Our partners
The Civil Contingencies Act 2004 (CCA), created a single and up to date framework for civil protection in the UK. The Act places a legal obligation on a range of agencies involved in the management of emergencies to plan and work together in dealing with potential risks and hazards. The primary mechanism for promoting this environment is the Local Resilience Forum (LRF).
Birmingham is part of the West Midlands Conurbation LRF and is the largest of seven local authorities within the conurbation.
Birmingham is in the centre of a major Conurbation surrounded by Coventry, Solihull and the Black Country areas of Wolverhampton, Walsall, Dudley and Sandwell. Our planning for emergencies will impact on these areas and vice versa. Consequently, we work closely with these other local authorities, to ensure planning and response arrangements are fit for purpose across the entire area of the Conurbation. This work includes joint risk assessment and training and exercising, and is conducted through the West Midlands Conurbation Local Resilience Forum.
The LRF has a structure whereby local authority area groups take responsibility for assessing various risks within the Forum’s Community Risk Register and developing best practice working methods for each of the others to choose to follow. In Birmingham, the area group is referred to as the Birmingham Resilience Group (BRG).
Birmingham Resilience Group
The BRG includes officers from Birmingham City Council, the Emergency Services, key agencies within the NHS and a range of other agencies named under the CCA. The BRG will strengthen both community and agency resilience within Birmingham through appropriate planning and exercising.
Birmingham has rapidly developed a reputation for being at the cutting edge for emergency planning and response.
As a city, our success in dealing with emergencies has always depended on working effectively with our emergency planning and response partners:
- Emergency services (the police, fire and ambulance services)
- Health agencies of the NHS including Primary Care and Hospital Trusts
- Other government agencies such as the Environment Agency and the Health Protection Agency
- Utility bodies and other organisations that supply services such as water, power, communications and transport.
- The City Council.
Working Together is a framework document that outlines in detail the roles and responsibilities of a range of agencies in most response situations. Download the full document (PDF) | Download the summary document (PDF)
Working in partnership with our Communities and Neighbourhoods
We are very aware that any emergency, however short-lived, can have a long term and potentially devastating effect on individuals, families and communities. To minimise this impact it is important that the public are aware of the threats and hazards the City faces and how they can prepare and help themselves when emergencies happen.
Birmingham Communities and Neighbourhoods Resilience Group
The Birmingham Communities and Neighbourhoods Resilience Group was established in July 2008. This group provides a forum to communicate with existing and established community and faith groups, the emergency services (fire, police and ambulance) and voluntary organisations to ensure that emergency planning arrangements and response activities meet the needs of the wide range of diverse communities and organisations. This group meets approximately twice a year but various sub groups have been formalised where workshops have been arranged on behalf of local authority and external statutory organisations to focus on specific areas. These include; flooding, climate change, city centre residents, and swine flu.
Is your community group/organisation represented at the Birmingham Communities and Neighbourhoods Resiience Group? If not then contact us.
