HONITON TOWN COUNCIL

Briefing Paper : Emergency Planning

1.Introduction

Nearly all emergencies affecting the community will be dealt with routinely by an integrated multi-agency response, including the emergency services, local authorities, utilities services and various voluntary agencies. However, situations could occur, such as extensive flooding, storm damage, severe weather conditions, power outage or other major incident occurrences which would delay or reduce the response to the community.

There are currently no specific legal requirements for Town/Parish councils to undertake emergency planning, however, section 137 of the Local Government Act 1972 gives councils the power to do anything that will benefit the community or part of it where there is no other power available. Honiton Town Council has adopted the Power of Well Being and any action on emergency planning is likely to be undertaken under this power.

Emergency planning is about ensuring that strategies are put into place to mitigate the effects of an incident. There is of course no way of knowing if, when, or under what circumstances a community plan will be required to be implemented. However, having a plan will provide confidence to the community that the council has done everything needed to help the community to help themselves should the worst ever occur, until a response can be made by the emergency services.

2.Action to date

The Town Council has started to gather information on emergency planning and in February 2011 held a meeting attended by various organisations including the Police, Honiton surgery and hospital, South West Trains, Environment Agency, Lions Club and the WI. All surrounding parishes were invited and representatives from Gittisham and Awliscombe Parish Councils attended. Other organisations contacted, but unable to attend included Red Cross, South West Water, St John’s Ambulance and Chamber of Commerce.

Emergency planning is a large subject and the purpose of the meeting was to contact as many relevant organisations as possible in order to assess the contribution of each to an emergency plan for Honiton.

3.Current priority – winter service plan

Building on the work to date and as the next step in formulating an emergency plan, it is advisable that the Town Council considers a winter service plan, particularly following last winter’s severe weather conditions.

Devon County Council has reviewed their winter service plan and the Town Council has confirmed the location of grit bins as requested. The Town Council has also requested additional grit bins in specific problem locations but to date has received no response from DCC. It is understood that DCC will direct any requests for information from the public, apart from those regarding the defined salting network, to the relevant town or parish council.

As a result of their review, Devon County Council has put forward a scheme that in essence provides town and parish councils with the ability to prioritise some winter services i.e. salting priority areas on a self help basis.

The main objective of this scheme is to allow Town and Parish councils to determine their local priorities and be accountable to the community for them.

In taking up this scheme the Council would be required to identify individuals who would be known as the Snow Wardens and would become the initial contact point. The individual would also be accountable to the local community through the Town/Parish Council.

The role of the Snow warden would be

  • to determine what the local priorities are in severe weather and how these would be delivered locally and to confirm these priorities to the County Council (Neighbourhood Team).
  • Be responsible for grit bins and salt bags within their responsible area in a way that fits in with the local priorities and plan (eg to arrange for local replenishment using local resources).
  • Demonstrate that suitable arrangements are in place to store and manage salt responsibly.
  • To encourage the use of facilities i.e. grit bins by local people and to help minimise abuse.
  • To use the salt during severe weather on the public highway only to include footways and footpaths, excluding those already treated by County Council as part of the defined salting network.

In taking up this scheme the commitment from the County Council is:

a)Deliver a comprehensive winter service as defined in the Winter Service and Emergency Plan.

b)To refill all grit bins in the county that have been identified on the inventory once prior to winter.

c)To provide up to five tonnes of salt free of charge. However, it has to be delivered in one delivery and to one location (Sept/Oct). In addition a small supply of salt bags will also be provided. (Quantities of salt for town councils may be slightly higher) A further five tonnes of salt can be supplied if required at £100 per tonne.

d)To train the nominated Snow Warden and provide guidance as required.

e)To provide Public Liability Insurance (but not other forms of insurance cover) as identified within the scheme.

Equipment.

Although not part of the Snow Warden Scheme there is the opportunity to purchase either a Heavy-duty spreader which requires being towed by another vehicle or a small spreader which is manually pushed through DevonCounty.

The Heavy-duty spreader is at a cost of £1312+VAT

The smaller manual spreader is at a cost of £503+VAT

4.Conclusion for debate

Firstly it is extremely difficult to make any firm opinions as to the merits of the Snow Warden Scheme without fully understanding the detail of the County Winter Service plan and what areas are covered with the boundaries of the Town Council.

It appears to me that an awful lot of responsibility is placed upon the individual in an area that could be quite emotive during prolonged periods of severe winter weather. There are also a lot of ‘what if’ questions that require answering before an informed decision could be made on the subject eg.

  • The question of suitable storage of salt has to addressed as well as the environmental implication of spreading salt.
  • The whole scheme is dependent on the local community and their willingness to help.
  • The equipment on offer although not extremely expensive has its own draw backs for example on going maintenance costs, additional insurance requirements, not to mention risk analysis for equipment use and the people that use it.
  • The pressure on the Council staff who will be deemed responsible by the public

5.Proposals

In the wider context of forming an emergency plan for Honiton and specifically with regard to winter service for the town the following recommendations are made:

1.The Town Council undertakes to set up an Emergency Management Team (EMT) comprised of the Mayor, 2 Members from each ward plus the Town Clerk, with the following responsibilities:

a.Information Gathering: Building on the work carried out to date, to collect information about the community and to identify available resources including manpower, equipment and materials.

b.Risk Assessment: Carry out a risk assessment to identify risks to the community.

c.Plan Writing: Formulate written emergency plans to cover the identified risks to the community, the plans to be reviewed as part of the ongoing review of Town Council policies by the Policy and Finance Committee.

d.Updating: Ensuring the plans are reviewed and updated as necessary.

e.Validation: Exercising the plans to validate them.

f.Leadership: Coordinate and lead the community response during times of emergencies.

g.Reporting: To report back to the Town Council as required.

2.The Emergency Management Team undertakes an assessment of the requirements for Honiton during the winter months, carries out a detailed analysis and provides a report on the DevonCounty Council Snow Warden Scheme and prepares a winter strategy plan to form part of the overall emergency plan for the town.

Cllr Les Bayliss

Sarah Jenkins

5 August 2011

This report may contain the recommendations of an Officer or Member of the Council but these are subject to the final decision of the Town Council at its meeting