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Latest version of this document is available on www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/emergencyplanning

Version 4 (Nov 08)

LINCOLNSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL EMERGENCY PLAN

This plan is a controlled document which contains information to be used during a major emergency within the county of Lincolnshire. The information is registered under the Data Protection Act 1998 and should not be disclosed to any unauthorised person without permission. Under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, any information of a predominately personal nature, which would conflict with the Data Protection Act and information of a highly confidential nature that would not be in the public interest to disclose will be exempt from release to the general public. However any enquiry will be treated on a case by case basis. Within the plan areas of Appendices A and B are inaccessible under this Act. Lincolnshire County Council EPU would like to thank Derbyshire County Council EPU for their help in producing this plan.


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Contents

MAINTENANCE OF EMERGENCY PLAN....................................................................................................2 AMENDMENT HISTORY..................................................................................................................................4 DISTRIBUTION LIST ........................................................................................................................................5 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................................7 HOW TO USE THE EMERGENCY PLAN .....................................................................................................8 OPERATIONAL PROCEDURE .......................................................................................................................9 RESPONSE TO AN EMERGENCY ..............................................................................................................12 PHASES OF RESPONSE ..............................................................................................................................12 AGENCY ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES .............................................................................................14 ROLE OF LINCOLNSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL.......................................................................................18 RESPONSIBILITIES OF COUNTY COUNCIL SERVICE AREAS ..........................................................19 THE MULTI AGENCY STRATEGIC CO-ORDINATION ...........................................................................24 LINCOLNSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL EMERGENCY CO-ORDINATING GROUPS...........................25 INFORMATION AND THE MEDIA................................................................................................................26 END OF INCIDENT .........................................................................................................................................27 ROLE OF ELECTED MEMBERS..................................................................................................................27 BUSINESS CONTINUITY OF THE COUNCIL............................................................................................27 EMERGENCY COMMUNICATION ...............................................................................................................28 ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANCE ................................................................................................................28 PSYCHOLOGICAL AND EMOTIONAL AFTERCARE .............................................................................28 FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS .........................................................................................................................28 THE BELLWIN SCHEME ...............................................................................................................................28 DISASTER APPEAL SCHEME...................................................................................................................29 OTHER EMERGENCY PLANS HELD BY LCC .........................................................................................30 APPENDIX A - INTERNAL EMERGENCY CONTACTS .........................................................................31 APPENDIX B - ELECTED MEMBER CONTACT DETAILS.....................................................................32 APPENDIX C - EXTERNAL CONTACTS DIRECTORY ...........................................................................33 APPENDIX D - INCIDENT LOG SHEET......................................................................................................34

MAINTENANCE OF EMERGENCY PLAN

The Emergency Plan will be reviewed and exercised at least once per year with all names, telephone numbers, equipment inventories etc being thoroughly checked and updated more frequently.

The Emergency Plan will be tested annually and all those involved will provide feedback, and results will be circulated to ascertain future amendments and training requirements.


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AMENDMENT HISTORY

Date Amendment Details Amended by April 2007 Plan issued EPU June 2007 Amended agency roles and responsibilities following

update of Lincolnshire Emergency procedures manual. EPU

Aug 2007 Added Waste Services role EPU Sept 07 Contact amendment P.36 EPU

February 2008

Staff and contact details and councillor details amended EPU

November 2008

Staff and contact details and councillor details amended EPU


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DISTRIBUTION LIST

INTERNAL

Chief Executive

Assistant Chief Executive - Performance

Assistant Chief Executive – Partnerships

Director For Communities

Director For Development

Director Of Resources

Director Of Children’s Services

Mouchel Partnership Director

Asst Director – Adult Social Care

Asst Director – Culture & Adult Education

Asst Director – Supporting People

Chief Fire Officer

Asst Director – Finance And Asset Management

Asst Director – Commercial & Legal

Asst Director – People & Modernisation.

Asst Director For Economic Regeneration

Asst Director For Economic Regeneration

Asst Director – Sustainable Communities

Asst Director – Highways And Traffic

Asst Director – Targeted (Children’s Services)

Asst Director – Universal (Children’s Services)

Asst Director – Specialist (Children’s Services)

Asst Director – School Improvement Service (Children’s Services)

Mouchel Operations Manager

Mouchel Partnership Controller

Mouchel HR Business Partner

All LCC Heads of Service


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EXTERNAL

Lincolnshire Police Contingency Planning Officer (Police HQ)

