Ayrshire Civil Contingencies Team

The justifications for the three councils agreeing to form a joint team are:

1. Greater resilience in the response to complex and/or prolonged emergencies, due to having more trained staff with trans-boundary responsibility.
2. Minimise duplication at liaison and co-ordination meetings.
3. Streamline systems for plan updates, emergency contact directories and communication methods.
4. Pool expertise to draw on best practice such as rolling-out support staff initiatives, creating a combined pool of officers to act as advisors for the authorities strategic representatives and develop other mutual aid initiatives for pan-Ayrshire emergency response.
5. Unify existing standby emergency duty officer arrangements, which would create a robust single system that would guarantee an appropriately skilled and equipped officer being available for any immediate co-ordination of an emergency response.
6. Increasing capacity for future specialisation, rather than the current generalisation of emergency planning officers’ skills. This could be realised through unifying existing training and plan writing skills, as required for:

• • hazardous sites
  • outbreaks of human disease
  • pollution
  • animal health
  • emergency rest centres

7. Staff development in a larger structure would offer improved personal development opportunities leading to improved retention, promotion opportunities and increased morale.