Approval to Draft new Civil Defence Bill

4 July 2022

 

Approval to Draft new Civil Defence Bill

The Government has today approved the drafting of a new Civil Defence Bill 2022.

This is a significant milestone in the commitment to provide a more modern aggregated piece of governing legislation for Civil Defence, which was identified in the 2015 White Paper on Defence.

The implementation of a modern aggregated piece of legislation will provide Civil Defence with the necessary legislative basis to operate effectively and serve communities across the country.

 

ENDS

 

Notes for Editor

• Civil Defence was established in 1951 by Government Decision.  The proposed Civil Defence Bill 2022 will replace the current suite of legislation relating to Civil Defence, which comprises the Air Raid Precautions Acts 1939 to 1946 and the Civil Defence Act 2012, with a consolidated and updated Civil Defence Act.
• Civil Defence (Cosaint Shibhialta) is a statutory volunteer-based organisation, established in 1951. In central Government terms, responsibility for the organisation falls under the aegis of the Department of Defence. At a local level, Civil Defence is managed by Civil Defence Officers employed by each local authority.
• There are approximately 3,000 Civil Defence volunteers
• The Government’s continued commitment to the development of Civil Defence is confirmed in the 2015 White Paper on Defence, which includes a commitment to progress new civil defence legislation during the lifetime of the White Paper. The White Paper also states that the future of Civil Defence will continue to be developed around its central strategic objective of supporting the Principal Response Agencies in a variety of emergency and non-emergency situations.
• A “Civil Defence – Towards 2030” policy document was published in 2020. The policy document sets out the five core Civil Defence roles and services into the future:

• Emergency Response
• Search and Rescue
• Medical Response
• Community Assistance
• Radiation Monitoring Service

 

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