The National Recovery Guidance was produced in 2007 by the National Recovery Working Group (NRWG), as commissioned by ministers. New material is added to it regularly, as new information and guidance is produced and new case studies and lessons are identified.
Definitions
The National Recovery Guidance has been developed in line with the following Civil Contingencies Act (CCA) definitions.
Emergency
An event or situation that threatens serious damage to human welfare in a place in the UK or the environment of a place in the UK, or war or terrorism which threatens serious damage to the security of the UK. To constitute an emergency, an event or situation must additionally require the implementation of special arrangements by one or more Category 1 responder.
Response
Response encompasses the actions taken to deal with the immediate effects of an emergency. In many scenarios, it is likely to be relatively short and to last for a matter of hours or days – rapid implementation of arrangements for collaboration, co-ordination and communication are, therefore, vital. Response encompasses the effort to deal not only with the direct effects of the emergency itself (eg fighting fires, rescuing individuals) but also the indirect effects (eg disruption, media interest).
Recovery
The process of rebuilding, restoring and rehabilitating the community following an emergency.
Find out more about Emergency Response and Recovery guidance.
Updates
Date
Update
Description
24 June 2013
Strategic National Guidance: The decontamination of buildings, infrastructure and open environment exposed to chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear materials
This guidance has been revised following a consultation between February and March 2013. All links have been updated, recent changes to the names and structures of organisations have been reflected and various other changes have been made to improve the information.
25 March 2013
Gold officer recovery workshop
Post-event report from the Somerset Local Authorities Civil Contingencies Partnership’s one day workshop for gold officers
30 November 2012
2012 Voluntary Sector Civil Protection Forum
Report and associated papers from the forum
21 November 2012
UK Recovery Handbook for Biological Incidents
Guidance from HPA added
21 November 2012
Exercising Recovery (Staffordshire CCU – Exercise DARNAY and Exercise RAVEN recovery)
Case study discussing the issues relating to the challenges of carrying out a recovery exercise
4 October 2012
Topic sheet on social media
A new topic sheet which provides some background, policy and guidance on this developing area
12 September 2012
Topic sheet on recovery from a CBRN incident
Following a number of requests, Defra - the lead government department for CBRN recovery - have produced a topic sheet which brings together the range of information available on recovering from a CBRN incident.
4 September 2012
Topic sheet on site clearance
The topic sheet has been updated to take account of the updated Annex A of Guidance on Development of a Site Clearance Capability in England and Wales and also the publication of the London Structural Collapse Response and Recovery Plan.
7 August 2012
Summer floods 2012
LRFs should be aware of the insurance industry’s request to be involved in relevant meetings and conference calls relating to flooding incidents.
26 July 2012
Strategic National Guidance: The decontamination of buildings, infrastructure and open environment exposed to chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear materials
This guidance gives basic information on the decontamination and remediation that may be required following a deliberate or accidental release in the UK. The guidance has been revised and updated following a consultation in December 2011.
7 June 2012
UK Recovery Handbook for Chemical Incidents
Guidance from Public Health England added
7 June 2013
UK Recovery Handbook for Radiation Incidents
Guidance from Public Health England added
12 March 2012
Voluntary sector
New topic sheet added
20 February 2012
Nuclear Emergency Planning Liaison Group guidance
Guidance from DECC added
16 January 2012
Cornwall Council incident impact assessment: decision making tool
Cornwall Council is happy to share this tool with other councils or organisations who might find it helpful
16 January 2012
Cornwall Council Impact Assessment Completion Guidelines
As above
Publication of the guidance
During the period in which the National Recovery Guidance has been produced, there have been a number of emergencies that have involved extensive recovery operations and deepened our understanding of the topic. In particular, the lessons identified from the summer 2007 flooding and which resulted in the Pitt Review (published in June 2008), following which case studies were provided.
Updates
On publication, the information included in the guidance is accurate and up-to-date to the best of our knowledge, but if you spot something you believe to be an error, please contact Nick Brown (nick.brown@cabinet-office.x.gsi.gov.uk).
The National Recovery Guidance will be updated as necessary. Additional case studies will be added as and when they are produced.
If there are any issues that you would like to be included in the guidance, or if you think that you could provide a relevant recovery case study, please email Nick Brown (nick.brown@cabinet-office.x.gsi.gov.uk).
National Recovery guidance: case studies
Please note that these case studies express the viewpoint of one organisation only and have not been independently audited. Government funding to deal with emergencies is determined on a case by case basis, therefore, the funding outlined in these case studies is not a guarantee that similar funding will be available to deal with emergencies in the future.
