Highlands and Islands Strategic Co-ordinating Group
Strategic Level
The Highlands and Islands Strategic Co-ordinating Group meets three times a year at locations throughout the Highlands and Islands. The Chairmanship of the group is open to any category 1 member Chief Executive or Director. The current Chairman of the group is the Chief Constable of Northern Constabulary.
These pre planned HISCG meetings fulfill HISCG's requirement to strategically manage the pre planning phase of a response to a major emergency as required by the Civil Contingencies Act. It is also important to note that HISCG members will be called together to actively manage an event at a Strategic level.
HISCG STRATEGIC AIM
'To establish and maintain effective multi agency arrangements to co-ordinate the response to and recovery from major emergencies, to minimse the impact of those emergencies on the public, property , and environment of the Highlands and Islands, and to meet the duties of the Civil Contingencies Act 2004.'
HISCG STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES
A: To establish an effective process of information sharing and co-operation through the formation of a clearly recognised multi agency infrastructure, allocating tasks to the capability groups and members of HISCG and the Highlands and Islands emergency planning (HIEPG) as appropriate
B: To determine a single common approach to planning actions for use by all member agencies, to formulate and agree the strategic policy and priorities for HISCG and HIEPG members
C: To clearly define the areas of responsibility fro each agency and responder in relation to local, regional and national events
D: To identify known and potential risks within the Highlands and Islands through the creation, and on going maintenance of a community risk register and the development of arrangements to mitigate priority risks
E: To inform the commuity of civil contingencies issues and to ensure that there is , in place, an effective means of communicating with, and alerting the public to emergencies
F: To have in place a robust system of auditing and testing HISCG contingency arrangements, together with a process of periodic review
G: To ensure that those people responsible for the delivery of HISCG contingency arrangements are adequately trained
H: Consider, and if necessary act upon the changes of legislation , national initiatives and decisions of the Scottish Government
I: Ensure that the administration and governance of HISCG, HIEPG and the capability groups are adequately resourced and operate effectively.
HISCG operates in a planning mode as well as in an operational mode. In the event of an emergency event occuring members of HISCG will be called to meet at Police Headquarters in Inverness to provide the Strategic guidance required to manage the consequences of such an event. This is often referred to as the Gold command group.
At a tactical operational level (or silver command group) there will be members of the organisations represented at HISCG but the officers or representatives from the organisations involved will be at a less senior level. They will be expected to manage the event requesting guidance from HISCG where neccessary.
