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WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE CHIEF MINISTER BY THE DEPUTY OF ST. JOHN ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON TUESDAY 12th MAY 2009
Question
Would the Minister advise what budget is available for the Emergency Planning Council and how frequently it holds training for all of the parties involved with dealing with full scale Island emergencies?
Answer
I presume the question refers to the Emergencies Council, the political level body constituted under the Emergency Planning and Powers (Jersey) Law 1990.
Following a major review of arrangements and a consequential change of direction in 2007 the Emergency Planning function has been transferred to the Chief Minister's Department to continue to improve civil protection planning arrangements and awareness in the event of an emergency occurring in the Island. This function includes emphasis on closer working partnerships with other organisations, developing the overall resilience framework for Jersey and the development of emergency co-ordination arrangements.
The function has historically been staffed by an Emergency Planning Officer and a secretary. There was also no specific budget for cross service training and initiatives. In recognition of the need to improve the Island's state of preparation the States approved an increase in the budget as part of the 2009 Business Plan debate. This added an assistant post to improve resilience and the budget was increased by £70,000, including £20,000 for training and other initiatives. As a consequence the Emergency Planning function now has an overall budget of £208,200 for 2009 and a staffing resource of 2.8 full-time equivalents.
The States have recently undertaken two major tabletop exercises organised by the Emergencies Council, namely Exercise Flying Swan' in November 2007 which focussed on a counter terrorist scenario, and Exercise Coldplay' in February of this year when the Island's arrangements for pandemic flu were tested. The tabletop exercises included Parish officials and honorary services.