Cabinet Office UK Resilience

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Community Resilience Policy Manager- Local Response Capability team

Role

The Local Response Capability team within the Civil Contingencies Secretariat (CCS) is responsible for ensuring that responder organisations (including local authorities and the emergency services) and Government departments have the tools and guidance they need to be able to prepare for, respond to and recover from emergencies. The team also ensures that responder organisations fulfil their responsibilities under the Civil Contingencies Act and leads on the programme reviewing the effectiveness of this legislation.

I am part of the team that leads on the contribution that Government can make to build and enhance community resilience across the UK – that is individuals and organisations harnessing local resources to help themselves during an emergency, working in concert with the emergency services.

My specific responsibilities include managing the creation and delivery of community resilience policy. I ensure that a range of discrete projects are implemented at a local, regional and national level, maintaining the balance between CCS’ strategic objectives and the needs of each individual project. I am also responsible for forging and maintaining relationships with our stakeholder groups which can range from individuals working at a community level across the UK, third sector organisations, the emergency services through to Government officials and Ministers. I have to manage the expectations of our stakeholders, bringing together several different opinions to work together to enhance community resilience across the UK.

A day in the life of...Rob, Community Resilience Policy Manager

08:50 – Arrive in the office –say hello to the rest of the team and check my voicemail and reply to the morning’s email messages.

09:15 – Time for a cup of tea before starting work on our Action Plan for next year. This will set out all of the different projects the team will be working on over the next twelve months and is directly linked into CCS’s Business Plan.

10:30 – Take a call from one of our key stakeholders – the chief executive of a national group involved in promoting household flood resilience. She has been asked to run a last minute workshop on community resilience and wants some advice.

11:00 - Attend a meeting with a representative from the Scout Association. One of our aims is that people will be able to use existing networks and resources to get involved in community resilience and the Scouts may be a way of doing this.

12:00 – After answering more emails, I review and comment on a draft guidance document on school emergency plans. Along with colleagues at Department for Children, Schools and Families, we are acting as a ‘critical friend’ to a project run by a number of Beacon Authorities which aims to build community resilience in schools. The project team have asked for my perspective on the content.

13:00 - Lunch in the canteen with two friends from other teams in CCS, where I catch up on what is happening around the unit.

13:45 – Back to my desk and time to catch up with my Deputy Director who feeds back on a meeting she has just had with civil contingencies colleagues from the Scottish Executive - it’s important to keep in contact with all the Devolved Administrations. Make a note to myself to follow it up tomorrow.

14:00 – Meeting with CCS Communications Officer and the Head of Digital Engagement for the Cabinet Office to discuss ways of making use of social networking and emerging online technology to encourage people to share their community resilience ideas and experiences.

15:00 – Back to my desk for another cup of tea and start to work on updating a presentation which my Deputy Director will give to a Local Resilience Forum in Hampshire next week. I ensure it is up to date with the latest info and send it on to her to review.

16:00 – Start to draft an update to send out to our stakeholders- it’s really important that we keep everyone - emergency responders, voluntary organisations, other Government Departments, to name but a few - in touch with the development of this new policy area. Need to make sure I keep the language as clear and concise as possible –no acronyms allowed!

17:00 – Time for a quick chat with my line manager to prepare for a meeting later in the week to visit a community group. Talking to people involved at the local level is one of the most important activities for my work; it really helps me understand what support they need from the centre of Government.

17:45 – Pack up, switch off and head home.