North Yorkshire Council
Skipton and Ripon Area Committee
Resilience and Emergencies Annual Update 2026
1.0 PURPOSE OF REPORT
1.1 This report provides an update on progress and incidents impacting emergency planning and community resilience within the Area Constituency Committee and wider council area.
2.0 BACKGROUND
2.1 Under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 (CCA) North Yorkshire Council (NYC) is defined as a Category 1 organisation.
The CCA sets out how agencies prepare and plan for emergencies, working nationally, locally, and collaboratively to ensure civil protection in the UK.
The Act places a statutory duty on the NYC to:
· Assess the risk of emergencies occurring and use this to inform contingency planning
· Put in place emergency plans
· Put in place Business Continuity Management arrangements
· Put in place arrangements to make information available to the public about civil protection matters and maintain arrangements to warn, inform and advise the public in the event of an emergency
· Share information with other local responders to enhance co-ordination
· Co-operate with other local responders to enhance co-ordination and efficiency
· Provide advice and assistance to businesses and voluntary organisations about business continuity management (local authorities only)
Emergency Planning and Community Resilience should aim, where possible, to prevent emergencies from occurring. When they do occur, good planning should reduce, control, or mitigate their effects. It is a systematic and ongoing process that should evolve as lessons are learned and circumstances change.
3.0 INCIDENTS AFFECTING NORTH YORKSHIRE BETWEEN 2025-2026
3.1 Between April 2025 and the production of this report, NYC and its Local Resilience Forum (LRF) partner agencies have worked together to respond to and recover from the following incidents in the Skipton and Ripon areas:
|
Incident |
Locality |
Date |
|
Airwaves radio outage |
County wide |
10/03/2025 |
|
Unexploded munition – River Ure |
South of Ripon |
25/03/2025 |
|
Drought escalation |
County wide |
19/06/2025 |
|
Hydrochloric acid spill |
Masham |
10/09/2025 |
|
Increase in threat level |
County Wide |
01/05/2026 |
3.2 NYC and its LRF partner agencies have worked together to respond to and recover from the following incidents across the wider North Yorkshire area:
|
Incident |
Locality |
Date |
|
Vessel collision in North Sea |
East coast |
11/03/2025 |
|
Unexploded munition |
Malton |
16/04/2025 |
|
Unexploded munition |
Flaxton |
13/05/2025 |
|
Potential chemical incident |
Scarborough |
03/06/2025 |
|
Langdale fire |
Langdale |
26/06/2025 |
|
Road traffic collision |
Harrogate |
18/07/2025 |
|
Langdale fire (Fylingdales) |
Langdale (Fylingdales) |
12/08/2025 |
|
Missing child |
Richmond |
16/08/2025 |
|
Residential fire |
Spofforth, Harrogate |
19/08/2025 |
|
Amber snow warning |
East side of the County |
19/11/2025 |
|
Fire in industrial unit |
Northallerton |
25/11/2025 |
|
Road traffic collision |
Tadcaster |
01/12/2025 |
|
Residential fire |
Danby, Whitby |
19/01/2026 |
|
Residential gas incident |
Scarborough |
08/05/2026 |
3.3 Areas of good practice that will support continuous improvement across the County:
· The co-ordinated response and recovery to the Fylingdales moor incident, which included:
o Support to Fire and Rescue resources through North Yorkshire Highways
o Evacuation and shelter planning for affected area
o Ongoing community engagement and support
· Delivered the National Exercise Pegasus program across North Yorkshire and York
· Ready for Anything Volunteer Conference held at the UK Resilience Academy:
o Our RFA conference theme this year was ‘coastal challenges’, with HM Coastguard being our key guest speaker, Lincolnshire LRF speaking about adopting the RFA scheme and Operation Poetry: Collison of two ships in the North Sea and the impacts on the east coast with LRFs/volunteers working together
· Continual development of the Major Incident Response Team volunteer group who support individuals and organisations affected by critical and major incidents:
o 85 referrals = supporting 94 individuals and we have provided staff support for seven teams, six within NYC and one for North Yorkshire Police
3.4 If Elected Members have any views or recommendations on any of these incidents, please send them through to emergency@northyorks.gov.uk.
4.0 NYC’S CORPORATE EMERGENCY PLANNING GROUP AND SCARBOROUGH WHITBY INTEGRATED EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT GROUP WORK PLAN AND PROGRESS 2024/25
4.1 The following is set out within the NYC Resilience and Emergencies Policy:
· The organisation has appointed the Assistant Chief Executive – Local Engagement as the Accountable Emergency Officer responsible for Resilience and Emergencies.
· The resilience cycle is co-ordinated for the Council by the Head of Resilience and Emergencies and the Resilience and Emergencies Team.
