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Last updated: 07 May 2010
Emergency Preparedness makes clear the need for training key staff to obtain the necessary competence (which is a combination of knowledge, skills, and attitudes) as well as running exercises to test the robustness of plans. The distinction lies in differentiating between the competence of responders and the effectiveness of the plan so that these can be assessed.
Training for the recovery phase and validating the arrangements through exercises is less developed than our ability to train and exercise for the response phase of an emergency. However many of the processes are the same, it is just that the context is different, often delivered over a much longer time line, and involves a wider group of stakeholders.
Skills for Justice (The Sector Skills Council for Justice) is working in partnership with the Emergency Planning Society and the Emergency Planning College towards the development of a competences framework for civil protection leading to their formal recognition as National Occupational Standards (NOS). The NOS project, in partnership with other key Sector Skill Councils, will develop a NOS in planning for, responding to and recovering from emergencies as defined by the Civil Contingencies Act 2004. For further information about this project, please visit www.skillsforjustice.com/civilnos [External website].
Firstly, to clarify the distinction between training and exercising - Emergency Preparedness suggests:
Training, as such, as distinct from exercises, is broadly about raising the awareness of the participants (who are those named in the plan or mobilised by it) about what the emergency is that they may face and giving them confidence in the procedures and their ability to carry them out successfully. It is particularly important that participants in training understand the objectives of the plan and their part in achieving them. [Paragraph 5.134]
Generally, participants in exercises should have an awareness of their roles and be reasonably comfortable with them, before they are subjected to the stresses of an exercise. Exercising is not to catch people out. It tests procedures, not people. [Paragraph 5.143]
Having made the distinction above, there is an overlap between the two:
Exercises have three main purposes:
Most exercises will have some elements of all three. [Paragraph 5.144]
In order to develop a Recovery capability, it is essential that roles, responsibilities and procedures have been identified and that the people involved have the necessary competence. Competence can be defined as having the appropriate knowledge, skills, and attitudes (KSA). The level of competence needed has to be defined, then an assessment carried out of what level of competence the people responsible for delivering the capability currently have. This process is called a Training Needs Analysis, and should follow the same approach as that which is used to identify training needs for the response phase.
The stages involved in a Training Needs Analysis are:
The competences required during the recovery phase are more likely to be aligned to the day-to-day role of responding staff. For example, in dealing with people made homeless during an emergency, it is expected that local authorities will primarily use staff that deal with homelessness issues on a daily basis – albeit maybe not to the scale or in the timescales expected following an emergency. This approach to allocating people to tasks not only effectively builds on their existing knowledge of the subject area, but also enables them to use their probably well developed network of contacts both within the local authority area and further afield, which may be particularly helpful if mutual aid is required.
Whilst there is generic guidance in Emergency Preparedness and the Home Office Exercise Planning Guide on designing and running exercises, there is no specific guidance on exercising the recovery phase.
However, many organisations have run recovery exercises and the learning from these have shown that:
No differences for Wales.
At a national level, the Scottish Resilience Development Service of the Civil Contingencies Unit is responsible for civil contingencies training and exercising. The Service is currently developing generic guidance on exercise management which aims to set out good practice for all forms of civil protection exercises in Scotland including those that deal with recovery issues.
Individual training for recovery management is primarily a matter for mainstream learning providers. For example, those carrying out environmental protection activities during the recovery process should develop their competence through mainstream environmental management training and development.
Collective training may be needed to ensure that teams are able to put their skills into practice in an emergency. Organisations that are members of Civil Contingencies Strategic Co-ordinating Groups are responsible for making sure team members are aware of their role throughout an emergency and have the opportunity to try out their skills, for example through exercises. Responder agencies may also use exercises to both evaluate arrangements and performance. Such exercises should follow normal good practice.
No differences for Northern Ireland.
Training of key staff is the responsibility of their respective organisations, although there is merit in considering the use of multi-agency training events to cover the various aspects of recovery.
Local authorities will usually lead on the development, implementation and debrief of recovery exercises, but this should be with the full support of all Local Resilience Forum and wider partners.
Cabinet Office co-ordinate the cross-government exercise programme.
The Emergency Planning College – part of the Cabinet Office – run training events on recovery.
Many departments who have a Lead Government Department role for particular capabilities / scenarios run national exercises. These have tended in the past to focus on the response phase of incidents, but departments are also now considering how the recovery phase can be built in.
Regional Resilience Teams co-ordinate a regional exercise calendar. Recovery training and exercises should be fed into these programmes, as with all other Local Resilience Forum events, to avoid diary clashes and facilitate the identification of possible cross-LRF training and exercising opportunities.
The Wales Resilience Forum is overseeing the development of a Wales exercise and training programme in Wales.
No difference
The Emergency Planning College has a new prospectus for Northern Ireland. The training is delivered locally by Emergency Planning Solutions who are accredited by the college to deliver EPC training within the Province.
The funding for any training is expected to be absorbed internally within the relevant organisation.
Recovery exercises are usually funded by the local authority, but contributions may be sought from all participating organisations.
Funding of exercises at the local level in Wales is generally handled through the Local Resilience Forums.
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