Operations Manager, Lincolnshire Fire & Rescue HQ

Operations Manager Lincolnshire Primary Care Trust

East Midlands Ambulance Service – Emergency Planning Officer

Lincolnshire County Council Head Of Emergency Planning

Boston Borough Council – Emergency Planning Officer

City Of Lincoln Council – Emergency Planning Officer

East Lindsey District Council – Emergency Planning Officer

North Kesteven District Council – Emergency Planning Officer

South Holland District Council – Emergency Planning Officer

South Kesteven District Council – Emergency Planning Officer

West Lindsey District Council – Emergency Planning Officer

Derbyshire County Council- Emergency Planning Officer

Rutland County Council- Emergency Planning Officer

Norfolk County Council- Emergency Planning Officer

Northamptonshire County Council- Emergency Planning Officer

Nottinghamshire County Council- Emergency Planning Officer

Leicestershire County Council- Emergency Planning Officer

North East Lincolnshire Council – Emergency Planning Officer

North Lincolnshire Council – Emergency Planning Officer

Environment Agency (Northern Area Anglian Region)

To request further copies or to notify changes, please contact Lincolnshire County Council Emergency Planning Unit

Telephone: 01522 582220 E-mail: [email protected]


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INTRODUCTION

For the purposes of this plan an Emergency is defined under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 as “An event or situation which threatens serious damage to….

• human welfare ………, • the environment ………, • war or terrorism which threatens serious damage to the security of the UK”.

Civil Contingencies Act 2004

The term ‘Emergency’ (capital E) refers to what was previously named major incident, major emergency or disaster.

The purpose of this publication is to state Lincolnshire County Council’s response to an Emergency and to serve as a guide to those officers involved with Emergency planning and Emergency response. The Council has a legal duty in an Emergency as a category 1 responder under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 (CCA), to maintain its public services (business continuity) and also to assist local residents in distress. It is also responsible for liaising with the emergency services, other authorities and agencies to mitigate the effects of an Emergency. Lincolnshire County Council's role will be to provide support and assistance to the County emergency services. The Council's response to an Emergency will be tailored to the level of the incident. Emergencies have a number of effects on our society and environment and they call for a combined and co-ordinated response, bringing together the expertise and resources of the emergency services and local authorities supplemented as necessary by other services and organisations e.g. voluntary agencies, military and private contractors. The County and District, Borough & City Councils are empowered to incur such expenditure as is considered necessary to avert, alleviate or eradicate the effects of any such Emergency in their respective geographical areas. It is important in an Emergency situation where lives may be at risk that all personnel may be relied upon to act quickly and effectively, whether as individuals or as members of a co-ordinated working group. LCC employees will therefore need to place themselves at the disposal of the Chief Executive to be used in a capacity, which is deemed essential when required, if an Emergency incident occurs. Similarly all resources under the control of LCC can be used as directed by the Chief Executive. It is impossible to plan for every possible Emergency and this document contains the guidelines for an effective command and control system which can respond to any eventuality should the occasion arise.

It is important that all personnel know what is expected of them and what they can expect from others.

Chief Executive Lincolnshire County Council Head of Emergency Planning


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HOW TO USE THE EMERGENCY PLAN

If an Emergency occurs it will be necessary to put the Emergency Plan into operation. This should be carried out as follows:

• The individual who receives information concerning an incident should immediately follow the Operational Procedure - see page 9

• The Chief Executive, or available Director, will become the County

Council Emergency Controller (CCEC) and other Officers will be nominated to co-ordinate, investigate and liaise - see Pages 9 & 10

• The Business Management Team (BMT) made up of the Assistant

Directors of LCC will make up the County Council’s Emergency Planning Group, the tactical decision making group. Should the County Emergency Plan be activated the decision will be made by the CCEC whether to form the group as a tactical decision making team - see page 27.

The appendices to this plan list useful contact telephone numbers (staff, elected members). Other local agencies and contacts, for externally available resources, are held by Lincolnshire County Council Emergency Planning Unit who operate a 24/7 on duty call out system. Day to day duties of each Service Area are detailed in the body of the plan and how they can be developed and tailored to an emergency. The plan also lists other background information that may be useful as well as other relevant emergency plans e.g. Elected Members Plan and Media Emergency Response Plan. All items of equipment used during the incident should be carefully logged and control kept of who has been issued with what. It should be remembered that an enquiry will take place following the emergency and therefore all incident log pages should be carefully completed and stored, together with any other relevant information- see appendix D All written material accumulated during the incident, including handwritten notes, will become evidential in courts of enquiry and litigation processes. All such material must be preserved. NB: All home telephone numbers included must be treated as

strictly confidential and only distributed on a need to know basis.


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OPERATIONAL PROCEDURE

CALL OUT AND ACTIVATION During or outside office hours: Fire and Rescue Control will remain the primary point of contact for the Emergency Services in the case of an emergency. Fire and Rescue Control room staff will then contact the Emergency Planning Unit duty officer, who will evaluate the request and take appropriate action. This action may involve alerting the available director (CCEC).

ON CONTACT BEING MADE On receipt of contact from the duty Emergency Planning Officer the CCEC will lead the County Council’s response to the emergency. County Offices will act as the primary meeting venue for the Emergency Planning Group formed to deal with an incident, however in the event that County Offices are out of action the County Emergency Centre, located at Fire and Rescue HQ, South Park Avenue, Lincoln, will act as secondary meeting venue, the emergency centre can be opened by any member of the County Council Emergency Planning Unit.

