1. Local Resilience Forum (ASLRF) Steve Pope ASLRF Coordinator
Avon and Somerset
Local Resilience Forum (ASLRF)
Steve Pope ASLRF Coordinator

2. The Local Resilience Forum and Climate Change

3. What is a Local Resilience Forum?
Established under the Civil Contingencies
(CCA) Act 2004;
Based on police force boundaries;
Around 40 in England and Wales;
Different arrangements in Scotland and NI.

4. What is an LRF? (cont’d) A multi-agency partnership made up of
police, fire, ambulance, local authorities
NHS, Public Health England, Environment
Agency and others – known as Category 1 responders,
with duties under the CCA and;
Utilities, transport operators, airports – known as
Category 2 responders;
Not an “organisation” – but a process for assisting
responders to discharge their duties under the CCA,
especially that of cooperation;
Each is wholly independent – receive guidance from
Central government but set own priorities.

5. 5 LRFs in the SW, each with a Coordinator as the first point of contact:
Avon and Somerset – me;
Bournemouth, Dorset and Poole – Jen Cutler;
Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly – Neil Hamlyn;
Gloucestershire – Matt Steele;
Wiltshire and Swindon – Paul Williams.

6. So, what do LRFs do about climate change…???
The clue is in our title – we cannot prevent climate change – we focus on developing resilience to its impacts at the local level by:
Identifying risk and potential impacts on our area;
Assessing the risk;
Building capability to mitigate risk, including an ability to coordinate a response;
Planning;
Warning and Informing;
Training and exercising to sharpen our capabilities;
Supporting Business Continuity;
In the worst case, mounting a multi-agency response, and;
Supporting recovery.

7. Key to all of this is community engagement
LRFs now work closely with communities of all descriptions under the banner of “Community Resilience”
National strategy, delivered locally;
A duty under the Climate Adaptation Plan;
Aim to build local engagement and capability by supporting communities to plan for and address all impacts with our multi-agency partners;
Complements the response of the emergency services;
Builds local understanding of what could happen and what to do about it;
No single model – it’s whatever suits the community.
Potential role for LEPs?
And, of course, it’s not just flooding!!