General Information
Central Oversight
The Northern Ireland Office has responsibility for national security matters. It maintains crisis management arrangements to govern the strategic response to such emergencies. Civil protection in Northern Ireland is largely a devolved matter, with functions being exercised by the Northern Ireland departments.
Some functions are not devolved and are delivered in Northern Ireland by bodies that fall within the remit of the UK government. The Civil Contingencies Policy Branch in the Executive Office promotes civil contingencies preparedness in Northern Ireland. It maintains arrangements for strategic crisis management in serious and catastrophic emergencies.
Responder Responsibilities
While the PSNI (Police Service of Northern Ireland) is a Category 1 responder, local district councils have a more restricted role compared to English local authorities. Instead, regional departments play a larger role in local-level planning.
Role of National Security
The Northern Ireland Office (a UK government department) retains responsibility for national security-related emergencies, maintaining separate crisis management arrangements, which is a distinction from standard, non-devolved emergency planning in England.
The Northern Ireland Civil Contingencies Framework
Northern Ireland operates under the Northern Ireland Civil Contingencies Framework (updated 2023), which aligns with the CCA 2004 but provides specific guidance for local institutional structures.
NI Emergency Preparedness Group (NIEPG)
The local level focus for resilience and preparedness work during the PREPARE phase is the NIEPG, which meets a minimum of three times per year and is
jointly chaired by the PSNI and Local Government. It is a subgroup of CCG (NI). Its purpose is to ensure that work at local level is in line with the strategic direction provided by CCG (NI), and it provides direction to the work of the Northern, Southern and Belfast EPGs and is in regular liaison with their Resilience
Managers. The NIEPG work programme is implemented through their Civil Contingencies Resilience Strategy NI 2020-2025. NIEPG coordinates planning, response and recovery on a local level with all members of the 3 sub-regional EPG groupings and to its various sub-groups.
Cross Border Emergency Management Group (CBEMG)
ross Border Emergency Management Group (CBEMG) acts as a multi-agency group for emergencу management on a cross border basis and its objectives are to; aid planning, develop joint protocols, share training opportunities and share information in line with the parent emergency management framework. There are additional standing groups, such as the Public Information and Media Group
Emergency Preparedness Groups (EPGs)
here are three EPGs in Northern Ireland and they have a
similar role and purpose to the Local Resilience Forums (LRFs) in Great Britain, ensuring the appropriate level of preparedness to enable an effective multi-agency response to emergencies. There are a number of multi-agency response plans that have been developed by the EPGs to ensure a co-ordinated
response. Representation on these Groups include senior officers from; all the emergency services, health, councils, Government Departments including Infrastructure, Health, NI Water, Education Authority, NI Housing Executive, NI Environment Agency, Met Office, Utilities, Voluntary Sector, Military, Ports, Translink and other relevant organisations essential to ensure an integrated approach to emergency management. The EPGs are jointly chaired by PSNI and Local Government. EPG North and EPG South are often referred to as Northern EPG and Southern EPG, either title is correct.
Response Structures
Civil protection is a devolved matter, with the Civil Contingencies Policy Branch within the Executive Office taking the lead. Many functions managed by local councils in England are directly managed by Northern Ireland Departments or their agencies.
Northern Ireland Utilises the Northern Ireland Central Crisis Management Arrangements (NICCMA) triggered by the Executive Office, with strategic coordination delivered by a Crisis Management Group (CMG).
Source – INQ000204014 – UK Pandemic Preparedness Organograms, dated between 2009 and 2020
Key Legislation
Key Documents
The Northern Ireland Civil Contingencies Framework
The Northern Ireland Civil Contingencies Framework has been published by the Executive Office (2023).