Aims and Objectives

The mission of Wiltshire & Swindon LRF is to make sure that the seven statutory duties outlined in the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 (CCA) are achieved within a multi-agency environment. These are:

1. Cooperation
2. Information sharing
3. Risk assessment
4. Business continuity management
5. Emergency planning
6. Warning, informing and advising the public
7. Providing businesses continuity advice (local authority duty only)

The above principles run as a ‘golden thread’ in everything we do. However, in Wiltshire and Swindon we want to be more specific as to what this means to our LRF and put the seven statutory duties into a local context. Below outlines our local strategic aim as a collective:

Strategic Aim

‘To plan an effective and efficient coordinated multi-agency response within Wiltshire and Swindon to an emergency or major incident’

In order to deliver the above aim, we have set ourselves a number of strategic intentions which enable us to meet the requirements of the Civil Contingencies Act 2004.

Strategic Intentions

• To develop a robust structure, enabling the Wiltshire & Swindon LRF to be responsive and able to fulfil its responsibilities under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004
• To undertake a continual risk assessment process and maintain a Community Risk Register
• To support the development of plans and capabilities, based on risk, necessary to respond to and recover from emergencies and major incidents. Organisations to provide support and resources where gaps are identified.
• To support individual organisations in providing public information and advice on civil contingency issues in order to encourage the development of community resilience. This will include promoting and raising awareness of the LRF.
• To engage in an ongoing programme of multi-agency training and exercising to ensure that plans and capabilities are fit for purpose
• To facilitate and promote cooperation, information sharing and good practice at a local, sub-national and national level
• To maintain a close relationship with Department of Levelling Up Housing and Communities (DLUHC) Resilience Emergencies Division (RED) team in order to consider the implications of new legislation, policy initiatives and decisions at a national level
• To develop and maintain relationships with the Wiltshire and Swindon Local Health Resilience Partnership (LHRP) to enhance local resilience

 Legislation 

The work of the LRF is governed by a number of key pieces of legislation, some of which are highlighted below. As time moves forward legislation changes with Central Government ensuring that LRF agencies are well sighted before any large changes or additions occur. 

Structure

The LRF may appear complicated but it is actually quite straight forward with the main groups highlighted below:

• Executive Group – chaired by the Chair of the LRF (Director within Wiltshire Council)
• Business Management Group – chaired by one of the LRF Joint Managers (Secretariat)
• Sub-Groups - (chaired by a nominated agency)
• Task and Finish Groups (chaired by a nominated individual)

Some more detail on the groups can be seen below, with each group operating to different timescales, from twice a year to the more frequent once a month. These timescales will be determined by the chair and members of the group.

Task and Finish Groups are formed when a set piece of work requires completing (training creation, exercises etc). These groups will sit for a time limited period with a definite end date. They will be chaired by a member of the organisation leading the piece of work.