Emergency Response - Regional Arrangements

Regional Resilience Teams in each Government Office act as a conduit for communications between central government and the local level. They are responsible for activating Regional Operation Centres where required, supporting local response and recovery efforts, and ensuring that there is an accurate picture of the situation in their region.

Where the response to an emergency would benefit from regional co-ordination a Regional Co-ordinating Group (RegCG) will be convened. The need for these groups can either be decided by Regional Resilience Teams (RRTs) at the request of responders or by the Lead Government Department in consultation with either the Cabinet Office of the Department for Communities and Local Government. These groups are the regional equivalent of local SCGs.

In the most serious circumstances there may be a need to convene a Regional Civil Contingencies Committee (RCCC) to support response and recovery activity across the region.

In London, because there are different arrangements - the London SCG brings together all the relevant responders on a pan-London basis. As a result, it has been agreed that while the London Resilience Team would perform the same functions as other Government Office resilience teams, the London SCG would perform the role that would normally be performed by the RegCG or RCCC elsewhere.

If CCA emergency powers are to be enacted a Regional Nominated Coordinator will be required. They will co-ordinate activities under emergency regulations.

The arrangements outlined in this chapter are in line with those that will be described in the revised Central Government Arrangements for Responding to an Emergency: Concept of Operations.

• Emergency Response and Recovery: Chapter 9 - Regional Arrangements [PDF]

Key Supporting Documents

You should refer to:

• Emergency Preparedness, Chapter 17 - "Co-operation at the regional level in England" (pp168-174)
• Emergency Preparedness, Chapter 18 - "Planning at the regional level in England" (pp175-178)
• Central Government’s Concept of Operations - Document setting out the arrangements for the response to emergencies requiring co-ordinated UK central government action

Key Links

• DCLG Civil Resilience website [external website] - Detailing DCLG's Civil Resilience work, and the role of the Regional Co-ordination Unit (RCU) and the Regional Resilience Division in co-ordinating the GO network and the regional resilience tier of government.
• London Prepared [external website] - website run by the London Resilience Team (LRT) in GO-London