Emergency plan

11. Communication

11.1 With Members

The Incident Management Team is responsible for ensuring appropriate communication about an incident with Members. The IMT should seek to minimise the burden on Tactical and Operational levels and be aware that members (like anyone) can help or hinder the emergency response and so clarity, communication and leadership is critical. A Member Liaison Officer may be appointed to support communication with members.

11.2 With the Public

Communications with the public can take the form of:

• Media and press announcements (jointly with other organisations);
• Direct email (for those who have signed up to receive from us);
• Switchboard messages;
• Council website messages;
• Appropriate social media channels;
• Leaflets / posters in targeted locations (if time allows)

Timely, accurate, and effective communication with the public is essential for the emergency response. As such a communications representative should be present at all IMT meetings and the BECC (Borough Emergency Coordination Centre) should have representation, or very clear links with the Communications and Customer Service teams.

It is also critical that communication messages can be signed off quickly. The strategic lead (which could be any one of the Incident Management Team) should make themselves available to sign off messages quickly. Sign off does not need to wait for the next IMT meeting or does it need the whole of IMT to sign them off.

11.3 With the Media

Any major incident has the potential to generate a huge amount of media interest. It is likely that members of the media will be among the first to arrive at the scene or quickly access photographs and images from the public. As such, effective media management is considered a key component of any incident response plan. The Surrey Police Communications Department will co-ordinate any media response to an incident and should maintain close liaison with the District and Borough Communications Officers to ensure a co-ordinated and consistent release of information. The incident may require the support of a Reigate & Banstead Borough Council Communications Officer. In this case Surrey Communications group may be activated. The Borough Communications Officer should be familiar with this as detailed in the Surrey Major Incident Communication Plan. The Reigate & Banstead Media Plan sets out the Council’s role in media issues in an emergency.

11.4 Communicating with staff

Decisions about the messages that should be communicated will be agreed by the Incident Management Team. The following teams will liaise to ensure consistent messages are disseminated via communication channels: Communications, Customer Contact. An emergency will affect lots of services so remember horizontal communication (which can be coordinated by the BECC - Borough Emergency Coordination Centre Coordinator) to key services is just as important as vertical coordination.

11.5 Alternative Emergency Communications Systems

Reigate & Banstead Borough Council has a duty under the Civil Contingencies Act (2004) to ensure that there is a robust and resilient telecommunications system in place, in the event of traditional methods failing. There are several ways that Reigate & Banstead Borough Council can meet this duty. Full details can be found in the Reigate & Banstead Borough Council Loss of Telecommunications plan.

11.6 Radio Networks

Radio Amateurs Emergency Network (RAYNET) is a nationwide voluntary group of licensed radio operators who can provide emergency radio communications to the emergency services, local authorities and government departments. The assistance of RAYNET should be sought through Surrey Police or Surrey County Council EMRT.

11.7 Mobile Telephone Privileged Access Scheme MTPAS

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12. Media management

12.1 Coordination with other organisations

Generally, for a major incident, Surrey Police will co-ordinate the activities of the emergency services and other agencies including the communication part of the response.

When appropriate, depending on the nature of the incident, the Communications Officer should run statements past the Surrey Police Communications Team, the Fire or Ambulance service Communications Teams and Surrey County Council or the other local authority Communications Teams if it is a cross-border incident. This will ensure that all statements correlate.

12.2 Spokesperson

The incident will stimulate public concern and media interest; a spokesperson should be appointed
for as long as the incident lasts and they should make themselves available on their mobile phone to
the Communications Officer. This would usually be the Managing Director or Leader of the Council.

12.3 Media Centre

The opening of a media centre must be agreed by the Strategic Co-ordinating Group (SCG). If a media centre is required, then the lead local authority will select and obtain a suitable building.

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12.4 Media monitoring

It is necessary to monitor media output to be aware of contentious issues or inaccurate statements. Monitoring needs to be a continuous process. Any perceived problems with the information that is being broadcast should be identified and fed back to the Strategic Co-ordinating Group (SCG) via the Tactical Media Manager.

Recordings of broadcasts and press cuttings may provide useful feedback material when the response to the incident is analysed.

12.5 Statements

The Communications Officer should prepare a holding statement, to be approved by a director / strategic lead. The time that the statement is made should be logged. A ‘holding statement’ should be provided to the public and press with basic information and notification, whilst greater detail is prepared for a full press release.

If more detailed information comes through quickly, then this should be included in the first holding statement. However, the holding statement should be issued as quickly as possible and followed up with a more detailed statement as soon as possible.

The Communications Officer will then prepare a full statement for the media giving details of the incident. The statement should be signed off by the Strategic Lead as well as any spokesperson quoted in the statement

12.6 Full statements

A full statement should outline the points below (link with Police Communications Team or Communications Team of any other lead organisation appointed):

• Summary of the event - time, place, date of incident etc
• Extent of injury if known - do not speculate. If unsure use the term - leg, foot, arm injury. State left or right if known. If you have an accurate medical report from hospital, use their terminology. Avoid the use of words that are sensational, e.g. severed, amputated
• Brief description of incident, using any positive points where possible
• Quote from a senior officer/member if they are available
• Quote and/or contact details for victims or those affected by the incident. Ensure they are happy to speak to the press
• Photograph, if appropriate

12.7 Informing staff and members

The statement should be placed on the Staff Intranet, the Council’s website and an email with the link should be sent to the Customer Contact Managers, Management Team (to cascade) and Elected Members. For teams that do not regularly use the network, printed versions will also be made available for critical communications.

12.8 Local media enquiries

Once all enquirers have been satisfied with a press statement, dependent on the seriousness of the incident, the Communications Officers should approach the local media, which have not enquired with the information.

12.9 Press conference/briefings

It is the responsibility of Surrey Police Media Office Manager/Scene Press Officer to organise and manage briefings. The first press briefing will take place shortly after the incident probably at or near the scene of the incident (a Media Liaison Point). Thereafter briefings should take place at regular intervals, as agreed with the Strategic/Tactical Communications lead. At least 30 minutes’ notice should be given before briefings, if possible.

All information released at press conferences must be agreed by the Strategic Communications Manager/Tactical Media Manager (and appointed operational officer) and only authorised personnel will make statements to the media. Appropriate senior officers from the emergency services and local authorities will be expected to speak to the media at informal briefings as well as formal press conferences throughout the incident. Spokespeople must be trained to an appropriate level. It is the responsibility of each organisations media office to brief their spokespeople. Prior to any press briefings it is advised that the Media Officer (on scene) gathers all the spokespeople and their respective press officer together and agrees who is going to talk about what, identify any contentious issues and discuss how these can be dealt with.

12.10 Key messages and question and answer sheet

It is essential that prior to a press briefing/conference with TV crews, the Communications lead has prepared key messages and a question-and-answer sheet (Q&A). This will help prepare the spokesperson for any difficult questions.

12.11 Dealing with complaints

The BECC (Borough Emergency Coordination Centre) and IMT should ensure that these are dealt with swiftly to avoid extra media attention. It is important that the Communication and Customer Contact teams keep the BECC (Borough Emergency Coordination Centre) up to date with the level and nature of complaints, reported issues and difficulties.

12.12 Transfer of media operations

It is expected that in the recovery phase of most major incidents Surrey County Council would take over the co-ordination of communications and engagement from Surrey Police. If there are smaller incidents Reigate & Banstead Borough Council would take responsibility.

12.13 Mutual aid

The Surrey Communications Group have an informal arrangement in place to provide mutual support in emergencies.