| Title: | Civil Contingencies: Towards Better Leadership and Resilience in Local Emergency Planning Structures |
| Date: | Tuesday 11th November 2008 |
| Time: | 10:00am – 2:00pm |
| Venue: | One Birdcage Walk, Westminster, London |
“I urge the Government to show leadership and urgently set out the process and timescale for improving resilience in the UK. The recommendations in my report are realistic and affordable and should be made a priority. Waiting for another serious event is a dangerous 'strategy of luck'; we need to act now to protect our future.”
“Government must act to ensure critical infrastructure is as resilient as possible, whilst essential services providers should become considerably more active in local and national emergency preparedness and response.”
— Sir Michael Pitt Report 'Learning Lessons from the 2007 Floods', 25 June 2008
After major flooding in 2000, the Government pledged to overhaul outdated emergency planning procedures to address the weaknesses in the disaster response and recovery effort at both the local and national level. The resulting Civil Contingencies Act, which gained royal assent in 2004, paved the way for a new national framework designed to meet the new challenges facing Britain today – from terrorist attacks to disruptions in energy supplies to natural catastrophes.
A major test of the new framework came last year when many parts of the country suffered serious flooding. It demonstrated once again, however, that there were still serious flaws and failings in local, regional and national emergency planning arrangements. This prompted an urgent independent review, headed by Sir Michael Pitt, and its findings were published earlier this summer. Outlining nearly 100 recommendations, the review called for urgent and fundamental changes to improve the country's flood resilience and to ensure that local communities never again suffer the chaos and displacement seen in the aftermath of last year's events.
This special Public Policy Exchange session, hosted by The Centre for Parliamentary Studies, offers a timely opportunity for local authorities, emergency planning stakeholders and infrastructure providers to discuss the key recommendations set out in the Pitt Review: Lessons learned from the 2007 floods. Delegates will consider how they can be implemented effectively to improve not only local flood resilience but also to develop a more robust general civil contingency framework that will enable local authorities to respond swiftly to major emergencies with strong leadership, communication and collaboration.
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