Civil Contingencies Act - The Four F's

Flooding 2000

Fire Strikes 2002

Autumn of 2000 saw some of the most severe flooding experienced in the UK. The City of York experienced its worse flood in over 400 years with over 5000 properties flooded and over 65,000 sandbags laid throughout the City centre by 500 soldiers.

For the first time in 25 years, 2002 saw the firefighters nationwide strike. On the 14/11 at 1800hrs a 48 hour picket began. The UK military stepped in to ensure that there was no service gap using both the modern red fire and the 'Green Goddess' appliances. Many 999 calls received during the strike were hoax calls, with many firefighters leaving the picket lines to respond to genuine emergencies.

Effects

The City of York Council spent over £1.3 million on measures designed to protect property from the floods alone. Within this, £394,000 was spent just on sandbags. 450 business properties were severely damaged, access routes cut off by flood water and historical properties damaged.

The Four F's

Civil Contingencies Act 2004

The Civil Contingencies Act 2004 was created after a succession of incidents in the early 2000's.

At the time of the review the Government felt the current emergency planning legislation was no longer adequate after the impacts of these incident was explored.

Foot and Mouth Disease 2001

Early 2001 brought with it an outbreak of foot and mouth disease. Whilst the outbreak source was never confirmed, it is believed to have started on a farm in Tyne and Wear and spread by wind to a sheep farm 7km away. These sheep were then sold to 96 locations throughout the UK.

Fuel Strikes 2000

Effects

Economic Effects

Within three weeks, 43 farms across the UK were affected. Day three of the outbreak saw a ban of all UK exports of livestock, meat and milk products. Day five brought with it suspicions that the disease was spreading with human movements.

During September 2000 a number of lorry drivers and farmers launched a campaign to protest fuel duty within the UK. Over 8 days the protesters blockaded oil refineries and distribution depots, causing widespread disruption to petroleum products within the UK. Critical infrastructure such as health care, food distribution and Government services were all effected.

In total over 2000 farms were identified as to having the disease, which resulted in over 10,000,000 animals being destroyed and incinerated to halt the spread of the disease. The true cost of the outbreak cannot be totaled due to the wider effects on tourism, however the UK loses an average of £500 million in meat exports each year due to the vaccination process against the the disease.