United Kingdom

The last 10 years have seen significant changes in disaster relief and response in the United Kingdom. These changes have arisen from the occurrence of unprecedented, large-scale disasters, from an overhaul of the United Kingdom's statutory and regulatory basis for intervention in disasters, and from new institutional and organizational arrangements. Emergency response, which has traditionally been seen as the preserve of the three principal emergency services—fire, police, and ambulance—is increasingly considered to require the involvement of a much wider range of organizations—including nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and voluntary organizations—in order to meet the challenges posed by the evolving nature of risks and threats to the United Kingdom.

Disasters in the United Kingdom have traditionally been referred to as major incidents. Major incidents are conceived of as events with a specific focal point for their consequences, and for the required response to those consequences—such as the scene of the major incident. Infamous classic examples of major incidents in the United Kingdom include: the King's Cross London Underground Fire (1987), the Clapham Junction Rail Crash (1988), the Hillsborough Football Stadium Crush (1989), and the Paddington Rail Crash (1999).

Major incidents in the United Kingdom are managed by an incident command system with three tiers, referred to as strategic, tactical, and operational. Strategic functions refer to the overall management of the resources and actions of each organization—both at and away from the scene of the major incident. Tactical functions entail the directing of actions and resources at the scene of the major incident.

The operational function involves the management of a specific, organizational function or geographical sector of an organization's response—again, at the scene of the major incident. This system has worked well for major incidents, since they can be successfully dealt with at a local level. It was, however, seriously challenged by a series of emergencies in the early years of this century.

The fuel crisis of 2000 resulted from the convergence of several unprecedented factors: fuel price protests by truck drivers and farmers; a reluctance on the part of fuel tanker drivers to run past blockades of fuel refineries and storage depots; and panic buying of fuel by members of the public in response to predicted shortages of fuel. This panic buying resulted in a kind of self-fulfilling prophesy, thereby threatening the delivery of essential goods and services and posing a significant threat to the United Kingdom economy as a whole.

In 2001, there were some 2,000 cases of foot-and-mouth disease in the United Kingdom, with over 10 million animals slaughtered as the government attempted to stop the spread of the disease. The outbreak resulted [Page 702]in the closing of external markets for United Kingdom sheep, cattle, and pigs and their meat products, as well as United Kingdom countryside tourist destinations becoming off-limits, with a loss that was estimated to be about £8 billion ($12.5 billion) at the time.

Widespread flooding occurred in Easter 1998 and, again, in autumn 2000. This resulted in some £400 million ($628 million) in damage in the first instance, and approximately £1 billion ($1.5 billion) in damage in 2000. These floods raised issues regarding the effectiveness of flood warning and informing systems; interagency coordination; and the ability to appreciate widespread, developing emergencies in their entirety, and to thereby respond in a timely and appropriate manner.

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