Decision details

9.1       The Commission received a written report from Raj Mistry, Executive Director of Environment and City Management, and Mark Chalmers (Operational Contest Manager) on the Council’s annual emergency preparedness report.

9.2       The Commission welcomed John Hetherington, Head of London Resilience at the London Fire brigade to the Commission as an expert witness. John praised the Council and its partners, stating that Westminster is thought of very highly by partners as a category 1 responder.

9.3       The Commission discussed the following topics in detail:

•           If the Council can conduct incident management training with ward Councillors, as often Ward Councillors are the first to hear of emergency incidents.

•           The need for urgent communication from the Council when an emergency takes place. The Commission were informed that urgent comms had been developed for major incidents and that residents would be directed to the Councils website.

•           If the Council conducts scenario planning with Officers to test their response skills.

9.4       Concerning the flash floods that took place in Westminster in July 2021, the Commission asked for this issue to be scrutinised by the Westminster Commission and not just the Finance, Smart City and City Management Policy and Scrutiny Committee as the floods were in part regarding climate change.

9.5       Members of the Commission asked Officers present whether Councillors could be trained in incident management, as often ward Councillors are first to respond to local issues.

9.6       The Commission discussed how Westminster’s response to the flash floods compared with neighbouring Boroughs. It was noted that like for like comparisons were not possible due to the differing number of residents affected in each Borough.

9.7       Concerning the improvement of urgent communication to residents affected by emergency incidents, Officers updated the Commission that urgent communication had been drafted for major incidents such as flooding. This would enable residents to receive quicker communication from the Council on the Council’s websites. Members enquired if direct communication to residents, via text or email would be appropriate if a manage incident had taken place in their ward.

9.8       The Commission were informed that the Officers undertake incident management training to test their responses and improve these if needed. This training is London wide, but the Council also undertakes internal training as well.

9.9       The Commission Members and Leader of the Council put on record their thanks to the London Fire Brigade for their quick response on the night of the July floods.