Introduction

The Avon and Somerset Community Risk Register has been published by the Avon and Somerset Local Resilience Forum, in accordance with the Civil Contingencies Act 2004. Details on the regulation and guidance contained in the Act can be found at www.ukresilience.gov.uk.

The purpose of the Community Risk Register is to reassure the communities of Bath, North East Somerset, Bristol, Mendip, North Somerset, Sedgemoor, South Gloucestershire, South Somerset, Taunton Deane and West Somerset that potential hazards have been assessed, and that effective preparation arrangements and response plans exist.

The fact that a risk is included in the register does not mean that any particular incident will happen. Nevertheless, the possibility, however remote, has been recognised and the relevant agencies have arrangements in place to mitigate the effects of such incidents.

Government Guidance

The Government has published guidance on Part 1 of the Civil Contingencies Act entitled 'Emergency Preparedness'. Chapter 4 of this Guidance explains the risk assessment duty.

The Guidance states that the risk assessment process should be a two-way flow, in that the Avon and Somerset risk assessments should inform the South West Regional and UK National assessments and vice versa.

The Six Step Process

The Guidance recommends a six-step process in compiling the Community Risk Register. Comprehensive guidance is available at Chapter 4 and Annex 4a of the document 'Emergency Preparedness'.

• Step 1: Contextualisation
• Step 2: Hazard review and allocation for assessment
• Step 3: Risk analysis
• Step 4: Risk evaluation
• Step 5: Risk treatment
• Step 6: Monitoring and Review

Contextualisation

The first stage is to define the scope of the risk management activity required in Avon and Somerset. This includes a demographic, economic and geographic description of the area.

Hazard Review and Allocation for Assessment

The hazards which might give rise to an emergency are provisionally identified and described using Government guidance. The outcome descriptions as shown in the risk register are agreed nationally and will apply to Community Risk Registers throughout the Country. They are a general description of a type of incident and its effects on which the assessment is based.

The Risk Assessment Sub Group provisionally allocated hazards and threats to a Lead Assessor agency. Lead Assessors are responsible for producing risk assessments in consultation with other Category 1 and 2 Responders and other interested parties.

Risk Analysis

The Lead Assessor considers the likelihood of the hazard or threat occurring within the next five years, taking into account the scale and outcome description.

A generic framework, provided in the Government Guidance, is used as the basis for assessing the potential impact of the hazard or threat.

In respect of a "malicious threat", there is no requirement to assess likelihood or impact, as a statement is provided by Central Government.

The Risk Assessment only covers non-malicious events (i.e. hazards) rather than threats (i.e. terrorist incidents). This does not mean that the Avon and Somerset Local Resilience Forum is not considering these threats within its risk assessment work, but given the sensitivity of the information supporting these risk assessments, specific details will not be made available.

Risk Evaluation

Once the Lead Assessor has completed the assessment and this has been agreed by the Risk Assessment Working Group, the information is consolidated in the risk assessment framework. Information which is considered sensitive is excluded from this framework.

In addition, each risk is plotted on a Risk Matrix to visually portray the risk rating, which is defined in the Government Guidance.

Risk Treatment

The Community Risk Register is not an end in itself, but serves as a means for ensuring a commonly agreed starting point for responders in their approach to Integrated Emergency Management. The Avon and Somerset Local Resilience Forum has a duty to evaluate and prioritise risk reduction measures according to the size of the risk and gaps in the capability required to respond to this risk. The risk treatment plan is agreed by the Avon and Somerset Local Resilience Forum.

Monitoring and Review

The Guidance states that risks should be reviewed regularly, and monitored continuously. Where information suggests a potential change, this will be incorporated into a revised Risk Assessment. The review date shown in the risk register is the date on which there will be a comprehensive review of all risks. The review of the Community Risk Register will be a standing item on the agenda of the Avon and Somerset Local Resilience Forum.

Publication

There is a legal requirement to publish the Community Risk Register. In order to comply with our legal requirement the Avon and Somerset Local Resilience Forums Community Risk Register is published below, please click on the corresponding links to open the documents. (PDF file)