Review Civil Contingencies Act intervention powers

The Cabinet Office reviewed the existing statutory powers in the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 (CCA 2004) and other relevant legislation, and presented options to ministers on ways to strengthen interventions when a Category 1 responder is failing to respond appropriately. Our review found that the existing powers under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 could have supported the type of intervention envisaged by the Inquiry. However, our review also found that clearer public guidance and internal protocols are needed to support consideration and use of those powers in future incidents.

Cabinet Office ministers have considered the review and decided that no amendment to the available powers of intervention under the CCA 2004 is required. Instead, the Cabinet Office will update both public guidance and internal protocols to provide greater clarity on the types of interventions government might make and the available statutory and non-statutory interventions.

This recommendation is now complete and has been fully discharged.

The Cabinet Office has, with support from all sponsoring departments for Category 1 responders, conducted a review of wider relevant legislation to identify existing powers of intervention available and whether there are any gaps. As well as identifying legislative powers, we have also reviewed non-legislative interventions available to departments.

As part of the review of powers of intervention under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004, Cabinet Office is seeking further legal assurance on a small number of possible scenarios to understand whether they fall under the scope of existing powers of intervention available under Sections 5 and 7 of the Civil Contingencies Act 2004.

Based on the findings of the review, Cabinet Office will formulate legislative and non-legislative proposals for how the government could strengthen the support provided to local responders during a response to an emergency, alongside appropriate routes for intervention where necessary. Any recommendations for legislative change would be made through the Post Implementation Review of the Civil Contingencies Act 2004.