Emergency Response - Responding Agencies

Agencies involved in responding to and recovering from emergencies

This chapter outlines the roles and responsibilities of the main agencies and sectors that are likely to become engaged in the response to, and recovery from, emergencies at the local level. This chapter describes arrangements in both England and Wales unless otherwise stated. It includes information on:

• police services;
• fire and rescue services;
• health bodies;
• HM Coroner;
• local authorities;
• government agencies and other non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs);
• the Armed Forces;
• the private sector;
• the voluntary sector; and
• the community.

• Emergency Response and Recovery: Chapter 3 - Agencies involved in responding to and recovering from emergencies [PDF]

Key Documents

You should refer to:

• Emergency Preparedness - particularly:
  • Chapter 2 - "Co-operation" (pp10-23);
  • Chapter 3 - "Information sharing" (pp24-33);
  • Chapter 14 - "The role of the voluntary sector" (pp155-160).
• Expectations and Indicators of Good Practice Set for Category 1 and 2 Responders (June 2009)
• The Ministry of Defence (MoD) joint doctrine publication Operations in the UK: The Defence Contribution to Resilience - sets out the detailed rules and procedures governing the employment of the Armed Forces for MACA operations.
• The Role of the Insurance Industry in dealing with Civil Emergencies

Key Links

You should refer to:

• Direct Gov - Support and information after a major incident [external website]
• The UK Police Service website [external website]
• DCLG Fire & Rescue Service website [external website]
• Chief Fire Officers Association (CFOA) website [external website]
• The NHS website [external website]
• Ministry of Justice - HM Coroners website [external website]
• DCLG: Local Government website [external website]
• Local Government Association (LGA) website [external website] - The LGA promotes the interests of English and Welsh local authorities.
• The Environment Agency website [external website]
• The Health & Safety Executive website [external website]
• The Highways Agency [external website]
• The Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA) website [external website] - includes:
  • the Search and Rescue Framework for the United Kingdom [external PDF, 54 pages, 828KB]
  • the National Contingency Plan for Marine Pollution [external website].
• The Ministry of Defence (MoD) website [external website]
• Army website - information on the CCRF (Civil Contingencies Reaction Force) [external website]

Other Links

You may also wish to refer to:

• National Voluntary Sector Civil Protection Forum

• British Red Cross [external website]
  • Red Cross - Emergency response [external website]
  • Red Cross - Prepare for the unexpected [external website]
• CRUSE Bereavement Care [external website]
• Disaster Action [external website]
• Neighbourhood Watch Association [external website]
• Royal National Lifeboat Institution [external website]
• Salvation Army Trust [external website]
• Samaritans [external website]
• St. John Ambulance [external website]
• St. Andrews Ambulance (Scotland) [external website]
• Women's Royal Voluntary Service [external website]
• Gas and Electricity emergency contacts [external website]
• OfGem website [external website] - contains details of domestic & business gas and electricity suppliers
• Northern Ireland Electricity plc [external website]
• Electricity Supply Board Ireland [external website]
• Water UK [external website] - details of Water Companies
• BT Emergency Planning [external website]
• Air Acident Investigation Branch [external Website]
• Rail Accident Investigation Branch [external Website]
• Marine Accident Investigation Branch [external Website]
• The preparing for emergencies section on DirectGov [external website]