Emergency planning in Wales

Emergency planning in Wales is carried out in line with the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 however as a result of devolution it is managed with its own ‘welsh flavour.’ For instance there are unique bodies operating in Wales like The Joint Emergency Services Group (JESG) and there is involvement from The Welsh Government.^[1]

The Wales Resilience Forum is the highest level of emergency planning in Wales. It meets three times a year and is chaired by the First Minister.^[2]

There are four Local Resilience Forums (LRF) in Wales, based on the areas of the four Welsh Police Areas:

• Dyfed Powys Local Resilience Forum (Dyfed Powys LRF or DPLRF)
• Gwent Local Resilience Forum (Gwent LRF or GLRF)
• North Wales Local Resilience Forum (North Wales LRF or NWLRF)
• South Wales Local Resilience Forum (South Wales LRF or SWLRF)

Each LRF includes the regional emergency services, the principal councils, and local health boards, a number of other government agencies that have responsibilities in the region, such as Public Health Wales and the Health and Safety Executive, and also transport agencies, utility companies, and the military.

The LRFs were established in 2004, as a requirement of the Civil Contingencies Act 2004, and effectively replaced the regional organisations such as the Gwent Emergency Planning and Liaison Group and the South Wales Emergency Services Liaison Committee that had been operating since 1994.^[3][4]

The Local Resilience Forums are responsible for assessing risks, planning responses, and recovery from a range of incidents that could have a major impact on their areas. Incidents are classified as hazards or threats.^[5] Hazards are non-malicious events and typically include:^[5]

• Transport accidents
• Severe weather
• Flooding
• Industrial accidents and environmental pollution
• Human health risks
• Animal health risks
• Industrial technical failure

Threats are planned events, such as a terrorist attack, and typically include:^[5]

• Attacks using explosives
• Chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear threats
• Electronic attacks affecting utilities and communications

The Local Regional Forums have specific duties defined by the following legislation:^[6]

• Civil Contingencies Act 2004
• The Control of Major Accident Hazard Regulations 1999
• The Pipeline Safety Regulations 1996
• Radiation (Emergency Preparedness & Public Information) Regulations 2001

Forum	Emergency services	Principal councils	Health organisations	Area
Dyfed-Powys[7]	Dyfed-Powys Police Mid and West Wales Fire & Rescue Welsh Ambulance Service	Carmarthenshire Ceredigion Pembrokeshire Powys	Hywel Dda UHB Powys Teaching Health Board
Gwent[8]	Gwent Police South Wales Fire and Rescue Welsh Ambulance Service	Blaenau Gwent Caerphilly Monmouthshire Newport Torfaen	Aneurin Bevan UHB
North Wales[9]	North Wales Fire and Rescue North Wales Police Welsh Ambulance Service	Anglesey Conwy Denbighshire Flintshire Gwynedd Wrexham	Betsi Cadwaladr UHB
South Wales[10]	Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue South Wales Fire and Rescue South Wales Police Welsh Ambulance Service	Bridgend Cardiff Merthyr Tydfil Neath Port Talbot Rhondda Cynon Taf Swansea Vale of Glamorgan	Cardiff and Vale UHB Cwm Taf UHB Abertawe Bro Morgannwg UHB

In addition, a number of other government agencies are also partners of the four Welsh local resilience forums including:^[8]

• British Transport Police
• Maritime and Coastguard Agency
• Public Health Wales
• Natural Resources Wales
• The Met Office
• Health and Safety Executive
• and also utility companies, transport agencies, and the military.