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How we respond

We have a simple structure of planning to ensure we meet all our emergency planning requirements.

There's a three tier response structure:

  • Level 1 - a single departmental response to an emergency
  • Level 2 - a multi departmental response to an emergency, coordinated by our duty Local Authority Liaison Officer (LALO)
  • Level 3 - a multi departmental response to a significant or major emergency, centrally coordinated by the Borough Emergency Control Centre (BECC)

Most emergencies require only a level 1 response. Having the flexibility and support of further resources allows the councils to deal with larger scale events or challenges.

Our support to the community in the event of an emergency applies to all levels of response:

  • to assess, mobilise, manage and coordinate relevant resources and technical services of the council in response to the emergency, to support the community and residents and to assist in the emergency response
  • to provide specialist care or humanitarian services if people have been displaced or affected by an emergency
  • to assess, agree and assist with the implementation of a recovery strategy with all key stakeholders
  • to make sure day to day critical services are maintained, where possible

We can integrate our response for a significant emergency event with a pan-London local authority response. This is known as local authority gold.

Services we provide

The majority of services provided under emergency conditions are those provided every day by the council.

We make sure services are provided in response to an incident or a request for help. These services are essential in supporting the community when recovering from an incident.

There are a few specific services that complement our response, including the provision of rest centres when people are evacuated from their homes. Rest centres are set up in existing council facilities or buildings.

We work with voluntary organisations such as the British Red Cross to ensure people are as comfortable as possible.

Our multi-agency partnership approach ensures that we can provide a high quality care service to those affected by the incident.

Emergency plan

View how we respond to a wide range of emergencies in our generic emergency plan (PDF, 465kb). This covers key components such as risk assessment, preparation and planning, response, warning and informing and recovery.

Page last updated: 07 November 2023

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