ITEM 12 Cat 1 Responders Update
North Lanarkshire Council · 21 May 2025
Back to IJB Performance, Finance and Audit Committee — 21 May 2025 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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1 IJB Reporting Template REPORT Item No:12 SUBJECT: Category 1 Responder update TO: IJB Performance, Finance & Audit Committee Lead Officer for Report: Diane Fraser Chief Officer Adult Social Work Author(s) of Report Margaret Flavell Senior Manager Adult Social Work Contact details for Author(s) of Report Flavellm@northlan.gov.uk Mobile:07939284700 DATE: 21 May 2025 1. PURPOSE OF REPORT This paper is coming to the IJB PFA for: For Approval: ☐ For Endorsement: ☐ To Note: ☒ 2. ROUTE TO THE BOARD This paper has been:
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2 Prepared By: Margaret Flavell Senior Manager Adult Social Work ☒ Reviewed By: Diane Fraser Chief Officer Adult Social Work ☒ Endorsed By: Claire Rae Chief Officer HSCP ☒ 3. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This report provides a summary of North Lanarkshire Integration Joint Board as a Category 1 responder as required by the Civil Contingencies Act 2004. It highlights the duties, responsibilities, explains our preparedness to fulfil the role and notes activities undertaken to date. 4. RECOMMENDATIONS 4.1 The IJB PFA note the contents of the report. 4.2 The IJB PFA understand the duties of a Category 1 responder. 4.3 The IJB PFA is aware of the role and responsibilities of a Category 1 responder. 4.4 The IJB PFA has a knowledge of activities undertaken. 4.5 The IJB PFA acknowledges the challenges and supports actions to address. 5. VARIATIONS TO DIRECTIONS? This section outlines if the report requires a direction to be issued to the Local Authority, the Health Board, to both, or that no direction is required 6. BACKGROUND 6.1 The Civil Contingencies Act 2004 (CCA) has legislated that organisations in the UK are categorised as responders outlined in their role and responsibilities in Civil Protection and Emergency Management. 6.2 The Act puts in place a framework for ensuring public bodies and key utility providers work together in emergency situations. The Act’s concern is how to Yes ☐ No ☐ N/A ☒
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3 deal with the consequences of emergencies, which it defines as events or situations that threaten serious damage to human welfare, the environment or the security of the UK. 6.3 The Act defines two categories of responders and outlines roles and responsibilities in maintaining public safety and resilience in emergency situations 6.3.1 Category 1 responders are public bodies and include Local Authorities, Health Boards, Emergency Services, Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), and now IJBs. 6.3.2 Category 2 responders include strategic health agencies, transport bodies, utility providers, the Health and Safety Executive and port authorities. 6.4 The Civil Contingencies Act 2004 sets out the responsibilities of each category in an emergency. In March 2021 the Act was amended to include Integrated Joint Boards as a Category 1 responder therefore North Lanarkshire IJB has been designated as a Category 1 Responder due to its priority role in the provision of health and social care services. This includes key duties working alongside the North Lanarkshire local authority, Lanarkshire Health Board and the emergency services. 6.5 The Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP) is part of the Lanarkshire Local Resilience Partnership (LLRP). The LLRP have a workplan based on risks identified in the Scottish risk assessment and risk preparedness assessment. HSCP is referenced in the NL Council Corporate Resilience Plan and has representation on the Corporate Resilience Management Team (CRMT). 6.6 The response to an emergency is that we focus on the consequence and not the cause. Our main role in an incident is to Care for People. We lead on recovery. 7. SUMMARY OF KEY ISSUES Duties 7.1 The Civil Contingencies Act places legal duties upon a Category 1 responder. These legal duties are: • Duty to assess risk • Duty to maintain emergency plans • Duty to maintain Business Continuity Plans • Duty to promote business continuity • Duty to communicate with the public • Duty to share information • Duty to cooperate • The core duties are set out in Section 2 of the Act and highlight four main areas of responsibility:
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4 • The responsibility for Business Continuity Planning • The responsibility for Emergency Planning • The responsibility to engage with the public responders either locally, regionally or nationally. • The duties are coordinated through a resilience planning group and ensure it monitors the HSCP IJB Category 1 function as required under the Act. Role of Category 1 responder 7.2 The designation is a major responsibility that highlights the role in ensuring that during emergency North Lanarkshire citizens are safe. 7.3 To maintain a comprehensive Business Continuity Plan. 7.4 To uphold a variety of plans to ensure that they can continue to undertake their functions in the event of an emergency. 7.3 To keep crisis response capabilities going. 7.4 To be able to continue to deliver essential aspects of day-to-day service delivery in an emergency. 7.5 To consider resilience of internal services, supports and processes. 7.6 To consider external resilience of partners and organisations that are relied upon through delivering service for us. 7.7 To assist and help others in the event of an emergency. Duties, Risk Assessment and preparedness 7.8 Social Work and HSCP retains responsibility for preparing, reviewing, testing and documenting their resilience risk assessment and Business Continuity arrangements. Staff should be familiar with Business Continuity arrangements and plan which highlights priority activities, systems/processes, key people and dependencies. There requires some work to ensure that arrangements are understood across the workforce and information of priority people/patients is accessible and easily shared during an emergency. 7.9 At the beginning of an incident an assessment is undertaken to determine if service disruption can be managed internally (through social work and the HSCP) or requires escalation for a further corporate response. 7.10 During the incident there are clear expectations of communication with service updates, maintaining service delivery in priority critical areas, ongoing assessment of operational activity, staffing impact, and relocation consideration if required. 7.11 Finally, there is the stand down period of the Business Continuity arrangements whereby there is communication to all staff and normal service resumes. Also,