· The Assistant Chief Executive – Local Engagement chairs the Corporate Resilience and Emergencies Group (CREG). The CREG is made up of a number of Senior Managers within NYC who have a role to play in ensuring CCA Duties. The CREG hold responsibility for setting and delivering an annual work plan.
4.2 The Skipton and Ripon Integrated Emergency Management Group is a multi-agency forum for emergency service officers. The group meets quarterly to anticipate, assess, prevent and prepare for emergencies and major incidents.
Currently the group is focusing on:
· Blea Moor Tunnel – multi-agency work resumed following changes in personnel; discussion with partners regarding format for arrangements going forward (full plan vs shared site-specific response information)
· Sinkhole Action Card – due for review, with assistance from British Geological Survey
· Community Resilience – summer session inviting Community Anchor Organisations representatives from parish and town councils who have launched successful community emergency plans to speak to multi-agency partners and to tour NYLRF’s Tactical Co-ordination Centre.
5.0 INCREASE OF THREAT LEVEL
The Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre (JTAC) on the 30 April 2026 raised the UK National Threat Level from SUBSTANTIAL, meaning an attack is likely, to SEVERE, meaning an attack is highly likely.
The increase in threat came about following the stabbing in Golders Green in North London, but it is not solely a result of that attack. The terrorist threat level in the UK has been rising for some time, driven by an increase in the broader Islamist and Extreme Right Wing terrorist threat from individuals and small groups based in the UK.
While the UK National Threat Level set independently by JTAC reflects the terrorist threat in the UK, it comes against a backdrop of increased state-linked physical threats which is encouraging acts of violence, including against the Jewish community. This is an independent, systematic, and rigorous process, based on the very latest intelligence and analysis of internal and external factors which drive the threat.
5.1 NYC’s Community Safety and CCTV Service lead on the ‘Protect and Prepare’ and ‘Prevent’ strands of the CONTEST Strategy. To support compliance with the Prevent Duty 2015 and the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act (Martyn’s Law), both internal NYC strategic groups and local multi-agency groups have been established and are now well embedded.
The local multiagency groups cover the following areas:
• West (Ripon, Richmond, Skipton, Northallerton including its outer areas of Northallerton)
• Central (Harrogate, Selby, Knaresborough, Ainsty)
• East (Scarborough, Whitby, Thirsk, Malton, Easingwold)
Each of these local groups reports on its activity directly to the York and North Yorkshire Prevent Partnership Board, the NYC Strategic Protect and Prepare Group (both chaired by the Assistant Chief Executive – Local Engagement), Safer North Yorkshire (North Yorkshire Community Safety Partnership), and the York and North Yorkshire CONTEST Board.
North Yorkshire Channel Panel is a multi-agency group that assesses individuals who may be vulnerable to radicalisation and develops tailored support plans to reduce their risk, safeguard them, and steer them away from extremist influences. The Panel is chaired by NYC’s Head of Community Safety and CCTV, meets monthly, and continues to manage a significant and active caseload.
Local activity/engagement:
• Locality bases workshops to support the annual review of the Counter Terrorism Local Profile engaging 100 practitioners across the county.
• Annual Multi Agency Prevent Champions Event 13 May 2026 engaging 80 safeguarding practitioners from a variety of organisations.
• NYC’s ‘Martyn’s Law’ Engagement Conference was hosted on 26 September 2025 in which Figen Murray was the main. The event attracted over 170 participants from across the local retail and hospitality businesses, event organisers and community and voluntary sector.
• Local SCaN/ACT and Martyn’s Law awareness sessions delivered in partnership with Counter Terrorism Security Advisors across localities to local retail businesses and community and voluntary groups.
• Additional counter terrorism support offered to major annual events taking place across North Yorkshire.
• Quarterly North Yorkshire ‘Protect and Prepare’ newsletter for partners to help inform partners of both national and local information.
5.2 NYC is a core member of the North Yorkshire LRF. Under the CCA, it has a duty to develop an understanding of local risks, including malicious threats. The National Risk Register sets out the reasonable worst-case scenarios, including those relating to terrorism. Under the Act, local partners are required to develop appropriate plans, against which officers are then trained and exercised.
5.3 Cyber Security Response to Terrorist Threat (Severe)
From a cyber security and information governance perspective, the Council recognises that cyber-attack is an increasingly credible vector for terrorism, particularly under the current UK threat level of ‘Severe’, where an attack is considered highly likely.
The Council is currently accredited to ISO/IEC 27001:2022 – Information Security Management Systems, ISO/IEC 20000:2018 – IT Service Management, and Cyber Essentials, and is working towards the Government’s Cyber Assessment Framework (CAF).
The Council maintains a proactive and structured approach to cyber resilience aligned to the ‘Defend’ and ‘Respond’ pillars of the UK Government’s CONTEST strategy:
Defend
The Council operates a layered cyber defence capability designed to protect critical services, sensitive data, and supporting infrastructure from malicious disruption. This includes:
A dedicated, in-house Cyber Security Operations (SOC) capability providing continuous monitoring, detection, and response to emerging threats.