N.B. An Emergency has been known historically as a major incident and this title may continue to be used to denote an Emergency as defined in the Civil Contingencies Act 2004.

When the initial reports of an incident provide a basis for considering the possibility that the incident could escalate to major proportions and other agencies will be involved or requested to assist. The purpose is to put all relevant agencies at “standby” alert level when either the emergency services and/or the local authorities are.

When the reports of an incident give sufficient information to determine that any of the criteria for an Emergency apply (see Emergency definition page 7) or where a multi-agency response is required from the outset (whether or not STANDBY has been given).

When response to a “DECLARED” Emergency can be reduced to a normal “operational level”.

When subsequent reports of an incident, classified as STANDBY, but not DECLARED, confirm that there is no potential for the incident to develop into an Emergency.

Emergency CANCEL

Emergency STANDBY Initial incident could escalate

Emergency DECLARED Criteria for emergency apply

Emergency STAND DOWN Response to “Declared Emergency”


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If the duty director decides to implement the Emergency Plan the following steps should be followed:

Duty Director (CCEC) will: • Take and retain overall control;

• Arrange for emergency control room to be established if necessary;

• Commence main incident log (using log pages provided annex D);

• Obtain key information about location, extent and nature of incident;

• Obtain name, location and telephone number of Incident Commander;

• Deploy a Forward Liaison Officer (FLO) from LCC to attend the scene and report back on behalf of LCC (ideally a member of the emergency planning unit);

• Alert Communications Officer;

• Alert the rest of the Emergency Planning Group;

• Alert other Heads of Service where appropriate;

• Nominate Director who will retain responsibility for all normal business activity;

• Advise Council Leader / Deputy Leader.

N.B. The duty director should take advice and guidance from the duty Emergency Planning Officer.

HEADS OF SERVICE (HoS) will:

• Commence incident log for their respective service area (using log pages provided at annex D);

• Carry out instructions given by the duty director;

• Deploy section’s resources in response to requests from Emergency Planning Unit and /or CCEC.

• Put other members of service on standby and arrange a shift system if necessary;

• Ensure business as usual for the section alongside any additional response duties.

Forward Liaison Officer (FLO) will:

• Attend the incident immediately and report to the Incident Commander;

• Assess the situation and advise the Incident Commander accordingly of issues affecting the County Council or where the County Council can be of assistance;

• Make regular reports to the CCEC (recommended one per hour);

• Make notes of actions taken either by way of dictation or hand-written. It may be necessary to consider taking a second person purely to take notes.


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REMEMBER ♦ At the scene of the incident the Incident Commander will be in charge - this

is normally a member of the emergency services or representative of the lead agency dealing with the incident;

♦ FLO should not cross any inner or outer cordon around the incident unless the Site Safety Officer (normally a Fire Officer) pronounces it safe to do so;

♦ Members of staff deployed to the incident must report to the Incident Commander and take instructions from them;

♦ Advice on personal protective equipment should be sought from the Incident Commander;

♦ Corporate identification must be carried at all times when attending the scene.


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RESPONSE TO AN EMERGENCY

The initial response to an emergency is usually provided by the Emergency Services supported by the local authority, but many organisations can become involved.

PHASES OF RESPONSE

The table below details the three phases of an emergency; Phase Lead Agency Action 1 - Immediate Response Emergency Services Life saving, asset

protection, containment

2 - Transitional Period

Emergency Services / Lead Local Authority

Evidence collection, restore basic services, assessment

3 – Restoration Lead Local Authority Re-instate normality (where appropriate).

Emergency Occurs

• LCC Emergency Planning Unit (EPU) receives the initial alert from Fire Control.

• EPU Alerts the appropriate council(s) and other agencies

• EPU alert an LCC director.

• EPU activates "first" or immediate response measures e.g. provides a reception centre, emergency transportation.

• This allows the district councils in the first few hours, to bring together their management teams and prepare their strategy for the longer-term response such as re-housing the homeless and structural repairs to property.

• County Council co-ordinates the local

authority response (both county and districts) and takes certain immediate actions until the district is ready to respond.

• If more than one district is involved LCC will continue to co-ordinate until such time as appropriate links between districts have been established.

LCC falls back to a supporting role available to districts and others if required (e.g. the provision of tangible resources and certain services) and remains at readiness should a further incident occur.

The County Council prepares for its medium and long term response (see phases of response – below).

County and district councils work in close co-operation to provide an extended or enhanced provision of normal services and any other special services with County Emergency Planning Unit in a co-ordinating role.


