Agenda item

(1)       Tony Harwood delivered a presentation relating to Exercise Surge which took place between 27 and 29 September. The slides are contained with the electronic agenda papers on the KCC website.

(2)       Mr Harwood said that as Mr Flaherty had already spoken in detail about this subject, he would limit his own presentation to a brief summary which would draw out points of special significance.

(3)       Mr Harwood confirmed that there had been an element of fluvial flooding response within Exercise Surge.  The exercise had been based on a 1 in 500 year flooding incident based on a 1 in 1000 year tidal surge affecting the whole Kent coast.  This had covered watercourses such as the Medway and Stour.  The inclusion of a fluvial event had enabled all the Kent Districts to participate.

(4)       Mr Harwood said that the exercise had been very ambitious in terms of its scale.  Nearly 900 people had participated during the main part of the exercise, which had been between 27 and 29 September.  The key focus of the evacuation element of the exercise had been Littlestone.  150 people had been evacuated, with each person being counted as 10 for the purposes of the exercise.

(5)       All the District Councils except Shepway DC had utilised Oakwood House in Maidstone to simulate a table top response.  Shepway DC had used their Emergency Centre because of the major impact in their area.  The KCC Emergency Centre in Invicta House had been well utilised, including the participation of elected Members, Directors and other Officers.  The links between the KCC and Shepway DC Emergency Centres had been excellent.

(6)       The Evacuation Assembly Point for road evacuation had been in Littlestone and the Welfare Centre at the Marsh Academy in New Romney.  The moveable flood defence barrier had been tested in Littlestone. The Coastguard and Kent Fire and Rescue Service had been the main players in the “wet rescue” element of the response which had taken place in one of the gravel pits near Dungeness.   Lydd Airport had been the site of a separate exercise, simulating a situation where one emergency could be the trigger for another.  The Recovery phase had also been rigorously tested on 29 September.  KCC had taken the chair for this phase, after Kent Police had chaired the Response phase.

(7)       Mr Harwood concluded his remarks by saying that the critical point of running exercises such as Exercise Surge was the learning that came from it.  There had been much to learn because of the large number of participants and agencies involved and the realism of the scenarios.  A multi-agency debrief was taking place at the same time as the committee meeting, and he would report to the Committee on the eventual recommendations.

(8)       The Chairman suggested that the Committee might visit the Kent Fire and Rescue Service during the morning of its next meeting in order to see the Kent Resilience Team set-up. 

(9)       Mr Flaherty said that the Committee would be welcome. He would be able to provide a presentation giving greater detail of the work of the KRF as well as a detailed joint presentation with Mr Harwood on the recommendations arising from Exercise Surge.

(10)     Mr Flaherty then said that perhaps the greatest amount of learning gained had been on the Recovery side, to which a whole day had been devoted.  From now on the person who chaired the Recovery Group would attend the Response Group meetings from the onset.

(11)     RESOLVED that the report be noted and that Tony Harwood be thanked for his presentation.