The Emergency Planning College (EPC) annual seminar day on December 4 is at 1 Great George Street, Westminster, London. This event titled ‘Resilience in the Age of Austerity’ is aimed at resilience practitioners from all sectors. For details visit the EPC website.
Organisers at the EPC say that 2012 has provided an opportunity for resilience practitioners to demonstrate, once again, the vital nature of their role. They have been at the forefront of planning for a number of key events and a ‘year of celebration’ with the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Celebrations, the Olympics and Paralympic Games and the Torch Relays that weaved across all corners of the nation. But, we have also faced difficult times as we seek to achieve value for money in an age of such austerity, clarify the nature of our role to others, react to operational challenges and maintain readiness to a barrage of threats and hazards.
Host is Ronnie Coutts, Director, Emergency Planning College and chair Eve Coles – Emergency Planning College Lecturer and Senior Teaching Fellow in Civil Protection, Leeds University Business School.
Doing more for less is quite a challenge for all of us and no more so in today’s economic climate. Yet in the face of such a challenge it is more than possible to see how resilience can be harnessed and enhanced through careful thought and developing good practice. This session will highlight how value for money thinking can help our resilience good practice remain uncompromised in the face of future threats and challenges.
Speakers:
Professor Ed Borodzicz
Professor of Risk and Crisis Management
Portsmouth University Business School
Roger Carter
Principal Emergency Planning Officer, Leeds City Council
Paul Austin
Contingency Planning Manager for UK Major Airlines and Secretary
UK Aviation Emergency Planning Group (UKAEPG)
The Olympic Spirit: Lessons for the Resilient Practitioner
Chaired by Ruth Shaw, Chief Executive of the Sports Grounds Safety Authority
The amazing summer of sport would not have happened without the tireless and exceptional efforts of resilience practitioners. It also demonstrated an incredible amount of good will and enthusiasm from the public both here and internationally. This session will aim to apply lessons identified and good practice from the summer which have lasting relevance for our work.
Speakers:
Chris Allison
Assistant Commissioner, Metropolitan Police & National Olympic Security Coordinator (NOSC)
Colonel Richard Herring CBE
Assistant Director, Joint Services Command (UK)
Hamish Cameron
London Resilience Manager, London Mayor’s Office
Interoperability
Chaired by Dr Rob McFarlane
Assistant Director – Resilience Training & Doctrine, Cabinet Office, Civil Contingencies Secretariat
Interoperability between responders is repeatedly highlighted as a key area for our professional development across all sectors. This session will ask questions about where we are now and where we need to go next with this work.
Speakers:
Michael Charlton-Weedy CBE
Director of UK Resilience Training & Doctrine
Cabinet Office, Civil Contingencies Secretariat
Roy Wilsher
Chief Fire Officer, Hertfordshire Fire & Rescue Service
Jo Byrne
Assistant Chief Constable, Surrey Police (Invited)
SRO – Joint Emergency Services Interoperability Programme (JESIP)
Health – Threats to Lasting Resilience
Chaired by Lucy Easthope, Emergency Planning College Lecturer and Teaching Fellow, University of Bath
Health resilience is the beating heart of all aspects of the resilience agenda. Health practitioners are a crucial aspect of our first response and go on to be integral to responding to both the physical and psychosocial demands of emergencies. In this session we will explore a number of challenges identified by our partners in the Department of Health. We will conclude with a closing address from Dr Dan Poulter MP, Under Secretary of State for Health on the way forward and the government position on the challenges that our community of practice may face.
Speakers:
Phil Storr
Head of NHS Resilience
Department of Health
Jennifer Cole
Head of Emergency Management
Royal United Services Institute (RUSI)