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In the immediate response to an emergency the principal concerns of the authority will include: • Support for the emergency services; • Support and care for the local and wider community; • Use of council resources to mitigate the effects of the emergency; • Co-ordination of the response by organisations other than the emergency services

e.g. voluntary agencies; • Provision of advice and information to the affected community. During the transitional period the principal concerns for the authority will include: • Hand over of responsibility for the incident (from emergency services to lead local

authority); • Continued provision of advice and information to the affected community; • Continued provision of County Council resources as required; • Temporary solutions to damaged property and / or infrastructure; • Establish humanitarian assistance centre if required; • Semi permanent housing for anybody made homeless as a result of the

emergency. During the recovery stage the principal concerns for the authority will include: • Continued provision of advice, information and support; • Continued provision of Council resources as required; • Continued provision of humanitarian assistance centre (if required); • Management of any appeal fund; • Handling of VIP visits to the area; • Repair and recovery work to any damaged property, environment and or

infrastructure; • Return anybody made homeless through the emergency to their normal homes; • Handling of any memorial service; • Debrief of incident response and action lessons learned. As the incident develops, and the emphasis switches from immediate response to recovery and restoration, the district authorities will take a leading role in rehabilitating their respective communities and restoring the environment. The County Council will support the district authorities. If the effects of the emergency are felt cross-county borders then other councils will become involved co-ordinated by the Regional Resilience Team based at Government Office East Midlands in Nottingham.


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AGENCY ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES Each service or agency working in response to a major emergency has its own role and functions as follows:

Lincolnshire Police The role of the police is to:

♦ The saving of life together with the other emergency services

♦ The co-ordination of the emergency services, local authorities and other organisations acting in support at the scene of the incident

♦ To secure, protect and preserve the scene to facilitate the work of the emergency services

♦ The management of cordons to protect the public, property and survivors.

♦ The criminal investigation of the incident; collation of evidence and the facilitation of investigation by the responsible accident investigative bodies where applicable.

♦ The collection and distribution of casualty and survivor information

♦ The identification of the deceased on behalf of Her Majesty’s (HM) Coroner

♦ The co-ordination of search activities on land

Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue Service The role of the Fire and Rescue Service is to:

♦ Search for, locate and rescue trapped casualties

♦ Prevention of further escalation of the incident by firefighting measures

♦ Dealing with released chemicals or other contaminants in order to save life and rescue or protect people from imminent danger.

♦ To provide a specialist response to UK based collapsed structure and major transport incidents

♦ To assist other agencies with the removal of large quantities of flood water

♦ Co-ordination of the health and safety of all personnel of all agencies working within the incident inner cordon. Responsibility rests with the individual organisation.

♦ On behalf of the NHS and in liaison with the ambulance services, undertake mass decontamination of the public in a CBRN incident.

♦ Liaison with Incident Medical Officer and Ambulance Service re assistance at ambulance loading points and priority evacuation of injured persons


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♦ Liaison with the Police Incident Officer regarding access to the inner cordon, particularly in a terrorist incident

♦ To assist with body recovery if required East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) The role of the Ambulance Service is:

♦ Provide appropriate, prioritised transport for the needs of a casualty;

♦ Set up site medical centre, where necessary, for the triage and pre-hospital emergency care of casualties;

♦ Provide “on demand” service to the level dictated by the particular incident;

♦ Co-ordinate and control medical, paramedical and nursing activities together with support provided by other ambulance services and agencies assisting in the incident;

♦ Alert designated hospitals and provide updated information;

♦ Alert appropriate district health authority officers;

♦ Liaise with community health consultants and departments where necessary;

♦ Ensure adequate cover is maintained over the remaining area of the authority.

Maritime Coastguard Agency (MCA) The primary areas of responsibility during an Emergency are: -

♦ To initiate and co-ordinate civil maritime search and rescue;

♦ Responsibility for dealing with pollution at sea and to assist local authorities with the clean up operation;

♦ At the request of the Police or Local Authority to assist during civil emergencies such as flooding.

Health Protection Agency (HPA) The Health Protection Agency (HPA) is an independent public health agency set up on 1 April 2003 to protect the health and well being of everyone in England and Wales. The Agency plays a critical role in protecting people from infectious diseases and in preventing harm when hazards involving chemicals, poisons, or radiation occur. It also prepares for new and emerging threats, such as bio-terrorist attack or virulent new strains of disease. The HPA is responsible for a number of functions including strategic advice and support to health emergency planning, public health advice and support to the NHS on a wide range of incidents including communicable disease control, chemical incidents and radiological contamination. The HPA East Midlands also acts as a gateway to specialist technical advice at a national level.


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The HPA has teams that work at a local level. Their main functions are:

♦ Prevention, control and surveillance of communicable diseases;

♦ Support and advice to the NHS and others on the whole range of health protection functions at local level;

♦ Advice on, and surveillance of, chemical incidents and non-communicable environmental hazards;

♦ Proper Officer Function [Public Health {Control of Diseases} Act 1984 and Public Health {Infectious Diseases} Regulations 1988];

♦ Liaison with hospital infection control teams and advice to community infection control teams;

♦ Public health advice to Port Health Authorities.

