This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Agencies to get expert advice on CBRN threats
26/01/2005
A new central service to help Scottish authorities and organisations prepare for and deal with incidents where chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear (CBRN) materials are released into the environment, was announced today.
The new UK-wide service will provide expert advice and guidance on decontaminating buildings and the environment after a CBRN incident.
The move announced today is part of a commitment to ensuring that well-laid plans are in place to prevent and respond to a range of CBRN emergencies. The Scottish Executive will contribute £250k to the service.
Deputy Justice Minister Hugh Henry said:
"The Scottish Executive has been working with the UK Government and Scotland's emergency response organisations to improve our combined capability to respond to all manner of modern threats - including those involving CBRN materials.
"The new Decontamination Service will have a remit to help those responsible for clearing up after a CBRN incident, such as local authorities and to make sure they have considered and planned for decontamination. It will also ensure that if there were an incident involving CBRN, authorities would be able to call upon a carefully assessed panel of specialist companies to carry out the decontamination operations.
"This is not a reaction to specific threats but a prudent and sensible measure to assist agencies to protect the public."
The new service will:
- Help organisations to include decontamination in their contingency plans for CBRN incidents;
- Regularly test the arrangements, that are in place, for decontamination;
- Rigorously assess the ability of specialist companies in the private sector to carry out decontamination operations so those responsible for clean-up can have confidence in choosing the services they require;
- Ensure authorities have ready access to those services if the need arises; and
- Advise the Scottish Executive and the UK Government on the national capability for the decontamination of buildings and the environment in the event of a release of CBRN materials.
The Decontamination Service is part of the Executive's commitment to work in partnership with the UK Government in building resilience to deal with the consequences of a range of emergencies. It has been developed as part of the cross-departmental CBRN Resilience Programme, with the active participation of Scotland's emergency response organisations and the UK Government.
The UK Government announced on 25 March 2004 that it was actively considering establishing a service to provide advice and assistance in decontamination and clean up after a chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear (CBRN) incident. At the same time, the Scottish Executive had been reviewing options for enhancing CBRN resilience and proposed that the new Service's remit should be extended to Scotland with Scottish Ministers being represented on the new Agency's Management Board. Work on the potential costs, benefits and practicalities of such a service has been ongoing since that announcement in a cross-Government team attached to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
The UK Government, with support from the Scottish Executive, considered a range of options, and concluded that the best way to ensure that the UK could adequately clean up the open and built environment after a CBRN incident would be to make use of the considerable expertise available in the private sector. It therefore intends to set up an organisation to research and assess the capabilities of companies that work in the decontamination field, and create a catalogue of those that could fulfil the Government's requirements. It further intends to agree arrangements with these companies to ensure that if there is a CBRN incident, they can be relied upon to provide their services if called on.
The service will be Central Government's advisor on operational aspects of decontamination.
The UK Government expects to set up the Service in Summer 2005, and is already working towards this.
The Scottish Executive is responsible for CBRN resilience in Scotland and has its own CBRN Capabilities Programme. This programme is tailored to meet the specific needs and civil protection structures that exist in Scotland. A key theme of the programme is partnership with other organisations across the UK and the creation of the new Service is a prime example of the joint working that exists between the Scottish Executive and the UK Government's CBRN resilience programme which is led by the Home Office.