GUIDANCE ON PROVIDING PUBLIC HEALTH, ENVIRONMENTAL, SCIENTIFIC and TECHNICAL ADVICE TO EMERGENCY CO-ORDINATING GROUPS IN SCOTLAND
(THIS DOCUMENT TO BE REVIEWED BY SEPTEMBER 2009)
1. Introduction
1.1 Emergency co-ordinating groups often require expert advice on a range of public health, environmental, scientific and technical issues in order to deal effectively with the immediate and longer term consequences of an emergency. There is a need to ensure that this advice is co-ordinated.
1.2 This guidance builds on elements of the Preparing Scotland guidance and the Cabinet Office STAC guidance to give advice on the provision of such expert advice through establishment of a Scientific and Technical Advice Cell ( STAC).
1.3 The purpose of this STAC guidance is to consolidate the various existing specific arrangements and to provide a core basis for providing expert advice in the case where these specific arrangements are not activated and/or where there are no existing generic arrangements.