Agenda item

Lord Toby Harris will give a presentation on one of the risks which local resilience forums (including local authorities) are being encouraged to consider as part of their resilience planning: a ‘black start’ electricity blackout scenario.

The Chair welcomed Lord Toby Harris of Haringey, UK Coordinator for the Electric Infrastructure Security Council, to introduce the item. 

Lord Harris’ presentation outlined the implications of a major power failure, which could be caused by a number of different events, including:

·         Terrorist attacks on the UK electricity grid, either through an Electrical Magnetic Pulse (EMP) or cyber-attacks. 

·         Natural disaster, including extreme weather, space weather (such as a solar flare), all of which can cause natural EMP’s.

Lord Harris also made reference to the Lancaster incident, which highlighted our reliance on power and the interconnection of modern life, in terms of all of our systems (eg communications) being dependent on electrical power. Emergency generators do exist, but tend not to be tested regularly because it involves switching the power off; hence these often fail when needed.

Lord Harris made reference to the services and national infrastructure that may stop being provided/or fail:

·         Schools will probably be closed or used as crisis centres. 

·         Fuel supplies will dry up, meaning people won’t be able to get to work – this is especially worrying when thinking about medical staff or engineers. 

·         Nuclear power centres; what happens when the nuclear core coolant fails?

·         Water and sewage systems will fail. 

·         Communication systems – including phone masts – will also fail, which will inhibit the emergency services’ response and information, although the BBC will have the facility to keep broadcasting. Lord Harris also made reference to the government’s decision to take out copper landline wire, which would mean old style telephones would no longer work either.

Lord Harris stated that local council emergency plans tend to assume that power will still be available, and are not predicated on other authorities or areas also being impacted. He mentioned the possible impact of austerity on capacity in this area, and urged councils to take the time to think about this issue.

Lord Harris concluded with the importance of how to manage a national emergency incident, and how local ward councils are the best placed to work out what buildings should be kept open and how to help the most vulnerable people.

The Chair thanked Lord Harris for his update and welcomed members to comment:

·         Members discussed reliance on businesses such as supermarkets giving food out.  Lord Harris stated the major supermarkets have all confirmed they will hand out free food and emergency supplies, however there could be legal concerns over this, for example in terms of any food that has gone out of date and legal liability.

·         Members discussed the implications of Brexit. However, Lord Harris stated that the UK’s electrical dependence is different as we are an island and not part of the European mainland continent. 

·         Members discussed resilience, with Lord Harris advising to prepare a grab bag to include; something to keep you warm, a wind up radio; a wind up torch; and containers of water for two weeks. 

·         Members discussed how this is an issues that is not at the forefront of peoples mind until it happens. 

·         Members discussed previous education in relation to resilience. Lord Harris stated that this has disappeared, and that there is a real nervousness on the part of Government to issue guidance around resilience to the public to avoid causing fear and panic. 

·         Members discussed the need for sharing best practices amongst local authorities.  Lord Harris stated that some authorities that have a high risk of flooding have good plans but encouraged all local authorities to prepare extensively, and where possible, move this up the political agenda. 

·         Members welcomed plans for a series of councillor training events on civil resilience. 

·         Members discussed generators and the issues on reliance on them. Members questioned if there is list of public bodies that have generators. Lord Harris stated that there probably is not a list in circulation, and questioned how authorities would prioritise diesel supplies.

·         Members agreed the presentation highlighted the importance of emergency planning at a very local level, and not just in relation to a blackout scenario. 

·         Members discussed ways of ensuring preparation without causing panic. The Chair asked if it would beneficial for future updates and case studies of preparation and best practices. Members agreed this would be helpful. 

Action

·         Members noted the report. 

·         Officers to explore the development of case studies of preparation and best practices.