South Yorkshire Local Resilience Forum

Local Resilience Forums (LRFs) are multi-agency partnerships made up of representatives from local public services, including the emergency services, local authorities, the NHS, the Environment Agency and others. These agencies are known as Category 1 Responders, as defined by the Civil Contingencies Act.

The South Yorkshire LRF brings together all agencies with a significant role in responding to and recovering from the effects of emergencies in the county and was formed to meet the requirements of the Civil Contingencies Act 2004.

The Civil Contingencies Act defines emergencies as: Any event or situation which threatens serious damage to human welfare in a place in the United Kingdom, the environment of a place in the United Kingdom, or war, or terrorism, which threatens serious damage to the security of the United Kingdom.

The main agencies involved in the South Yorkshire Local Resilience Forum are those classified as Category 1 Responders: South Yorkshire Police, South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue, Yorkshire Ambulance Service, the four Local Authorities in South Yorkshire, the NHS, the UK Health Security Agency, and the Environment Agency. The most senior leaders from each organisation attend regular South Yorkshire Local Resilience Forum meetings.

Other partners, such as transport and utility companies, are classified as Category 2 Responders. These organisations may also be involved in responding to and supporting recovery from local emergencies and so have a seat at the South Yorkshire LRF, as do local military and voluntary sector representatives.

Category 1 and 2 responders work together under the remit of the South Yorkshire LRF to plan and prepare for localised incidents and emergencies, working to identity potential risks and produce multiagency emergency plans to either prevent or mitigate the impact of incidents. Where emergencies occur, the LRF agencies respond collectively in the most appropriate manner.

Our partners

LRFs are supported by organisations, known as Category 2 responders, such as the Highways Agency and public utility companies. They are responsible for co-operating with Category 1 organisations and sharing relevant information with the LRF. The forums' geographical area is based on police areas – ours is South Yorkshire.

LRFs also work with other partners in the military and voluntary sectors who contribute to LRF work in emergency preparedness.

What we do

LRFs aim to plan and prepare for localised incidents and catastrophic emergencies. They work to identify potential risks and produce emergency plans to either prevent or mitigate the impact of any incident on their local communities.

There is more information on LRFs in The role of LRFs: a reference document.

Find out more

To find out more about the South Yorkshire LRF, please visit the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority's website.