The role of Lewes District Council

The role of Lewes District Council

Our role in a major incident is to support the emergency services and then to help return life to normal as soon as possible.

To achieve this, we will:

• Respond to requests from the emergency services to assist in response to major incidents.
• Mobilise our staff to carry out tasks requested by the emergency services. Depending on the scale and type of incident, this may include:
  • Establishing an Emergency Control Centre to co-ordinate our response.
  • Setting up Rest Centres to provide transport, shelter, food and information to people evacuated from the vicinity of a major incident.
  • Providing advice on the temporary re-housing of people who are unable to return to their homes.
  • Specialist advice to the public on matters such as public health and structural stability of buildings.
  • Providing information to the public and the media.
  • Supplying sandbags in flooding incidents (*see footnote)
  • Assisting in cleaning up the area affected by a major incident.
• Co-ordinate our response with East Sussex County Council, other local authorities; town and parish councils; and the voluntary sector.
• As far as possible, keep our everyday council services running despite diversion of staff and other resources to handling of the incident.
• Take a leading role in helping the community to recover and to return life to normal.

We have a mutual aid protocol with other local authorities across Sussex to assist one another in responding to a major incident. This allows us to “borrow” staff and equipment from other authorities, particularly if we are faced with a prolonged emergency. However, it is important to recognise that the District Council is not a “24/7” organisation like the emergency services.

 

Footnote:
* We cannot guarantee to meet all public demands for sandbags in a flooding emergency. We give priority to strategic deployment of sandbags, ie. deploying them to protect whole areas rather than individual properties. To be sure, it is best if residents make their own arrangements for sandbags to protect their own property.