Central
Civil protection in the UK is primarily governed by the Civil Contingencies Act 2004.
Specific arrangements apply in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Regional
Scotland
While civil protection in Scotland is largely a devolved matter and therefore the responsibility of the Scottish Government, certain responders in Scotland are subject to regulations and guidance by UK ministers – the Health and Safety Executive, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency and the British Transport Police.
The Northern Ireland Executive is responsible for:
- civil contingencies and oversight of civil contingencies arrangements for transferred functions
- overall policy and strategy coordination (Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister (OFMDFM))
- national security matters, including crisis management arrangements to govern the strategic response to emergencies (Northern Ireland Office of the UK Government).
Local
England and Wales
Local authorities and "local emergency responders" including fire, police and ambulance services are required to:
- maintain a Community Risk Register
- organise Local Resilience Forums (LRF).
Regional Resilience Forums formerly provided a uniform system for LRF collaboration within regions. With the abolition of the regional government offices, "responders may now replace these regional forums with more flexible structures for multi-LRF working".[1]
The approach at local level to emergency response and recovery is based on a bottom-up approach: operations and decisions are made at the lowest appropriate level, with little input from central or devolved governments.
Category 1 responders are required to have emergency plans, including a procedure for determining an emergency has occurred.
Responsible ministries/bodies
Cabinet Office
Home Office
Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government
Devolved governments of the United Kingdom
Covid-19
Central
UK Central Government has adopted a number of measures:
- A furlough scheme paying 80% of the wages of people across the UK unable to work due to lockdown restrictions. As at 28 May, 7.5 million jobs were furloughed. A Self-Employed Income Support Scheme was also adopted to help self-employed people.
- A mortgage payment holiday scheme was extended until 31 October.
- From 8 June, all those arriving in the UK will be required to self-isolate for 14 days.
- By late May, everyone across the UK was eligible for testing.
Regional
Health is a devolved matter, and so England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have each adopted their own approaches to the pandemic and specifically lockdown restrictions. As a result, travel between the countries was forbidden as of 28 May.
Local
Local councils are responsible for practical arrangements, and the Local Government Association has set up a webpage (https://local.gov.uk/our-support/coronavirus-information-councils/covid-19-good-council-practice) with good practice relating to COVID-19. These include making educational resources available to parents having to home-school their children, setting up a digital hub of volunteers and endeavouring to arrange burials which meet the religious needs of residents while complying with social distancing requirements. Councils are also responsible for providing food parcels where needed.
Responsible ministries/bodies
HM Treasury
Cabinet Office
Devolved governments of the United Kingdom
Sources
Cabinet Office
Home Office
Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government
HM Treasury
Cabinet Office
Devolved government websites:
Scotland: https://www.parliament.scot/
Wales: https://senedd.wales/en/Pages/Home.aspx
Northern Ireland: https://www.northernireland.gov.uk/
[1]
https://update.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/sites/default/files/resources/Chapter-16-final-post-consultCCS_amends_16042012.pdf.
