Cabinet Office UK Resilience

Main navigation

Civil Contingencies Secretariat

The Civil Contingencies Secretariat (CCS) sits within the Cabinet Office at the heart of central government. We work in partnership with government departments, the devolved administrations and key stakeholders to enhance the UK's ability to prepare for, respond to and recover from emergencies.

Our Aims

• To make sure that the Government can continue to function and deliver public services during a crisis. To work with departments and the wider Cabinet Office to make sure that plans and systems are in place and cover the full range of potential disruption.
• To lead the delivery of improved resilience across the government and the public sector. To support ministers in developing policy.
• To identify and respond to potential and imminent disruptive challenges to the domestic UK. To build partnerships with other organisations and countries to develop and share best practice in civil protection and knowledge of the UK’s critical networks and infrastructure.
• To improve the capability of all levels of government, the wider public sector and the private and voluntary sectors to prepare for, respond to, and manage potential challenges.

Our Structure

Capabilities Team

The Capabilities Team provides programme management for the cross-Government Capabilities Programme. It also provides secretariat support to the cabinet committees responsible for driving the programme forward. The Capabilities Programme ensures a robust response infrastructure is in place to deal rapidly, effectively and flexibly with the consequences of civil devastation and widespread disaster.

Local Response Capability Team

The Local Response Capability Team delivers the implementation and enhancement called for in the Civil Contingencies Act 2004. They manage the local response, community resilience and recovery capability workstreams. The team works with government departments and regional and local partners to join up civil protection work.

International Team

The International Team handles liaison with EU and NATO partners on international civil protection issues. The team work with partners across government to coordinate UK policy on EU and NATO civil protection activity.

Exercises and Operations Team

The Exercises and Operations Team is responsible for a co-ordinated government-wide exercise programme, and for leading work on exercise policy. The team also looks after CCS interest in the government's crisis facilities which would be used during operations.

Emergency Planning College (EPC)

EPC is the UK's leading emergency planning and crisis management training. The college develops the key skills and awareness needed to improve the national capability of all levels of government, the wider public sector, and the private and voluntary sectors to prepare for, respond to, and manage potential disruptive challenges.