Emergency plan

16.1 Standing down, debriefing and Psychological First Aid (PFA)

It is essential that all staff are formally stood down at the end of the incident and given the opportunity to attend a debrief. This is a structured session that will enable responders to discuss the incident response, although the Council’s involvement in the incident is likely to stretch way beyond this point. It is an excellent opportunity to review the existing arrangements within plans and identify ways in which they can be improved upon for the future, as well as marking the close of an incident. Reigate & Banstead Borough Council should be asked, or must request, to attend any joint agency debriefs taking place within other organisations.

It may be necessary to accompany these discussions with some form of professional welfare support, as some Officers may wish for more in-depth discussions following an incident. This can be provided by a range of professionals including Surrey County Council Adult & Community Care Service and Surrey Trauma Support Service. Psychological First Aid (PFA) sessions are advised within 3-5 days of a traumatic event.

16.2 Recovery Phase

After the emergency services have left the scene of a major incident, depending on the incident either Reigate & Banstead Borough Council (for small, localised incidents) or Surrey County Council (large scale incidents) will take the lead role in the rehabilitation and recovery of the community. The transition is likely to be formalised through Strategic Command and communicated to the Managing Director (or deputy). This may occur within hours, days, or weeks of the incident, depending on the scale and nature of the incident. However, indications from the SCG will be needed as early as possible, and the Borough’s representative at the SCG should report back to the Managing Director (or Deputy) with regular situation reports giving the current status of the emergency, in order to allow the Council sufficient time to prepare for this phase. To avoid duplication, other agencies will need to be brought together to discuss priorities of action. Although not exhaustive, the Group led by the Managing Director (or deputy) may consider the following actions:

• establishing a multi-agency recovery liaison group
• agreeing on key priorities for the future
• the composition of the Council’s recovery workstreams
• encouraging community representation

The role of political leadership in supporting the return to normality is vital, and the Leader of the Council is to be involved closely with the process throughout. The Leader and Mayor will play a key role in rebuilding community confidence, communication, meeting senior government representatives, and motivating the community to rebuild.

16.3 Recovery Structures and Command and Control

Command and control structures for the recovery phase mirror those at the response phase. A summary is shown in figure below.

Figure: C3 structure (Recovery) internally and at multi-agency level

The Recovery Coordination Group (RCG) is the decision-making body for the recovery phase once the handover has taken place from the lead agency. The RCG will take advice from its subgroups, which will operate at the tactical level. It is likely that the following subgroups will be formed;

• Multi agency information group (media/PR)
• Business and Economic Recovery
• Health and Welfare
• Finance and Legal
• Environment and Infrastructure
• Science and Technical Advisory Cell
• Community Recovery Committee.

It is likely that each of the subgroups will require representation from the Council. The representation will be determined by the Councils Incident Management Team. Central coordination will be managed on behalf of the IMT by a nominated lead, who will be a senior manager, supported by Applied Resilience. For further details on recovery, please see the Recovery Protocol speedsheet in the SLRF Plan Speedsheets document.