The Civil Contingencies Act 2004 sets out the
organisations that provide the emergency response in Scotland. They
include the police, the fire and rescue services, the Scottish
Ambulance Service, health boards, local authorities, the Scottish Environment
Protection Agency and the Maritime and Coastguard Agency. The role of
Scottish and UK government is to support their response with
guidance and practical help.
Voluntary
organisations also play an important role in responding to
emergencies.
The Improvement Service has published a briefing note on civil contingencies for
elected members.
Scotland's eight strategic co-ordinating groups are based on the
police force areas shown in this map. They bring the organisations
involved in dealing with emergencies in Scotland together to plan
for - and respond to - all kinds of emergencies. These multi-agency
groups are based in police force areas and are chaired by police
chief constables and local authority chief executives. They have
robust plans in place to respond to all kinds of events. These
plans are regularly tested in joint exercises and during real
emergencies.
