A–Z index:

Emergency planning

If there is a major incident or civil emergency in the Salisbury District Council area, the council has a statutory responsibility to work with Wiltshire County Council, the emergency services and other agencies, such as the Environment Agency, to respond to the problem.

Normally, it is one of the frontline emergency services (normally the Police or Fire Service) that declares a major incident or civil emergency. They then alert the other emergency services, other agencies that might need to get involved (such as the Highways Agency or Environment Agency, or the local Primary Care Trust), as well as the local councils.

What is an emergency?

A major civil emergency can be any emergency that requires the implementation of special arrangements by one or more of the emergency services, the NHS or the local authority. Examples include major flooding, a violent storm, a serious plane crash, or the outbreak of an infectious disease such as avian influenza.

Who does what?

In Wiltshire, Wiltshire County Council has strategic responsibility for emergency planning and has a dedicated Emergency Planning Unit. Salisbury District Council, and the other district councils, help to coordinate support for residents and make sure that public services are not disrupted. Depending on the type of emergency, this might include actions such as providing sandbags, coordinating emergency accommodation, dealing with environmental pollution, inspecting damaged buildings, providing animal welfare support, or road clearance.

Preparing for emergencies

Every incident is different, but we can plan how we will react and coordinate our support, and how we will make sure public services are not disrupted.

The Community Risk Register has been produced by the Wiltshire and Swindon Local Resiliance Forum, to identify and help plan for potential emergencies. The Community Risk Register is published on the Wiltshire Police website.

Joint emergency plans for the county and district councils are published on the Wiltshire County Council website.

Wiltshire County Council also provide support and advice for local businesses on planning for emergencies and business continuity.

For more information contact Wiltshire County Council's Emergency Planning Unit.