Agenda item

Matt Robinson, Head of Resilience and Emergencies, provided Members with an update on the resilience and emergencies plan.

He noted that his report had been provided previously and, therefore, provided the following highlights:

How emergencies are responded to including partner and community response.

The North Yorkshire Council system, structure and process for responding to emergencies.

Developing a consistent and understandable approach.

The involvement of Members in area arrangements

Details of area co-ordination including dedicated officers.

The development of appropriate policies.

Members highlighted the following in relation to the report:

·       Some discrepancies within the report relating to which Electoral Division certain features were located and, therefore, had been assigned to the wrong Councillor for contact in emergency situations. In response it was agreed to do an enhanced review to ensure that the correct areas and Councillors were identified in respect of this.

·       A Member emphasised the need to ensure that local communities were fully aware of what was required of them during emergency situations and it had to be ensured that appropriate plans and communications were in place, through appropriate engagement. In response it was stated that a group was in place for the local launch of Community Emergency Plans however knowledge of those Plans was imperative. Engagement continued to be sought to ensure that progress was been made.

·       Concerns were raised regarding a serious incident that had occurred in a local community of which the local Councillor had not been made aware. The local press, Parish Council and residents were seeking assurance via the Member but there was no information to be provide. He suggested that a 24 hour, seven days a week contact point was required to address such situations and assist with communications. In response it was stated that whenever a serious incident took place Silver Command were always contactable with details of the duty officer available in the Members Handbook. It was also stated that the contact number can be utilised both ways with Members informing Silver Command of an incident they have become aware of, which would be of assistance to their response.

·       A Member expressed her disappointment that some Plans developed and under development were not detailed in Appendix B to the report, which provided information on Flood warning sign up and Emergency Plans within the Constituency area. She considered that the omission of this information from the report was a disincentive to the local communities that had no acknowledgement of the Plans they had developed and for those that were in the process developing Plans. She asked for this to be taken account of, going forward, with a better reflection of what is actually taking place. Other Members concurred with the issues raised and suggested that the appendix required an update. There was also a requirement for Members to be fully prepared through appropriate planning for emergency situations. In response it was stated that work was being undertaken alongside clusters of Parish and Town Councils to provide more resilience.

·       A Member requested a copy of the flood warning plan for Stokesley as he noted that some flooding situations had occurred with no warnings issued. In response it was noted that the warnings would be issued by the Environment Agency in terms of river flooding, but not for surface water flooding. A copy of the report would be provided to the Member.

·       In terms of surface water flooding a Member noted that this was the responsibility of the landowner to attend to. In response it was stated that was a great deal of legislation relating to how surface water flooding was addressed and there was a preventative role for the landowner. Co-ordination of the various services was undertaken alongside the landowners to try and manage these incidents.

Resolved

That the report and issues raised be noted and any action highlighted be undertaken as indicated.