UK Resilience
The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) [External website] is the lead department for Energy in England and Wales, with the Scottish Executive [External website] and Northern Ireland Executive [External website] responsible for the devolved administrations.
The Environment Agency[External website] is the lead department in water matters.
On this page:
The UK Government, in particular through the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) [External website] and the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) [External website], work with the private sector to ensure that the chances of significant failures in our industrial sector are minimised.
We are largely successful, with very few instances of serious industrial problems, but no advanced industrialised country is immune to technical failures. The UK Government accordingly works with the private sector to ensure that we have the contingency plans in place that are proportionate and appropriate to the hazards we face.
The incidents of industrial technical failure that the UK Government uses for contingency planning purposes cover technical failure of the upstream oil and gas networks leading to disruption in production and accidental failure of a water treatment works, a public telephone provider, the telecommunications infrastructure and the electricity network.
The table below shows some examples of the specific risks which are assessed as part of the national risk assessment framework. The framework applies locally, regionally, in the devolved administrations and at the UK level. Details of the framework and risk assessment methodology can be found in the risk section of this site.
| Type of Risk | Risk Categories | Outcome Description for Planning Purposes |
|---|---|---|
| Hazard | Accidental failure at water treatment works | Between 10 - 50,000 people could be without piped water for up to 3 days. |
| Hazard | Technical failure of electricity network | Total shutdown of the electricity supply over an entire region (or Devolved Administration), occurring during working hours and lasting for 24 hours. |
General enquiries: Cabinet Office, 22 Whitehall, London SW1A 2WH.
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