Civil Protection Miscellany

Further to recent blogs on the subject of what a post pandemic inquiry could look like it is interesting to see that the Chief Coroner has issued guidance to coroners on holding inquests as a result of Covid-19 deaths (in England and Wales).  This was helpfully posted on Linkedin in the Inquests and Inquiries Group and is a reminder to me that Linkedin can be useful (but see my rantings on other and furture blogs!). The Guidance to coroners is clear and well written - even when read by laymen like me. The fact that it is published and can be accessed by the general public is something to be celebrated.  The coronial system has come a long way in the last 20 years. Although the decision on whether or not to hold an inquest will be down to individual coroners we are unlikely to see large numbers of inquests attempting to inquire into consequences of inadequate PPE provision.  But there will be some and the situation in Scotland, where the rules around Fatal Accident Inq...

I have received a reply from the Home Office - well two replies actually.  The first was a simple fob off which I queried.  The second was a well crafted civil service reply that still didn't say much, but did say that the issue was being looked at.  Detailed proposals are expected in June.

It’s not over yet. There is a long way to go before we can breathe a sigh of relief.   The battle against Covid-19 is one that will continue to be fought on many fronts for a long while yet. However, this does not mean that we can’t be doing a lot of looking ahead.   One of the questions that is now bubbling to the surface is what sort of inquiry we should have into have the UK preparedness   for, and response to the pandemic.   The article in the Guardian this weekend (1), the calls for a Fatal Accident Inquiry in Scotland (2) and the points made by Sir Ed Davey (3) (Leader of the Liberal Democrats) at Prime Minister’s Questions this week all represent a growing groundswell that will lead to a public inquiry of some sort. There are some that will dismiss these demands as nothing more than a ‘blame game’.   They are either naïve or politically motivated.   The deaths of tens of thousands of Britons is worth asking a few questions.   The prospect ...

On 28th February I recorded (see blog of that date) that I had asked the Home Office why non Home Office forces were not included in the proposed police covenant.  I have still not had a reply.  I will try again. Another thought occurs (and what is a blog if it not a stream of badly composed observations on random thoughts?); given the current situation should not the idea of a covenant not be extended to other emergency services and to workers in the health sector? Philip Trendall philip@scott-trendall.co.uk Scott Trendall Ltd is a small consultancy and training provider specialising in security and civil protection.  The views expressed in these blogs are those of the author and do not reflect the views of any client.

Roger Gomm in his recent blog for the Crisis Response Journal (CRJ) helpfully signposted us to the principles of Integrated Emergency Management (IEM) in the context of preparing to learn the lessons of the current pandemic.   Mr Gomm also quoted Lord Kerslake who has gone on record predicting that there will be a public inquiry into the events of the last few months.   Few people understand the importance of inquiries as much as Bob Kerslake.   As a former senior civil servant and the chair of the review into the Manchester Arena bombings he is well placed to see that some sort of inquiry will be required to cement the lessons emerging from all parts of the UK’s response to the pandemic. Of course there are some that would suggest that we should attempt to have a ‘blame free’ inquiry.   They point to best practice in safety critical sectors which have long established, and successful, systems for inquiries that do not seek to apportion blame.   A glance a...

On 8 th April 2020 a railway worker was killed by a train in Northamptonshire.   An investigation is underway.   On 14 th April the Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) published a safety digest into an incident in November 2019 at Kirtlebridge during which rail workers were nearly struck by a train travelling at 125 MPH.   They got clear with less than one second to spare.   In December 2019 a train driver was killed when passing between two stationary trains in a depot in Birmingham.   In February 2020 RAIB published a report into a serious incident at Balham in April 2019 which nearly led to a train crash.   Looking back over the last few years one can see report after report critical of the railway industry.   Many of these reports highlight the same issues:   (a)   Poor safety critical communications, (b) problems with the management of level crossings and (c) railway staff being exposed to unnecessary risks when track side....

The absence of any work and a failure to obtain any worthwhile volunteering has had some odd consequences for me.   A recent discussion (conducted by Zoom of course) included a question ‘What is your favourite piece of current legislation?   Well as a parlour game this lacks the physicality of charades (thank goodness – the thought of it makes me hope for some new social distancing regulations just for Christmas) or the mental stimulation of a good quiz.   However I suspect that all ex-police officers, and probably a few legal professionals as well, have legislative favourites. I have always had a soft spot for the Offences Against the Person and Malicious Damage Acts 1861.   Have a look at the sections relating to railway offences and you will share my admiration for the legislators of Victorian Britain. An extract from the MD Act gives a flavour of the thoroughness of the drafting: “Whosoever shall unlawfully and maliciously cut, place, cast, or throw upon ...

The recent insightful blog by Lies Scaut and Erik de Soir in the Crisis Response Journal (1) on dealing with bereavement in the current pandemic brought together elements of best practice in a difficult subject area.   The news story run by the BBC on the increase in will writing in the last few weeks (2) , coupled with the images of mass pauper burials in New York (3) have all reinforced a key point about dealing with this international emergency.   We all talk about the need to save lives but at the same time we know that thousands of people are dying earlier than they would have had not Covid-19 appeared.     The sub text of every news story is about death and the fear of death, both personally and the potential death of those we love. We don’t talk about death very much in the UK (although the subject is not quite so taboo in Ireland and Scotland).   We like to think of it as something that happens to other people.   Except for specialist prof...