Environment Agency (EA) The primary areas of responsibility during an Emergency are: -

♦ Assess the risk of the incident to the environment and the community;

♦ To prevent or minimise the impact of the incident;

♦ In a flood event, issue flood warnings and flood defence assets to protect the communities at risk ;

♦ In a pollution incident, to prevent, control and monitor the input of pollutants into the environment;

♦ Regulate and provide advice and support on waste disposal issues;

♦ Seek remediation, clean up and restoration of the environment;

♦ Investigate the incident and consider enforcement action.

District / Borough/ City Councils

♦ To respond to emergencies within the district / borough / city boundary in conjunction with others as appropriate;

♦ To arrange for the re-housing of those made homeless by an emergency;

♦ To provide aid to neighbouring district/ borough / city councils when requested;

♦ To restore services affected by the emergency for which the council is usually responsible;

♦ To liaise with other organisations as part of the combined response.

Lincolnshire County Council (Emergency Planning Unit)


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In the immediate response to an emergency, Lincolnshire County Council (through the Emergency Planning Unit) will provide support to the emergency services and continue normal support and care for the local and wider community. The Emergency Planning Unit will provide and manage County Council resources (through relevant service heads) to mitigate the effects of the emergency and co-ordinate the response by other organisations (other than the emergency services). Once the initial response phase has passed other County Council service areas will be mobilised to respond where necessary. As the emergency services start to stand down from the incident the emphasis will switch to ‘restoration’ and the County Council will take the leading role to facilitate the rehabilitation of the community and environment. The role of the Emergency Planning Unit is to:

♦ Provide County Council and other resources to assist the emergency services, as requested. (premises, transport, equipment, personnel);

♦ Provide emergency feeding and welfare arrangements;

♦ Activate and co-ordinate voluntary services which may be used in an emergency;

♦ Co-ordinate mutual aid arrangements with neighbouring County and District Councils;

♦ Warn and inform the community, County Council staff and other organisations as appropriate;

♦ Establish liaison with government departments, industry and the armed services as appropriate.

In the event of an Emergency Police, Fire and Rescue, EMAS and Emergency Planning Unit will each follow their own major emergency /contingency plans and guidelines.


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ROLE OF LINCOLNSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL The primary areas of responsibility during an emergency are to: -

♦ Provide their wide ranging functions in support of the emergency services;

♦ Exercise a community leadership role;

♦ Liaise with HM Coroner in provision of temporary mortuary accommodation;

♦ Provide, in a single place, catering and rest facilities for use by all the agencies responding to the emergency;

♦ Take the lead in facilitating the rehabilitation of the community and the restoration of the environment;

♦ Work with partners to meet the longer term welfare needs of survivors and the community;

♦ Work with partners to facilitate the remediation and reoccupation of sites or areas affected by an emergency;

♦ Coordinate the response of volunteers (through LCC EPU);

♦ Liaise with other agencies to ensure that warning and informing the public is carried out as appropriate during an emergency;

♦ Continue to provide essential services to the public during an emergency;

♦ Restore those services which have been affected by the emergency for which the County Council is responsible;

♦ Activate and co-ordinate the resources of LCC contractors which may be used during an emergency.


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RESPONSIBILITIES OF COUNTY COUNCIL SERVICE AREAS Each service area has its own areas of activity and expertise, that may or may not be called into operation should an emergency occur. The following is a summary of Service Area responsibilities. LCC Management Structure

Contact numbers (including out of hours) are provided in appendix A

Chief Executive

Director of Children’s Services

Director for Communities

Director for Resources

Director for Development

Assistant Chief Executive (Performance)

Assistant Chief Executive (Partnerships)


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In Summary Chief Executives office will: • Assign an appropriate director to assume overall responsibility for measures to deal with

the emergency; • Liaise at strategic level with government departments, industry, the Military and other

Category 1 Responders as appropriate through the CCEC; Democratic Services will: • Attend or be represented at Strategic Coordinating Group meetings if convened; • Liaise with other county, City, District and Borough Councils as appropriate; • Brief the Leader of the Council and appropriate Members and keep them informed of

developments. Communication & Community Engagement will: • Establish liaison with the Director of Communities regarding release of information to the

public; • Establish liaison with the Police Media Liaison Officer to co-ordinate the release of

appropriate information to the media; • Liaise with other agencies to ensure that warning and informing the public is carried out

during an emergency; • Establish liaison with the media; • Provide an information officer at information centres as appropriate; • Establish media centre(s) if required; • Provide staff for the administering of information centres; • Provide an information service on persons evacuated to rest centre accommodation; • Handle all matters concerning official complaints from the general public in relation to the

County Councils response to the emergency. Resources Directorate will • Be responsible for authorising the commitment of resources and financial aid; • Obtain, through Corporate Procurement, goods and equipment from commercial outlets

which are not readily available within the authority; • Provide advice on all financial matters connected with the emergency; • Establish a system of financial control for the emergency; • Deal with insurance claims in conjunction with legal services; • Administer any appeal funds called for by the authority from the general public in

conjunction with HBS. Trading Standards will: • Act as an investigation and enforcement officer under the Food and Environment

Protection Act 1985; • Take the local authority lead on animal health / animal disease issues. Highways and Traffic will: • Provide support for the Fire and Rescue Service, at the request of the Police; • Carry out civil engineering measures such as road clearance, excavations; • Establish route diversions/road closures in conjunction with the Police; • Provide advice and assistance relating to highway structures; • Seek and obtain advice from outside organisations including civil engineering staff and

arrange equipment as may be required for demolitions and the rescue of trapped persons.

