Resilience is defined as “the capacity of an individual, community or system to adapt in order to sustain an acceptable level of function, structure and identity” in the Preparing Scotland, Scottish Guidance on Resilience (2016).
For the Comhairle, this means ensuring the ongoing delivery of essential public services in times of disruption and supporting the islands to manage emergencies, ensuring the needs of all, and especially the most vulnerable, are met in the event of an emergency or incident.
Civil Contingencies Act 2004
The Civil Contingencies Act 2004 establishes a statutory framework for emergency preparedness in the UK, with the Civil Contingencies Act (Contingency Planning) (Scotland) Regulations 2005 applying in Scotland. The Act sets out the roles and responsibilities of local responders in law and provides structure and consistency for local responders to cooperate in preparing, planning, and responding to emergencies.
As a local authority, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar is defined in the Civil Contingencies Act as a Category 1 Responder, with the following legal duties upon the Comhairle:
- Duty to assess risk
- Duty to maintain business continuity plan and provide guidance on continuity
- Duty to communicate with the public
- Duty to co-operate
- Duty to share information
Community Risk Register
The North of Scotland Community Risk Register identifies the potential risks with the highest likelihood of significant impact, causing disruption to the North of Scotland region and its communities.
It is created as the result of risk assessment carried out by a multi-agency partnership, and aims to inform about risks and their consequences, provide links to find out more and encourage steps to become more prepared and more resilient.