Emergency Planning

We perform an important role in protecting Londoners from the consequences of major, or even catastrophic, incidents.

We work in partnership with others, the emergency services, the government, the GLA, and the boroughs, to improve our ability to respond to and deal with these incidents. This is known as ‘resilience’.

What we do

We have a range of legal responsibilities relating to emergency planning:

• Assisting local authorities to meet their responsibilities to prepare emergency plans, to train their staff in preparing those plans, and to exercise the plans to make sure they work.
• Working with businesses, and the other emergency services, to prepare emergency plans as required under the Control of Major Accident Hazard Regulations (COMAH).
• Preparing and exercising plans, in partnership with others, in line with the Radiation (Emergency Preparedness and Public Information) Regulations 2001. Under these regulations, we make sure, in case of a radiological emergency in London, information is available about the emergency, and what measures Londoners should take to minimise the risk to themselves.
• Working with relevant businesses and other agencies to secure the safe operation of approximately 350 kilometres of pipelines running through, or under, London, in line with the Pipelines Safety Regulations 1996.

Find out more about emergency planning legislation.

Local Resilience Forums

One of the ways cooperation and information sharing is achieved is through Local Resilience Forums (LRFs). Find out more about London's six LRFs.

Local Authority Gold

We also provide support for Local Authority Gold, 24 hours a day, seven days a week by operating a 'gold office'. Find out more about Local Authority Gold.

We also sponsor, organise and facilitate multi-agency events which bring together key players from across the public, private and voluntary sectors to increase awareness about emergency planning issues, to make sure all of those agencies understand their responsibilities to prevent major disasters.

Contact us

The emergency planning team can be contacted by telephone on 020 7587 2937 or email the emergency planning mailbox.


Use the links below to find out more about what we do and how you can help prepare for emergencies.

• working with others
• how you can plan for emergencies
• emergency planning for businesses
• improving our ability to cope (resilience)
• legislation
• Local Resilience Forums and Community Risk Registers

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