Additional case studies are gratefully received. If you think that you could provide a relevant recovery case study, please use the revised
Community resilience case study template
[MS Word Document, 57KB]
which provides a structure for you to record the information. Please do not feel you have to populate every section - they are suggested headings only. To help you with the process we have developed
guidance notes
[PDF, 66.1KB, 2 pages]
. When finalised please email to Nick Brown.
Name and date
Topic covered in case study
Incidents
Aberfan, 21 October 1966
Commemoration
Financial support for individuals
Inquiries
Needs of people - health
Avian influenza (H5N1) outbreak at Bernard Matthews site, 2 February 2007
Animal health and welfare
Working with the media
Boscastle flooding, 16 August 2004
Community engagement
Historic environment
Repairs to domestic properties
Buncefield fire, 11 December 2005
Community engagement
Data protection and sharing
Dealing with insurance issues
Dealing with waste
Displaced communities
Economic and business recovery
Environmental pollution and decontamination
Financial impact on local councils
Financial support for individuals
Impact on local council performance targets
Investigations and prosecutions
Needs of people – non-health
Recovery evaluation and lessons identified processes
Recovery structures and processes
Repairs to domestic properties
VIP visits and involvement
Working with the media
Buscot and Coleshill Estate flooding, 20 July 2007
Historic environment
Repairs to domestic properties
Calke Abbey flooding, 15 June 2007
Historic environment
Camberwell fire (Lakanal), London, 3 July 2009
Commemoration
Needs of people - non health
Dealing with waste
Displaced communities
Financial support
Carlisle flooding, 8 January 2005
Data protection and sharing
Dealing with insurance issues
Displaced communities
Financial support for individuals
Impact assessments
Impact on local council performance targets
Needs of people – non-health
Recovery structures and processes
Repairs to domestic properties
Cumbria flooding 2009
Access to and security of sites
Economic and business recovery
Financial support for individuals
Historic environment
Needs of people - health
Needs of people - non-health
Transport
Utilities
Dealing with waste
Flooding in England, Northern Ireland and Wales, June/July 2007 restoration fund
Economy and business recovery
Financial Impact on local councils
Flooding in Yorkshire and the Humber, June 2007
Damaged school buildings
Financial support for individuals
Financial impact on local councils
Impact assessments
Needs of people - health
Needs of people – non-health
Recovery structures and processes
‘After the Rain’ - Hull flood study
Foot and Mouth Disease, 2001
Animal health and welfare
Economic and business recovery
Hexham flooding and loss of water supply, 8 January 2005
Utilities
Indian Ocean tsunami, 26 December 2004
Coroner’s inquests
Data protection and sharing
Mass fatalities
UK residents affected by overseas emergencies
Financial support for individuals
Kensal Rise tornado, 7 December 2006
Dealing with insurance issues
Kent earthquake, 28 April 2007
Repairs to domestic properties
Ladbroke Grove train crash, 5 October 1999
Coroner’s inquests
Inquiries
Lebanon - evacuation of British and dual nationality citizens, 19 July 2006
Non-resident UK nationals returning from overseas emergencies
Leeds post 7 July 2005 London bombings
Community cohesion
VIP visits and involvement
Lewes flooding, 12 October 2000
Community engagement
Dealing with insurance issues
Economic and business recovery
Environmental pollution and decontamination
Financial support for individuals
Historic environment
Mutual aid
Needs of people – non-health
Repairs to domestic properties
Litvinenko Polonium incident, November 2006
Environmental pollution and decontamination
London bombings, 7 July 2005
Community cohesion
Coroner’s inquests
Financial support for individuals
Needs of people – non-health
Manchester bombing, 15 June 1996
Access to and security of sites
Community engagement
Site clearance
Marchioness, 20 August 1989
Coroner’s inquests
Inquiries
Msc Napoli, 19 January 2007
Transport
Working with the media
Sea Empress Oil Spill, Milford Haven, 15 February 1996
Environmental pollution and decontamination
Dealing with waste
Exercises
Exercise DARNAY and Exercise RAVEN recovery (Staffordshire) October 2011/February 2012 - Training and exercising
Training and exercising
Exercise Little Owl Two (West Midlands Police) 30th March 2010
Training and exercising
Exercise Heron 4 (Lancashire) 5th November 2009
Training and exercising
The role of elected members
Exercise Watertight II (North Wales Resilience Forum) 22nd October 2009
Training and exercising
Exercise Naval (Greater Manchester LRF) 17 July 2008
Training and exercising
Exercises ReAvon and Heron (Lancashire), 17 February 2005 and 1 February 2007
Training and exercising
Exercise Reassure (Cumbria), 7 June 2005
Training and exercising
Sunderland community cohesion, 13 May 2005
Community cohesion
Planning
Norfolk Community Foundation Disaster Appeal Fund
Financial support for individuals