Worthing Borough Council

• Emergency Contact Numbers
• Business Continuity
• Community Resilience
• Drought information
• Fire and Home Safety
• Flooding
• Pandemic Flu
• Sandbags
• Severe Weather
• Terrorist activities
• Warning the Public

Emergency Planning and Services

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Emergency Planning Officer - 01903 221025
Office Hours - 01903 239999
Out of Hours Emergencies - 01903 821992

epo@adur-worthing.gov.uk

The Civic Contingencies Act

The Civic Contingencies Act and accompanying non-legislative measures, delivers a single framework for civil protection in the United Kingdom capable of meeting the challenges of the twenty-first century.  The Act is separated into two substantive parts, local arrangements for civil protection (Part 1) and emergency powers (Part 2).

Further information on the Civic Contingencies Act can be found on the Cabinet Office website

Preparing for emergencies

An emergency can happen at any time and in any place.  Find out how to prepare for an emergency wherever you happen to be by going to the Direct Gov website.

For more local information on the risks in Sussex and how you can protect yourself or your business, then go to the Sussex Resilience Forum website, where you will find information on how to protect yourself in an emergency, your business and your family.  This website will also give you information on current emergencies in Sussex together with up to the minute news on issues that may affect you.

The Local Authority’s role in an emergency

Adur District Council and Worthing Borough Council, as Category 1 Responders under the Civil Contingencies Act, have a role to support the emergency services in an emergency.  They also have a duty to provide aid to neighbouring boroughs and districts where an emergency has occurred.

The Police, Fire and Rescue Service, and the Ambulance Service deal with emergencies every day that do not require involvement of the local authority, however, we have to be prepared to respond to a call for assistance from the emergency services at any time.  It is a requirement under the Civil Contingencies Act for the Local Authority to have Business Continuity plans in place to continue, as far as is reasonably practical, our services during a major emergency.

What is a major emergency?

A major emergency is defined in the Civic Contingencies Act 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
• War, or terrorism, which threatens serious damage to the security of the United Kingdom

These emergencies can be natural disasters such as flooding, storms and pollution, or other events such as major road traffic collisions, unexploded bombs, suspect packages or acts of terrorism.

Community Risk Register

Each year, the Government reassess the risks to the Country and advise the Emergency Services and other responders under the Civic Contingencies Act of the results.  Locally in Sussex the Sussex Resilience Forum produces a Risk Register for Sussex, based on the national document that details the major risks to Sussex and what is being done to reduce these risks.  You can download a copy of the Community Information on Risks in Sussex booklet from the Sussex Resilience Forum website.

Further information

Specific information that may assist you can be found on the following pages

• Emergency Contact Numbers
• Community Resilience
• Warning the Public
• Fire and Home Safety
• Police (Link to Sussex Police website)
• Terrorist activities
• Flooding
• Sandbags
• Business Continuity

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