• Work in liaison with sustainable communities transport support unit to acquire any heavy plant required in response to the emergency through Ringway (LCC Contractors).


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Planning and Conservation will: • Provide advice relating to mines, quarries natural and historic environment. Transport Services Group will: • Maintain information on the number and type of buses held by all major public transport

companies in or adjacent to Lincolnshire which could be made available for the transportation of people in the event of an emergency. Information is also held on goods vehicles, lorries, wheelchair carrying, 4 x 4 and crane vehicles;

• Arrange transport for disabled people who need to be evacuated to rest centres. Waste Services will: • Provide expert advise and assistance on the classification of various waste arisings • Be responsible for the facilitation of the disposal of all waste and debris arising • Arrange for special operations in respect of waste disposal and disposal sites Legal Services will: • Arrange for legal support as necessary. LCC Customer Service Centre will: • Provide advice and guidance to enquiries from the public in relation to the emergency. Adult Social Care emergency roles and responsibilities: • Administer rest centres and feeding centres in liaison with the WRVS, and with the

Strategic Director for Children’s Services when schools are used as rest centres; • Assist under sections 47 and 48 of the National Assistance Act 1948; • Co-operate with housing authorities where requests are received under part 3 of the

Housing Act 1985; • Assist in welfare requirements; • Identify needs of those affected by the emergency particularly the aged, young children

and disabled persons; • Provide trained staff (Crisis Support Team) to deliver appropriate care and support to

those affected by an Emergency. Children’s Services responsibilities: • Allow the use of school premises and equipment for emergency purposes, in liaison with

the governing bodies; • Provide an emergency feeding service making full use of the school meals organization; • Make such arrangements as may be necessary to ensure the continuance of the

education service; • Provide support for staff, school children and their families affected by an emergency. Libraries and Learning will: • Allow the use of library premises, mobile libraries and equipment for use as information

centres. HBS property services will: • Provide specialist advice on structural safety, electrical works and on heating systems; • Make necessary arrangements with other departments and outside contractors; • Place appropriate orders for work to be carried out and overall supervision of such work. HBS HR will: • Establish liaison with other departments regarding availability of personnel;


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• Provide administration staff to county emergency centre including through Templinc; • Provide health & safety advisers where requested.


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Emergency

Responsibilities County Council Responsibility

District Council Responsibility

Immediate shelter in the form of Rest Centres

Yes No (can assist)

Immediate needs of those made homeless by an emergency. (feeding, clothing)

Yes No (can assist)

Semi – permanent accommodation for those made homeless during an emergency.

No Yes

Use of premises in response to an emergency

Yes Yes

Informing the community in respect of the emergency.

Yes Yes

Provision of resources to assist with the emergency.

Yes Yes

Setting up temporary mortuary facilities

Yes No

Supporting emergency services.

Yes Yes

Co-ordination of voluntary sector during emergency response.

Yes No

Attendance at Strategic / Gold control

Yes Yes

Provision of flood defences (sandbags)

No (Highways will assist and deploy at their discretion)

No (some districts do offer this service at their discretion)


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THE MULTI AGENCY STRATEGIC CO-ORDINATION The Incident Management Structure for UK emergencies is based on Gold, Silver, and Bronze. An emergency will require a comprehensive management structure to be established amongst all responding agencies. There are three levels of control: Operational, Tactical and Strategic. This group (Strategic Co-ordinating Group) comprises of senior representatives from each of the key organisations who have executive decision-making authority. The main functions of this group are: • Policy and the strategic direction for managing the emergency; • Strategy for dealing with media and the release of information to central and local

government agencies; • Long term issues such as restoration and recovery. • Report decisions made down to silver command. The Police will chair the Strategic Co-ordinating Group. This group (Tactical Command Group) determines priorities in allocating resources. The core aims of this group are: • Respond to requests from both Bronze and Gold co-ordinating groups. • To plan and co-ordinate when a task will be undertaken; • To allocate resources in accordance with priorities and ; • To obtain other resources as required; • Co-ordination of deployed resources (including staffing); • Report tactical decisions up to Gold and down to Bronze; • To maintain and control expenditure in relation to the emergency.

Tactical Command (Silver)

Strategic Command (Gold)

NB: Strategic Command (Gold) should not be confused with ‘Police Gold’. The police also use ‘gold command’ which relates only to police operations, disassociated with a multi-agency response to an incident.


