Civil Contingencies Act (2004)

Civil Contingencies Act (2004)

At the beginning of the century, the Government announced a review of emergency planning arrangements in England and Wales, in response to floods, foot-and-mouth disease and the fuel crisis. They asked for new legislation (laws) to be developed to replace the Civil Defence Act (1948).

During the review and development of the Civil Contingencies Act, we also experienced the industrial action taken by the Fire Brigades Union and saw the devastation that took place in America on 11 September 2001. All this added weight to the need to update legislation.

The Civil Contingencies Act, which came in to force on 14 November 2005, meant we had to work with the emergency services, health authorities and the Environment Agency to deal with emergencies. To find out more about the Civil Contingencies Act see the UK Resilience website. www.ukresilience.info