Clause 23 - Regional and Emergency Coordinators
Civil Contingencies Bill
3:00 pm
Mr Douglas Alexander (Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Cabinet Office; Paisley South, Labour)
Work is under way in Government. We are seeking to develop a comprehensive list that encapsulates Government Departments' awareness of technical experts in their own areas of responsibility, such as public health or animal health. That will be matched with the effort to ensure that in each region of the United Kingdom we have people with the requisite skills and experience of or training in crisis management. I can assure that hon. Gentleman that that work is under way. There have been positive
experiences in the past—consider the foot and mouth crisis in Cumbria, from which we learned a great deal about what makes for effective co-ordination across geographic boundaries and liaison with central Government. Since then, we have progressed work that explains both the statutory framework that we are putting before the Committee and the work that has been done within Government Departments.