Weathering the storm: Civil preparedness and flood resilience

Resilience, preparedness, and emergency planning are not just civil responsibilities; they are the backbone of our national safety and security. These robust and agile strategies are crucial in shielding us from a variety of national threats, effectively reducing our vulnerabilities in times of emergencies, crises, and conflicts.

Three pillars of civil preparedness

1. Continuity of government: Ensuring operational stability at local and national levels.
2. Continuity of essential services: Guaranteeing uninterrupted critical services to the community.
3. Civil support to military operations: Providing necessary assistance to military endeavours.

Actively maintaining these pillars is key to strengthening our resilience against disruptions, ensuring that support is consistently available and responsive, locally, and nationally.

Aligning with the government’s resilience framework

The government’s resilience framework , a blueprint for our nation’s future safety, focuses on six key areas: risk, responsibility and accountability, partnership, community, investment, and skills. By 2030, it aims to forge a dynamic, data-driven understanding of both national and local risks, underpinned by leading UK and international expertise.

Reflecting on the impact of the recent weather, storm damage to infrastructure and homes, numerous flooding crises across the UK, the government’s proactive steps towards enhancing resilience and civil preparedness strike a chord. Moving beyond the traditional emphasis on emergency services’ reactive capabilities, we are witnessing a shift towards a more inclusive, sustainable model. This new approach, underscored by partnerships with forward-thinking firms such as Capita, redefines the public’s role as ‘zero responders’, who actively shape early solutions. It also engages private businesses in strengthening their continuity plans. This paradigm shift isn’t just a public sector mandate; it’s societal mobilisation, preparing us to confront challenges such as flooding, storm damage, wildfires, as well as human caused menaces such as cyber threats, with newfound vigour.

How can we better build resilience?

We are living in uncertain and challenging times, where disasters and emergencies can strike at any moment. Whether it is a pandemic, a terrorist attack, a natural disaster, or a cyberattack, we need to be ready to face the consequences and recover as quickly as possible. But how can we do that? How can we prepare ourselves and our communities for the worst-case scenarios?

The Role of People in Resilience

Resilience is not something that can be achieved by a single entity or organization. It is a collective effort that involves everyone in the society, from individuals and families to businesses and institutions, to governments and NGOs.

More than taking the obvious precautions, such as having emergency kits, evacuation plans, and backup systems, we need to empower people to take an active role in resilience. We need to foster a culture of responsibility and collaboration, where people are willing and able to provide an initial response to a crisis before the emergency services arrive.

This is what we call the ‘zero responder’ concept, where the public becomes the first line of defence in a crisis. By equipping people with the necessary knowledge, skills, and behaviours, we can enhance their ability to protect themselves and others, to reduce the impact of a crisis, and to facilitate the recovery process.

Steps to Building Resilience

One of the key steps to achieve this level of resilience is to upskill our people, organisations both in the public and private sectors. We need to

• Agree on competencies and standards for resilience, that are validated with and aligned to British Standards Institution standards. These standards should define the expected outcomes and performance indicators for resilience, as well as the best practices and guidelines for achieving them.
• Identify the training needs for resilience across different sectors and organizations, both public and private. These needs should reflect the specific risks and challenges that each sector and organisation faces, as well as the gaps and opportunities for improvement.
• Provide suitable training and education for resilience, with assessment and accreditation. This training should cover the theoretical and practical aspects of resilience, such as risk assessment, crisis management, communication, leadership, teamwork, and mental health. The training should also be tailored to the different levels and roles of the participants, from general awareness to specialised skills.
• Enable the easy sharing of best practices and lessons learned for resilience. This can be done through platforms and networks that facilitate the exchange of information and experiences among different stakeholders, such as online forums, webinars, workshops, and conferences.
• Deliver rigorous collective training exercises and scenarios for resilience. These exercises should simulate realistic and complex situations that test the preparedness and response capabilities of the participants, as well as the coordination and cooperation among different actors. The exercises should also provide feedback and evaluation, to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the performance, and to suggest areas for improvement.

The Benefits of Building Resilience

By following these steps, we can start to build resilience across society, and reap the following benefits:

• We can reduce the likelihood and severity of a crisis, by identifying and mitigating the potential threats and vulnerabilities, and by enhancing the preventive and protective measures.
• We can improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the response to a crisis, by mobilising and utilising the available resources and capacities, and by ensuring the alignment and integration of the actions and decisions.
• We can accelerate the recovery and restoration after a crisis, by minimising the damage and disruption, and by supporting the physical, social, and psychological well-being of the affected people and communities.
• We can increase the adaptability and innovation for the future, by learning from the experience and feedback of the crisis, and by implementing the necessary changes and improvements.

Conclusion

Resilience is not a luxury, but a necessity, in today’s volatile and uncertain world. It is not a static state, but a dynamic process, that requires constant attention and improvement. It is not a solo endeavour, but a collective responsibility, that involves everyone in the society.

By building resilience across society, we can not only survive, but thrive, in times of crisis. We can not only cope, but learn and grow, from the challenges and opportunities that we face. We can not only protect, but enhance, the quality of life and well-being of ourselves and others.

Author: Dan Cartwright is a Civil Preparedness Client Relationship Partner?at Capita