local Authorities in a region.
Mutual Aid arrangements exist within and between many of the voluntary sector organisations, for activation as required, particularly across boundaries. In the event of a major or international emergency, voluntary sector support may be accessed through the head offices of the relevant voluntary organisations or through the Voluntary Sector Civil Protection Forum or the National Voluntary Aid Society Emergency Committee (NVASEC).
Links with the voluntary sector will normally be co-ordinated through the Local Authorities in an area - often through a sub-group of the Local Resilience Forum – and activation and co-ordination arrangements for voluntary sector involvement in both response and recovery phases should be formalised as part of emergency planning work.
There is no lead Government Department for the co-ordination of mutual aid arrangements, although dependent on the emergency, it may be possible for the relevant government department to assist with the facilitation of mutual aid.
Departments involved will be determined by the type of incident that has occurred.
Strategic Co-ordinating Groups are established in each of the Police Force areas and include amongst their roles, to ensure co-operation, mutual assistance and support for local responders. Where an emergency demands significant police involvement, the Scottish Police Information and Co-ordination Centre (S-PICC) can be activated to support SEER by collecting information from Scottish police forces, and to co-ordinate mutual aid between police forces.
As in England, the LRFs can oversee the provision of formal mutual aid agreements between their members whilst the Wales Resilience Forum can facilitate such arrangements on a broader basis.
Detail on the financial implications of any mutual aid agreement should be determined between the parties and set out within the protocol.
There are many examples of mutual aid protocols available. Below is a selection:
General enquiries: Cabinet Office, 22 Whitehall, London SW1A 2WH.
Contact: via feedback form.
[Terms and conditions, privacy and copyright] [Complaints procedure] [Document readers] [
RSS Feeds] [This website is speech enabled]