Birmingham City Centre

Birmingham City Council has worked closely with the police and other partners to develop the Birmingham City Centre Evacuation Plan, originally launched in 2006 and reviewed and revised regularly since. The Birmingham City Centre Evacuation Plan provides a comprehensive plan for the evacuation of all, or part of, the city centre in the event of an alert of a major incident including terrorist attack, major fire or natural disaster.

The Plan includes a map which divides the City Centre priority area into zones to:

assist the public and/or businesses to identify their exact location within the area that the emergency services and other responding agencies regard as the city centre boundary;
assist with the development of area profiles i.e. industrial, residential, commercial, many of which have discreet usage boundaries;
identify significant premises within a zone.

I work or live in the city centre. How will I know that an evacuation is required?

Police Officers will coordinate evacuation of the area(s) assisted by Police Community Support Officers, City Centre Street Wardens, building representatives and security staff.

The primary methods of communication used by the Police during a major incident are by broadcasting messages via:

‘Birmingham Alert’ – a priority alert message scheme to all that subscribe;
Radio systems used by shops, pubs and clubs;
Public address systems located in shopping centres and bus and rail information points;
Broadcasts by local radio and TV stations.

What should I do if an evacuation of my building / location is required?

Implement your building evacuation plan immediately;
Inform others, within your building / immediate location, who do not appear to be responding to the evacuation request;
Do not evacuate if your building is not notified, this might put yourself and others at greater risk, unless you identify a specific risk to your staff;
Use security staff or nominated company representatives to escort everyone from danger;
Follow Police advice.

I run a business,how can I ensure my staff are prepared?

Under UK health and safety legislation, ALL premises must have an evacuation plan and you should consider the following:

Are all staff fully aware of the plan?
Does your plan contain details of assembly points within and outside the city centre for staff to attend when evacuated?
Is there a clear procedure on how to alert your staff and visitors of the need to evacuate and the assembly point location?
Does your plan include specific procedures for assisting staff and visitors with physical or visual disabilities?
How will you account for all staff at the assembly point and how will you communicate with them?
Do you regularly test your evacuation plan to ensure all staff are familiar with it?
Do you have seperate fire and bomb evacuation procedures?

West Midlands Police and Birmingham City Council Priority Alert Scheme

Within this scheme, alert or information messages can only be issued by the Police or City Council. Subscribers can receive messages on pagers, mobile phone SMS text messages or email.

A message on evacuation may include:

Details of the incident and the building / location; Location(s) to be evacuated and direction of evacuation;
Updates on the situation and when it is safe to return to premises in a particular location;

The Birmingham Priority Alert text messaging scheme provides businesses in the City Centre with real time information from West Midlands Police and Birmingham City Council in the event of major disruption to the City Centre. Further information about the system is available at www.warnandinform.co.uk/birmingham or by phoning 0800 035 0081.

The map and a guidance brochure, which gives details of emergency evacuation and continuity procedures, was distributed to all city centre businesses, organisations and building managers. Copies of the map can be obtained by contacting the Resilience Team on (0121) 303 4825 or by email:emergencyplanning@birmingham.gov.uk

PDF Birmingham City Centre Evacuation Map
PDF Advice booket to businesses

Working together for a resilient Birmingham.