Written question WQ97965
- Asked by
- Janet Finch-SaundersConservative
- To be answered by
- Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs
- Tabled
- Due
- Answered
- Time to answer
- 7 days
Question
Will the Cabinet Secretary provide an update on how they are working with emergency services on informing residents of support and advice ahead of severe weather events such as storms?
Answer
Answered by Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs
While the preparation for and response to emergencies is primarily managed locally through responder organisations within local resilience forums, we work closely with local resilience partners to support crisis management arrangements. The Wales Resilience Forum and Wales Resilience Partnership provide pan-Wales forums to enable collaborate working and to build and maintain strong partnerships across our civil contingencies’ community.
We work with Welsh local resilience forum partners, including the emergency services, to keep residents informed and supported before severe weather events. The Wales Warning & Informing Network, which brings together communication leads from emergency responders from the four Welsh local resilience forums, meets weekly to coordinate public messaging and materials.
During severe weather incidents, Natural Resources Wales (NRW) issues flood warnings and safety advice through its Flood Warning Information Service, using consistent and coordinated channels. In the most serious, life-threatening situations, the UK Government Emergency Alert (EA) system may be activated at either a local or national level, sending emergency messages directly to mobile phones in affected areas. Welsh Government officials work with emergency responders to assess and support the use of these alerts as needed.