Civil Contingencies Act 2004

The Civil Contingencies Act 2004 places a responsibility upon leading public bodies to co-operate locally, upon matters of civil resilience.

The Act guides upon the creation of a Local Resilience Forum to consider such matters within an existing police force boundary. The West Mercia Local Resilience forum has been created to administer the legislation across the Counties of Shropshire, Worcestershire and Herefordshire.

The Act requires responders to undertake risk assessments, maintain them in a Community Risk Register and to publish this register. Risks in this context are those that could result in a major emergency. This Community Risk Register is the first step in the emergency planning process; it ensures that the plans that are developed are proportionate to the risk.