Emergency planning

What we do in an emergency

We work alongside London agencies and borough partners to make sure our response teams are coordinated.

Emergencies can happen at any time, and the Council has the following arrangements in place to support our communities and other responding agencies:

  • experienced officers on duty 24/7 to respond to incidents
  • the capability to activate an emergency control centre to co-ordinate the Council response
  • establish rest centres to provide temporary shelter and assistance to displaced communities
  • arrange emergency transport
  • provide information, advice and support to the public during emergencies through our corporate website, social media and local radio
  • continue to provide critical Council services to the public in the event of an emergency occurring
  • contract services to mitigate the impacts of an emergency
  • support the community to recover from the emergency

Our statutory duty

Under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 (CCA)  Sutton Council, has a number of statutory duties to:

  • assess the local risks in Sutton that need planning
  • develop and maintain emergency plans and business continuity plans, respond to incidents within Sutton
  • advise the public before, during and after emergencies have occurred
  • share information and cooperate with other agencies, ensuring the effective management of emergencies and coordination of planning
  • provide business continuity advice and support to local businesses and voluntary organisations

Risks in Sutton

The Borough Resilience Forum (BRF) supported by the London Risk Advisory Group (LRAG)  regularly assess risks in the Borough that could cause harm to our residents or the environment. The LRAG identifies all risks within London, scoring the risks on their likelihood to occur and the impact the risk could have.

All the risks to the borough are contained within the Borough Risk Register

If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need a version of this document in a more accessible format please email us at webadmin@sutton.gov.uk and let us know what format you need the document to be provided and we will try to meet your request.

For further information on flooding within Sutton, visit our Flood Risk Management page.

South-West Emergency Planning Group

Local authority emergency planning teams within Sutton, Kingston, Merton, Wandsworth and Richmond meet on a quarterly basis to discuss planning, incidents that have occurred and opportunities to work together on plans, training and exercises.