National Recovery Guidance - Background

Background to the National Recovery Working Group

Following a number of incidents, it became apparent that local responders needed more comprehensive guidance to support them in dealing with the recovery stage of emergencies. TIDO(Prepare), at its meeting on 6 November 2006, therefore agreed that the National Recovery Working Group (NRWG) should be established to take forward work to prepare such material.

The objectives of the Group included:

• Producing National Recovery Guidance for local responders.  Differences in guidance for the Devolved Administration areas were to be clearly flagged.
• Identifying gaps in the UK’s recovery capability and providing recommendations to address them for the relevant departments / organisations to take forward.
• Feeding into the review of Emergency Response and Recovery non-statutory Guidance under the Civil Contingencies Act.
• Working with the Emergency Planning College to redesign their Community Recovery course.

The review of Emergency Response and Recovery has been scheduled to start after publication of this Guidance in order to incorporate its findings.

Membership

Core Membership

Recovery is by nature a cross-cutting subject.  As a result, a wide range of Government Departments and Agencies were represented on the Group. In addition, the Group required representation from a wide range of other organisations who would have a role to play in the recovery phase of any emergency.  For a full list of organisations involved in the National Recovery Working Group, please see Acknowledgements.

Wider Stakeholders

The Group also obtained contributions from wider stakeholders, including those organisations who had been involved in the recovery stages of recent incidents. This input was sought through a number of methods, including consultations using the Cabinet Office Local Response Gateway, presentations and workshops at various conferences (including the Emergency Planning Society annual conference), the Community Recovery course at the Emergency Planning College, and five dedicated stakeholder events in England and the Devolved Administrations.

Chair and Secretariat

Kathy Settle, Deputy Director - Local Response Capability, Civil Contingencies Secretariat, Cabinet Office, chaired the group.  Contact details are:

E-mail: kathy.settle@cabinet-office.x.gsi.gov.uk
Tel: 0207 276 1361

Rhiannon Harries, Regional Resilience and Emergency Response Division, Communities and Local Government provided secretariat support.

Timescale

The Group has been time-limited and completed its tasks within nine months of the first meeting.

Scope

The guidance has been made as comprehensive as possible, commensurate with the time-limited nature of the Group. In the longer term, the website will be updated to disseminate further guidance and case studies as they occur.

Acknowledgements

The Chair and Secretariat of the National Recovery Working Group would like to recognise the invaluable contributions made by staff from the following organisations who participated in the Group:

• Communities and Local Government (CLG)
• Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS)
• Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA)
• Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR)
• Department for Transport (DfT)
• Her Majesty’s Treasury (HMT)
• Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF)
• Ministry of Justice (MoJ)
• Department of Health (DH)
• Home Office (HO)
• Cabinet Office (CO)
• Ministry of Defence (MOD)
• Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO)
• Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)
• Government Offices (GOs)
• Welsh Assembly Government (WAG)
• Scottish Government
• Northern Ireland Executive
• Health Protection Agency (HPA)
• Environment Agency (EA)
• Government Decontamination Service (GDS)
• Health and Safety Executive (HSE)
• Food Standards Agency (FSA)
• Local Government Association (LGA)
• Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) (representing all UK forces)
• Chief Fire Officers’ Association (CFOA) (representing all UK services)
• Ambulance Service Association (ASA) (representing all UK services)
• Regional Development Agencies (RDAs)
• Association of British Insurers (ABI)
• Coroners’ Society for England and Wales
• Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA)
• Emergency Planning College (EPC)
• English Heritage
• Voluntary Sector Civil Protection Forum
• Animal Health

The National Recovery Working Group would also like to thank the following organisations for assisting in the production of case studies and the Recovery Plan Guidance Template:

• Belfast Resilience Forum
• Bristol City Council
• Carlisle City Council
• Castle Morpeth Borough Council
• Cumbria County Council
• Dacorum Borough Council
• Dyfed County Council
• East Sussex County Council
• Emergency Planning Society
• Government News Network
• Greater Manchester Resilience Forum 
• Hertfordshire County Council
• Hull City Council
• Kent County Council
• Lancashire County Council
• Leeds City Council
• Leicestershire County Council
• Lewes District Council
• London Borough of Brent
• London Underground
• Manchester City Council
• Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council
• Midlothian Council
• Welsh Assembly Government
• National Trust
• Norfolk Community Foundation
• Norfolk County Council
• North Cornwall District Council
• North Wales Resilience Forum
• Northumberland County Council
• Northumbrian Water
• Pembrokeshire County Council
• Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council
• Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council 
• South Norfolk District Council 
• Southwark Council
• Suffolk County Council
• Sunderland City Council
• Thames Valley Recovery Working Group
• Uttlesford District Council
• Wakefield Council
• Westminster City Council 
• West Midlands Police

Furthermore, the National Recovery Working Group wishes to thank all stakeholders who responded to consultations and took part in the August 2007 stakeholder workshops. The breadth of experience and knowledge this offered to the group was invaluable throughout the production of the guidance and case studies.