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5 at this point consideration is given to recovery and any lessons identified and then the Business Continuity Plan is updated as required including any lessons learned. Activities to date 7.12 Plan maintenance: Emergency and Business Continuity Plans 7.13 Communication with staff, partners and the public as required 7.14 Share information with other responders 7.15 Cooperate with other responders 7.16 HSCP role: attend CRMT meetings, aware of current issues, planning, exercises undertaken, current resilient issues, discussion, info sharing and learning 7.17 2024/2025 diary: Business Continuity Plan April 2024, HSCP Desk top scenario September 2024, Airport familiarisation exercise 24/9/24, Winter breach exercise14/11/24, Storm Eowyn 24/1/25, Allershaw Towers exercise February 2025, SLT Category 1Responder presentation 25/2/25, Cyber incident attack exercise 26/2/25, Winter planning meetings and debrief 6/3/25, Grenfell Towers learning recommendations March 2025, Risk Assessment update 3/25, Business Continuity Plan Review March – June 2025, plan to increase Business Continuity Plan Champions to represent localities ( 1 per sector), Challenges 7.18 As outlined in this report arrangements to support the IJB as a Category 1 responder is developing. Whilst progress has been achieved to ensure ongoing development some challenges require to be considered: sufficient resources to maintain response capabilities (refresh Major Incident Support Team), regular training for staff skill development to support preparedness and response capabilities in an emergency and update workforce knowledge and information regarding people/patients’ information being accessible during an emergency. 8. CONCLUSIONS 8.1 Throughout resilience planning as outlined above it is essential for designated representatives to attend resilience meetings, to ensure a risk assessment process is in place and to develop, implement, test and review the Business Continuity Plan and to share as required for a fuller understanding. 8.2 It is essential that communication and collaboration as a Category 1 responder is effective and offers reassurance to the IJB. 8.3 It is important the Category 1 responder duties are explained and understood.
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6 8.4 It is important the Category 1 responder role and responsibilities are known 8.5 The 2024/2025 diary of recent activities demonstrate practice in this area to support the IJB as a Category 1 responder. 8.6 By addressing the challenges outlined in the report we will meet the expectations and increase operational capacity. This will ensure that the IJB continues to meet the legal obligations of a Category 1 responder to support and strengthen resilience in North Lanarkshire. 9. IMPLICATIONS 9.1 NATIONAL OUTCOMES Link(s) to National Health and Wellbeing Outcomes People are able to look after and improve their own health and wellbeing and live in good health for longer ☒ People, including those with disabilities or long-term conditions, or who are frail, are able to live, as far as reasonable practicable, independently and at home or in a homely setting in their community ☒ People who use Health and Social Care Services have positive experiences of those services, and have dignity respected ☒ Health and Social Care Services are centred on helping to maintain or improve the quality of life of people who use those services ☒ Health and Social Care Services contribute to reducing health inequalities ☒ People who use Health and Social Care Services are safe from harm ☒ People who work in Health and Social Care Services feel engaged with the work they do and are supported to continuously improve the information, support, care and treatment they provide ☒ Resources are used effectively and efficiently in the provision of Health and Social Care Services ☒ 9.2 ASSOCIATED MEASURE(S) 9.3 FINANCIAL This paper has been reviewed by Finance: Yes No N/A There are no financial implications arising directly from this report. 9.4 RISK ASSESSMENT/RISK MANAGEMENT
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7 Relevant Risk Register Details Current Risk Level Risk Owner HSCP Service risk Low Claire Rae 9.5 ENGAGEMENT & PARTICIPATION Please tick the engagement and participation objectives that link(s) with this piece of work and provide further details on the engagement and participation that was undertaken. Objectives Further details ☐ Involve stakeholders in the development work aimed at achieving the national outcomes ☐ Provide stakeholders with information on how to get involved ☐ Ensure a diverse range of engagement and participation and opportunities are in place to suit different needs ☐ Measure how well we involve community stakeholders in the planning, design and delivery of our services ☐ Provide regular feedback on how stakeholder engagement and participation is shaping and influencing service development and delivery ☐ Provide support to enable stakeholder representatives to participate meaningfully and confidently at meetings ☐ Develop participation guidelines to ensure a common understanding and set of expectations for both stakeholders and partnership staff ☐ Support engagement planning and participation in localities, taking account of other engagement activity and local plans across the Community Planning Partnership 9.6 INEQUALITIES & FAIRER SCOTLAND DUTY EQIA Completed & Fairer Scotland Impact Assessment Form Completed and attached to report:
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8 Yes No N/A EQIA added to website: Yes No N/A 10. BACKGROUND PAPERS Business Continuity Plan 11. APPENDICES Please include a glossary of terms if not already included. . CHIEF ACCOUNTABLE OFFICER (or Depute) Diane Fraser, Chief Officer Adult Social Work Members seeking further information about any aspect of this report, please contact the following: Margaret Flavell, Senior Manager Adult Social Work Flavellm@northlan.gov.uk
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9 Direction from North Lanarkshire Integration Joint Board (IJB) 1 Reference Number 2 Report Title 3 Date direction issued by IJB 4 Date from which direction takes effect 5 Direction to: 6 Does this direction supersede, revise or revoke a previous direction – if yes, include reference number(s) 7 Functions covered by direction 8 Full text of direction 9 Budget allocated by Integration Joint Board to carry out direction
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10 10 Performance Management / Governance arrangements 11 Date direction will be reviewed