The maintenance and regular testing of a Cyber Incident Response Plan (CIRP), supported by detailed Cyber Security Incident Playbooks covering a range of scenarios including ransomware, system compromise, and data exfiltration.
Ongoing collaboration with trusted partners for threat intelligence and coordinated defence, including:
· National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC)
· Yorkshire & Humber Warning, Advice and Reporting Point (WARP)
· Yorkshire & Humber Local Resilience Forum (LRF)
Implementation of technical controls and governance measures aligned with national best practice (e.g. NCSC guidance, Cyber Assessment Framework principles), ensuring the protection of systems that support critical public services.
Respond
In the event of a suspected or confirmed cyber incident linked to terrorist activity or intent, the Council will:
Activate its CIRP, ensuring a rapid, coordinated, and controlled response.
Integrate cyber incident management with the Council’s wider major incident and emergency response structures, ensuring alignment with Gold/Silver/Bronze command arrangements where appropriate.
Work closely with law enforcement, NCSC, and regional resilience partners to share intelligence, assess impact, and support a coordinated multi-agency response.
Prioritise the protection of critical services to residents, including safeguarding sensitive data and maintaining operational continuity.
Ensure clear and timely communication with stakeholders, including internal leadership, partners, and, where appropriate, the public.
Continuous Improvement and Assurance
The Council regularly reviews and tests its cyber preparedness through exercises and real-world incident learning, ensuring that both plans and controls remain effective against evolving threats, including those associated with terrorism.
6.0 ELECTED MEMBERS ROLE IN INTEGRATED EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT
6.1 Each Area Constituency Committee is allocated a Resilience and Emergencies Officer. They will work with Elected Members to ensure:
· Elected Members training
· that local risks are identified within your locality
· that community resilience has been developed
· that resources and capability gaps are identified, as well as difficulties in communicating these risks to specific groups within your electoral division are co-ordinated
6.2 Elected Members are then asked to provide ongoing support to develop Integrated Emergency Management within their electoral divisions. This will include:
· Supporting the communication of community risks
· Provide leadership in developing community resilience
· Work with the locality Resilience and Emergencies Officers to identify opportunities for funding resource gaps
· Support training and exercises for community groups
6.3 If Elected Members wish to discuss any of these roles and responsibilities with their allocated Resilience and Emergencies Officer, please contact emergency@northyorks.gov.uk.
7.0 COMMUNITY RESILIENCE WORK PLAN AND PROGRESS 2023/24
7.1 For decades the RET have worked with Parish and Town Councils alongside local businesses to encourage them to develop Community Emergency Plans.
7.2 Following the community support during the Covid pandemic, Resilience and Emergencies has been working with the Council’s Local Engagement Teams and the Community Anchor Organisations (CAO) to further develop its Community Resilience Policy.
The role out and engagement on the policy was delivered through three Community Resilience workshops which occurred in April 2025.
7.3 The Resilience and Emergencies locality officer has recently been working with the following communities:
· Settle Town Council – workshop held with emergency plan working party, following which a plan has been devised for a larger-scale community event in the summer (to be hosted by Settle Town Council and attended by NYC RET) to bring together local parishes in creating a co-ordinated network of community emergency plans.
· Masham Parish Council – community emergency plan completed and representatives invited to summer Integrated Emergency Management Group meeting.
· Gargrave Parish Council – community emergency plan completed.
· Bentham Parish Council – community emergency plan completed.
· Grewelthorpe Parish Council – correspondence ongoing regarding community emergency plan; intention to complete village survey prior to further progress.
7.4 Elected Members – Community Resilience Profile
Since the creation of NYC, Elected Members were provided with the opportunity of accessing their own Community Resilience Profile.
These are owned and reviewed by the RET and Elected Members can access their profile, as well as discuss their developments, via their allocated Resilience and Emergencies Officer.
8.0 FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
8.1 There are no financial implications arising directly from this report as it provides information only.
9.0 LEGAL IMPLICATIONS
9.1 There are no legal implications arising directly from this report as it provides information only.
10.0 EQUALITIES IMPLICATIONS
10.1 There are no equalities implications arising directly from this report as it provides information only.
11.0 ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS/BENEFITS INCLUDING CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACT ASSESSMENT
11.1 There are no equalities implications arising directly from this report as it provides information only.
12.0 REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS
12.1 The recommendations contained below are to engage with and invite comments from Members on the content of this report, which follows the agreement with Members to provide an annual update.
|
13.0 RECOMMENDATION
13.1 Committee Members are requested to note the information within the report and offer comments.
|
Background Documents: None
Report author – Matt Robinson, Head of Resilience and Emergencies