Introduction

The Civil Contingencies Act 2004 (CCA 2004) places a duty on all Category 1 responders to “assess the risk of an emergency within, or affecting a geographical area for which each Category 1 responder is responsible”. 

The Act defines an emergency as “an event or situation which threatens serious damage to human welfare in a place in the United Kingdom, an event or situation which threatens serious damage to the environment of a place in the United Kingdom, or war or terrorism, which threatens serious damage to the security of the United Kingdom” This definition has two qualifying criteria, which also must be fulfilled, these are:

The threat or hazard is of a sufficient scale and nature that it is likely to seriously obstruct a Category 1 responder in the performance of its functions. The threat or hazard requires the Category 1 responder to exercise its function and undertake a special mobilisation. T

Therefore the Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Community Risk Register (CRR) focuses upon those hazards that may present risks that could lead to a special response from all of those Partner Agencies involved. 

In turn this should help to determine Local Resilience Forum’s emergency planning priorities over the next three years’. Category 1 Responders are defined in the CCA 2004 as ‘the main organisations involved in most emergencies at the local level, they include:- The Police ServiceThe Fire & Rescue Service. The Ambulance Service. The Public Health Network / Primary Care Trusts. Health Protection Agency. Local Authorities. The Environment Agency. The Maritime & Coastguard Agency. Under the Act these Organisations have a mandate to follow to cooperate, share information and work together to ensure an integrated emergency planning approach. A fundamental component of this joint working is the assessment of those hazards and risks that may be faced by a County collated and compiled in a Community Risk Register (CRR). In 2005 a ‘Risk Assessment Working Group’ (RAWG) was formed to develop the CRR.  This Group meet regularly to review existing hazards and to consider any new risks that may be drawn to its attention.  The RAWG is a joint agency-working group of the C&PRF and is made up of representatives from all of the Category 1 Responders including Police, Fire, Ambulance, The Public Health Network, The Primary Care Trusts, The Health Protection Agency, the Environment Agency and the Local Authorities (Cambridgeshire County Council, Peterborough City Council, Cambridge City Council, East Cambridgeshire District Council, Fenland District Council, Huntingdonshire District Council, and South Cambridgeshire District Council).

This Group works within the C&PRF Support Group structure to regularly review and revise the CRR as appropriate.  Decisions on amendments, inclusions or deletions to individual risk assessments are collectively taken, and the document, and all of its contents are owned by the Group rather than any one agency.