Staffordshire Civil Contingencies Unit

Based next to Stafford Fire Station, the Staffordshire Civil Contingencies Unit, or CCU, is a team of specialists who have four main roles: 

1. To deliver day-to-day advice, guidance and support to help each Category 1 Responder maintain their compliance with the Civil Contingencies Act 2004;
2. To provide a 24-hour, 365-days a year operational call-out capability to support Category 1 responders in the discharge of their statutory duty in the event of an Emergency;
3. To provide the secretariat and administrative support functions for the Staffordshire Resilience Forum and its supporting JAPGs; and
4. Co-ordinate and facilitate communication amongst SRF stakeholders and act as a hub for resilience related information. 

The CCU lies at the centre of Staffordshire's Category 1 responders, as shown below, and is accountable to the SRF through a Governance Board of Executives who represent the Unit's stakeholders.  Its position gives the CCU two main strategic advantages.  First, through the delivery of specialist support to Category 1 Responders, it can help ensure statutory compliance of individual Category 1 responders.  Second, through its position as a 'hub', it can help co-ordinate the statutory compliance, preparedness and resilience of the SRF as a whole.

Internally, the CCU is organised as follows.  Led by the Director of Civil Contingencies, the CCU delivers its advice and support through Civil Contingencies Officers.  Operational delivery is supported by an administrative support team, led by the Office Manager.

In support of the SRF, the CCU provides advice, support and guidance to:

All Local Authorities in Staffordshire, namely: 

Staffordshire County Council
Cannock Chase Council
East Staffordshire Borough Council
Lichfield District Council
Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council
South Staffordshire Council
Stafford Borough Council
Staffordshire Moorlands District Council
Stoke-on-Trent City Council
Tamworth Borough Council

Emergency Services

Staffordshire Police
Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service 
West Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust

All Health Economies in Staffordshire, namely:

North Staffordshire PCT
South Staffordshire PCT
Stoke Teaching PCT
North Staffordshire Combined Health Care NHS Trust
South Staffordshire & Shropshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
University Hospital North Staffordshire NHS Trust
Burton Hospitals NHS Trust
Mid Staffordshire General Hospitals NHS Trust

The Staffordshire Civil Contingencies Unit also liaises closely with a wide variety of other Category 1 and 2 responder agencies and organisations, these organisations include:

• Armed Forces
• Electricity providers
• Environment Agency
• Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs
• Gas providers
• Government Offices West Midlands
• Government Decontamination Service (GDS)
• Health Protection Agency
• Health and Safety Executive
• Highways Agency
• HM Coroner
• Met Office
• Network Rail
• Nuclear Accident Response Organisation (NARO)
• Religious organisations
• Telephone service providers (fixed and mobile)
• Train operating authorities
• Water and sewerage providers
• Voluntary Sector
  • British Red Cross
  • Inter-faith religious response group
  • Peak District Mountain Rescue Organisation
  • Radio Amateurs' Emergency Network (RAYNET)
  • Salvation Army
  • Samaritans
  • St John Ambulance
  • WRVS