Agenda item

The end of year update was provided by Mr David Tait--Emergency Planning and Corporate Resilience Lead.

He said that lessons had been learnt from the incident of flooding that had occurred in the Crays. This was because he had only become aware of this incident after being informed by a Councillor. He was confident that lines of communication would improve going forward. In the aftermath of the flooding there had been good collaborative working with the relevant Housing Association.

The Committee was informed of the incident at Christmas time in Beckenham which had left 400 homes without power. This matter was resolved with good collaborative working with SGN.

A specialist contractors list had been developed. This was a list of contractors that could be contacted 24/7 in the case of various emergencies such as road traffic accidents and incidents involving chemical spillages. 

The Emergency Planning and Corporate Resilience Lead mentioned the ‘Safer City Exercises’ and said that they had provided useful learning with respect to how training should be approached. He was hoping that his ‘team’ (just 1.6 FTE) would now be able to leave Covid work behind and so focus on core activities such as further exercises and training. He was hoping to renew and refresh business continuity plans in May.

Mention was made of the presentation that had been provided previously by Fiona Baker from the MET police regarding an extension of the Council’s responsibilities under the Protect Duty. He said that little progress had been made on this front as there had been no updates from central government with respect to legislation. This made it difficult to assess what the precise impact would be on the Council. One thing was clear and this was that it would be a large piece of work which would require training and education. The cost to the Council of this was currently unclear. It was clarified that school academies would not be the responsibility of the Council as far as this duty was concerned. A Member suggested that the potential cost of the new Protect Duty to the Council should be flagged to the Executive. 

A discussion took place regarding a training package for Councillors with respect to civil emergencies. The Emergency Planning and Corporate Resilience Lead said he was hoping to put something together for Members after the local elections. The training should include advice on dealing with the media. 

A Member asked for Members to be better informed regarding incidents and their resolutions. She cited some examples where incidents had occurred and she had not been informed. The Emergency Planning and Corporate Resilience Lead was disappointed to hear this, as generally speaking there was good dissemination of these matters via the Communications Team.

It was noted that the LFB would be staging an event around a simulated air crash at Biggin Hill. All Councillors would be invited.

A Member expressed thanks to the Emergency Planning and Corporate Resilience Lead for the quick response in dealing with fallen trees and other debris after the recent storm. The Emergency Planning and Corporate Resilience Lead said that much of the credit for this lay with Hugh Chapman as the Tactical Lead in all matters relating to trees.

A discussion took place regarding the use of colours for weather warnings. The Council’s plans in the event of the death of the Queen were also discussed. A Member commented that it was not appropriate to discuss these matters at the meeting ahead of the Platinum Jubilee Celebrations. 

RESOLVED that:

1) The Emergency Planning and Corporate Resilience Service—Annual Update report be noted by the Committee.

2) The potential cost to the Executive of the new legislation concerning the Protect Duty be flagged to the Executive.

3) A training package for Councillors regarding how to deal with civil emergencies should be provided to Members after the local elections. 

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