Website of the UK government

Business Advisory Group on Civil Protection

The government has set up a business advisory group on civil protection to provide an opportunity for businesses to talk with government officials to ensure we are working together to prepare the UK for any emergencies.

The main objectives for the group are to:

• learn business opinions on significant policy initiatives likely to affect the business community
• provide a mechanism through which the government can improve its communication with the business community
• discuss specific issues on which closer engagement between government departments and specific business sectors could be beneficial
• get the private sector perspective on risks and on proposed government emergency planning and response arrangements
• help the government identify what additional support businesses may need on issues of civil protection

A number of valuable sector-specific relationships already exist on this topic, and various methods for government/business dialogue are in place. The new group does not mean the government will abandon existing channels, as those are expected to remain open. But this group establishes a clear point of access to government for organisations that were not already engaged in previous discussions.

Sector-specific forums for dialogue with business

These include the following groups.

The Telecommunications Industry Emergency Planning Forum (TI-EPF) is a quarterly, tripartite meeting between industry, government and Ofcom. The forum fosters the development and sharing of best practice and owns the National Emergency Plan for Telecoms along with its associated alert process - NEAT (National Emergency Alert for Telecoms).

The Energy Emergencies Executive Committee (E3C), chaired by DBERR, is a forum for discussion between government, the National Grid, representatives of the gas and electricity industries and regulators (Ofgem which works to develop and implement effective emergency arrangements for the gas & electricity industries.

The Defra-chaired Food Chain Emergency Liaison Group (FCELG) meets every six months to discuss issues of concern to the food industry. The group includes representatives from a range of industries, as well as relevant government organisations. The group's aim is to work together to improve Defra's, and the food chain's, emergency preparedness in the face of risks of major disruption to food supplies.

The National Security and Emergency Working Group (NSEWG) is chaired by Defra and meets every six months to discuss national security and emergency planning issues which affect the water industry. Many of the issues discussed at the meetings are sensitive or classified and so there is no website address for this group.

The Cross Market Business Continuity Group (CMBCG) provides a forum for the financial authorities, infrastructure providers and key firms to pool information in the event of major operational disruption. The Treasury, Bank of England and Financial Services Authority run the Financial Sector Continuity website to provide information on business continuity to the financial sector. The site provides further detail of the activities in which it is engaged.

• Ofcom Opens new window

• Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem) Opens new window

• UK Financial Sector Continuity website Opens new window

• UK Resilience Opens new window