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Operational command (also known as Bronze) is the front line level of command for each of the services at the scene or scenes of an emergency. Each agency involved at the scene will nominate operational commander(s) who will control and deploy the resources of that agency within a geographical sector or specific role, to implement the decisions of the Tactical Command. In basic terms:

♦ Gold is the highest level of command and control and gives an overview of the entire incident taking into account all responders duties and actions. It is a rarity to bring Gold into operation. Chief Officers from each responding agency will represent their agency at the gold control meeting.

♦ Silver is classed as Senior Officer level; there will be a silver control for each responding agency who will discuss the overall tactics of their respective resources in response.

♦ Bronze is the operational activity and is at the centre of the emergency, bronze control is the eyes, ears and ‘hands on’ aspect of the incident providing live information to Silver Command.

LINCOLNSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL EMERGENCY CO-ORDINATING

GROUPS. Due to the size and varied nature of the County Council’s services it is necessary to have an internal management structure for command and control of major emergencies, especially as the incident moves from the immediate response phase to the transitional period and recovery and restoration phase. LCC’s own internal management structure will mirror that of the multi agency management structure. The Corporate Management Team (Internal Gold Command) will act as the strategic decision making group within LCC, chaired by the Chief Executive. A representative from this group will also attend the multi agency Gold Command and feed back to LCC on other agency issues. The Business Management Team (Internal Silver Command) made up of the Assistant Directors of LCC will make up the County Council’s Emergency Planning Group, the tactical decision making group. Should the County Emergency Plan be activated the decision will be made by the CCEC whether to form the group as a tactical decision making team. This group will be chaired by the Head of Emergency Planning. The various service heads and their respective staff will carry out the operational tasks (Internal Bronze Command), it is impracticable for the service heads to form as a group due to the variety of different services within the County Council.

Operational Command (Bronze)


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Primary meeting location for the Internal Strategic group will be the Chief Executives office. Primary meeting location for the Internal Tactical group is the County Emergency Centre, Fire HQ, South Park Avenue, Lincoln. Alternative venues may be chosen at the request of the CCEC dependant on the nature of the incident. The Emergency Planning Group should not be confused with the Emergency Planning Unit who are a full time team within LCC who deal 100% with preparing for and dealing with emergencies across the county.

INFORMATION AND THE MEDIA

A County Media Emergency Response Plan has been developed which contains more detailed information on areas such as media handling, holding statements and interview guidance. Copies are available from the LCC Emergency Planning Unit. A press/media centre could be set up by the Gold Control from where the Communications/PR Officers from the participating authorities, services and agencies would operate. Effective PR is a key element in successful emergency management since it can provide reassurance to the public and thus reduce the number of spurious inquiries and gain the support of the news media who are likely to be the most effective means of disseminating information to the wider general public. When dealing with the media the following will be strictly adhered to by all LCC staff: -

• Only authorised officers will give information;

• Authorised officers are only to make factual reports on the work of their departments and not speculate or express personal opinions;

• Questions relating to the cause of the emergency will only be answered by the Police, Fire & Rescue Service or other authorised Agency;

• Information on casualties and/or survivors will ONLY be issued by the police.

THE ABOVE PROCEDURE MUST BE MADE CLEAR TO ALL STAFF WHETHER ACTIVELY ENGAGED IN DEALING WITH THE EMERGENCY OR NOT.


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END OF INCIDENT

When the CCEC declares the emergency to be over the section representatives will inform all officers to instruct their staff who have attended, and those who are on standby, to stand down and / or return to normal duties. The CCEC will appoint an officer to act as Disaster Recovery Manager to project manage the aftermath of the incident and ensure a return to normality. Post incident the Emergency Planning Unit will hold an incident debrief with representation from all service areas directly involved in response to the incident. Service areas who are directly involved should be actively encouraged to hold debriefs of there own response and action any lessons learnt for the benefit of future responses.

ROLE OF ELECTED MEMBERS In the event of an emergency the Elected Members should provide full support to the CCEC and other officers as required at the time. The CCEC will keep the Leader of the Council briefed on the incident and the Council’s response. Full roles and responsibilities of Elected Members (as well as contact details) during an emergency are detailed in the Lincolnshire Elected Member’s Emergency Plan. Elected Member contact details are also contained in Appendix B of this plan. Unless requested to by either the CCEC or Communications Manager, it is not advised that Elected Members speak to the media directly. All contact with the media should be through the Communications Manager to ensure a joined up message with other responding agencies. Delegation of non-key decision making can be taken from Elected Members and given to CCEC for the duration of the emergency. Elected Members can provide a vital communication role between their communities and the emergency control room and vice versa during an incident.

BUSINESS CONTINUITY OF THE COUNCIL

Those officers, who are not required to deal with the incident or who are on standby, will carry out normal functions of LCC. At the time of the incident the CCEC will nominate a Chief Officer who will oversee all normal functions of LCC.


