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Emergency Planning

What we do

The Emergency Planning and Business Continuity team maintain plans for major incidents and other types of emergencies, so that the local authority may fulfil its duties under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004. 

This role includes creating, updating and maintaining emergency response and recovery plans, providing guidance and training for those who have roles within those plans, exercising the plans to validate them, and taking its role when these plans are activated in response to a major incident or emergency. 

Why we need your information and how we use it

Personal data may be collected during an emergency to assist in providing you with information and any necessary care as a result of the emergency situation. You would most likely be asked for this information in an emergency centre, but you could be asked for it in other circumstances.

Protecting residents and other individuals during an emergency is a duty shared across a range of organisations in accordance with the Civil Contingencies Act.

If you do not give us this information in an emergency, we will be unable to provide you with information about the on-going situation, or provide you with the level of assistance that you might require, particularly if you have a specific need or vulnerability.

What is our power to obtain and use personal data?

We are allowed to process personal and sensitive data for the following reasons:

  • In accordance with prevailing legislation in order to meet our legislative duties set out in the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 and the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974
  • For public tasks or statutory functions
  • For legitimate Interests
  • For vital interests to protect life
What type of information we collect

In order to effectively respond to emergencies, we may need to collect the following information:

  • Name
  • Address
  • Contact telephone/email
  • Gender
  • Date of Birth
  • Religious / cultural needs
  • Next of kin – name, relationship, address, contact telephone
  • Pets
  • Dietary Needs
  • Allergies
  • Other information that you feel we should know about
  • Health
Who we may share your information with

Your personal information may be shared with any organisation responding to the emergency.  These may include:

  • Emergency services
  • Internal departments
  • Other local authorities
  • London Resilience
  • Environment Agency
  • NHS Health Trusts and providers
  • Public Health England
  • Utilities companies
  • Voluntary Sector Organisations (VSOs) supporting the emergency services and local authority
  • Owners / landlords of the premises affected by the emergency
  • Other organisations involved in the response to the emergency
How long we keep your information

Information gathered in response to an emergency is kept for 7 years, unless it is declared a “major incident” under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 by an organisation, in which case the information will continue to be held beyond this date.  There is no statute of limitation on public enquiries.  Information is kept for 25 years after a major incidence on a school trip.

The Civil Contingencies Act defines an emergency as “an event or situation which threatens serious damage to human welfare in a place in the UK, the environment of a place in the UK, or war or terrorism which threatens serious damage to the security of the UK”.

A major incident is defined as “an event or situation requiring the implementation of special arrangements by one or more of the emergency services [and other agencies including local authorities]”.

 

Version date
June 2019