County Durham and Darlington Local Resilience Forum

County Durham and Darlington Local Resilience Forum (LRF) 

Multi Agency Emergency Planning and Response

County Durham and Darlington Local Resilience Forum (LRF) supports local communities prepare for, respond to and recover from emergencies. We are currently hosted by County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service. 

The purpose of County Durham and Darlington LRF is to plan for and respond to any incidents that would require a multi-agency (two or more responder agencies e.g. fire, police, and local authority) response. This includes training and exercising for the agencies within the forum. The overall purpose is to ensure that there is an appropriate level of preparedness, within available resources, to enable an effective multi-agency response to emergencies which may have a significant impact on the communities of County Durham and Darlington.

The LRF comprises of a number of agencies such as emergency services, utility companies, health and local government. County Durham and Darlington LRF is Chaired by the Chief Fire Officer, Steve Helps. The Vice Chair is Deputy Chief Constable, Ciaron Irvine.

Our aim

To ensure an appropriate level of preparedness, within available resources, to enable an effective multi-agency response to emergencies which may have a significant impact on the communities of County Durham and Darlington.

Our objectives

  • Provide a robust and accountable governance structure
  • Monitor national risks and threats for any local impacts
  • Manage the Community Risk Register
  • Develop sustainable community resilience arrangements
  • Develop organisational and individual competencies
  • Develop robust communication  strategies
  • Ensure resilient cross-border arrangements with other LRF’s
  • Embed best practice identified into LRF ways of working

More information is available in the County Durham and Darlington Local Resilience Forum Business Plan:

Community Risks

The County Durham and Darlington LRF Risk Assessment Group maintain a Community Risk Register. This document highlights risks that have the highest likelihood and potential to have significant impact to local communities resulting in wide scale disruption. You can use this to understand the risks in our area and to help prepare for the impact of these risks.

Community Risk Register

Winter Handbook

The Durham and Darlington Winter Handbook has been designed as a guide for the public, to assist when faced by an incident that may cause disruption to their day to day life:

Prepare

Prepare - Prepare

Civil Contingencies Act

As the LRF was created on the back of the Civil Contingencies Act, you can access more information about it here : Civil Contingencies Act https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2004/36/contents