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EMERGENCY COMMUNICATION A satellite mobile phone is held in the Emergency Planning Unit office (Fire and Rescue HQ) and is available in the event of a major communications network failure. This is a temporary solution due to the withdrawing of the central government provided ECN (Emergency Communications Network). GOEM hold approximately 20 satellite telephones which can be requested for loan in the event of a major emergency. N.B. The satellite capability of the phone does not work indoors.

ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANCE If the emergency centre is opened in response to an Emergency it is vital that the LCC service areas working from the centre are supported by appropriate administrative staff. LCC business support services will arrange for suitable support upon request.

PSYCHOLOGICAL AND EMOTIONAL AFTERCARE Psychological / emotional aftercare for staff members affected by any emergency

should be considered. Copies of “Your reactions to extremely stressful events, Coping and mastery”, a

publication by the Lincolnshire Joint Emergency Services Initiative, are available through Lincolnshire Emergency Planning Unit

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

Records of all expenditure related to dealing with an emergency should be kept. Records of all decisions made and actions taken should also be logged by Service Heads (Operational level) and within any meetings relating to the emergency response. An example log recording sheet is contained at Annex D. Any costs relating to LCC emergency response should be logged and a code will be allocated at the time of the emergency by Finance and Asset management.

THE BELLWIN SCHEME

The Bellwin Scheme, designed to provide financial assistance to Local Authorities in emergencies, was established under the terms of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989, Section 155. This Section of the Act became effective on 1st April 1990.

The basic principles of the Scheme are :

1. Expenditure should be on immediate works to safeguard life and property or to prevent suffering or severe inconvenience (rather than long-term repair or reconstruction).


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2. There is an expenditure threshold up to which Local Authorities are expected to have budgeted.

3. Above that threshold, the Local Authority has to find a small proportion of the expenditure.

4. Normally insurable expenditure is not covered.

5. Expenditure will be cumulative for the purpose of the threshold if the Bellwin Scheme is activated more than once per year in any Local Authority area.

For weather related emergencies, a decision as to whether to activate the Bellwin Scheme will be based on weather conditions, which were clearly exceptional, related to local experience, and where the damage sustained is also clearly exceptional. During an emergency the Corporate Director of Resources would be responsible for details relating to the Bellwin Scheme.

DISASTER APPEAL SCHEME

The British Red Cross ‘Disaster Appeal Scheme’, inaugurated in 1991, is a comprehensive guide to setting up a post-disaster appeal fund or funds with national level support, especially that of the retail Banks and the Post Office. It includes a Charitable Trust Deed, approved by the Charity Commissioners for England and Wales, as well as a Discretionary (non-charitable) Trust Deed.

In past UK disasters British Red Cross have initiated and co-ordinated the fund raising but handed over the task of distributing funds to the local authority.

Initial contact with British Red Cross will be established by Lincolnshire County Council Emergency Planning Unit. LCC should make arrangements to receive raised funds and distribute accordingly.


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OTHER EMERGENCY PLANS HELD BY LCC

• Lincolnshire Resilience Forum Emergency Procedures Manual

• Lincolnshire County Council Elected Members Emergency Plan

• Rest Centres

• Emergency Mortuary Plan

• Multi Agency Flood Response & Flooding Resources Plans

• Lincolnshire Multi Faiths Plan

• Vaccination Centres

• Fuel Emergency Plan

• Oil Pollution Response Plan

• School Critical Incident Plan

• Severe Weather Plan

• Outbreak of Animal Disease Plan.

• Plans for incidents on or affecting various potentially hazardous industrial site

Plans

• Various Pipelines Plans.

• Media Emergency Response Plan


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APPENDIX A - INTERNAL EMERGENCY CONTACTS

Removed from this copy


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APPENDIX B - ELECTED MEMBER CONTACT DETAILS

Removed from this copy


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APPENDIX C - EXTERNAL CONTACTS DIRECTORY The County Council Emergency Planning Unit (EPU) maintain a full list of external contacts including out of hours contacts. The EPU are available through Fire Control 24 / 7 for access to any of the following:

• LINCOLNSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL CONTACTS • LINCOLNSHIRE DISTRICT COUNCILS • NEIGHBOURING COUNCILS • EMERGENCY SERVICES • GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS • UTILITIES • TRANSPORT • ARMED SERVICES • HEALTH AUTHORITIES AND HOSPITALS • PORTS, DOCK AND HARBOUR AUTHORITIES • VOLUNTARY ORGANISATIONS • RELIGIOUS ORGANISATIONS • INDUSTRY/INSURANCE/COMMERCE ETC • MEDIA • RESOURCES


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APPENDIX D - INCIDENT LOG SHEET

DATE………………………… PAGE……………………OF…………………….

OFFICER COMPLETING LOG – NAME………………………………………………

Call to / from Name - number

Time Information Actions

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