Supplementary memorandum submitted by
Gloucestershire Constabulary (FL 110a)
Thank you for the letter of the 21 August inviting
me to send a memorandum to the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Select Committee.
Your letter specifically asks for my views on
the control and co-ordination arrangements that were used and
the adequacy of the dissemination of information to the public.
In Gloucestershire the Gold/Silver/Bronze system worked extremely
well throughout the two weeks of the emergency. There may be several
reasons for this, but not least amongst them will be the existence
of the Tri-Service Emergency Centre (GTEC), which ensured there
was integrated command and control from the very start of the
emergency. Further, relations with the media worked well, taken
on the whole over the fortnight. This was especially so with the
local media. There were some isolated incidents where this was
not the case, but these should not detract from the whole.
It is important, indeed vital, that the Committee
understands the fundamentally different nature of the emergency
in Gloucestershire. There was an initial emergency concerning
the disruption associated with the flooding on 20-21 July. However,
the disruption to water supply and the threatened dislocation
of electricity supply took the emergency into a different order.
Therefore the key issues arising from the most
recent flooding in Gloucestershire concern the level of protection
afforded to our communities from the risk of flooding and that
afforded to our critical national utilities of water, electricity
and gas.
Particular focus should be given to the resilience
of the utility companies, their ability to cope in the face of
significant disruption, the contingency plans they have in place
and the degree to which they are exposed to single points of failure
(such as at the Mythe water treatment plant and the Walham electrical
sub-station).
Similarly, the degree to which communities can
access strategic reserves of lighting, heating and sanitation
in the event of significant and enduring disruption must be addressed
with vigour. This is a national, not local issue of great importance
and urgency.
I hope you find these observations and those
made in the enclosure useful which I propose to expand upon in
the memorandum to be submitted in due course.
I will be very happy to provide a preliminary
brief to the Committee Chairman, Rt Hon Michael Jack MP. I believe
this would be most valuable.
This letter is simply a way of a preliminary
response to your letter of 21 August. I will be submitting a full
response for this Committee's attention in due course.
T J Brain
Chief Constable
Gloucestershire Constabulary
August 2007
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