HRH The Earl of Wessex joins Thames Valley Strategic Co-ordinating Group in a virtual meeting

Police Force boundaries are the basis for the Local Resilience Forum (LRF).

For Thames Valley, this covers Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes. From a health perspective, Thames Valley covers Milton Keynes and the rest of Thames Valley. The Local Resilience Forum comes together in an emergency to establish the response for the region, known as the Emergency Response Arrangements. The Strategic Coordinating Group takes overall responsibility for multi-agency management of the emergency, establishing the policy and strategic framework within which the tactical level response will operate. The SCG agrees a strategic aim and objectives in responding to an incident, determines policy for implementing at the tactical level, assesses and arranges for adequate resources, prioritises the allocation of resources at the tactical level, implements adequate financial controls, acts as an interface to Central Government, liaises with neighbouring areas or regional partner agencies, coordinates communications internally and to the public, provides liaison to the media at a Strategic level, considers military assistance, and assesses as early as possible the timescale and process for recovery.

The Thames Valley SCG is currently co-ordinating the multi-agency response to COVID-19, EU Transition and other winter pressures (e.g. adverse weather). The group meets weekly and aims to work in partnership to help mitigate the impact of COVID-19, impacts following the UK exit from the EU and the range of winter pressures on the Thames Valley through an effective multiagency collaborative response.

HRH The Earl of Wessex joined one of the weekly calls in mid-January. He listened in to updates given by multi-agency partners and discussions on items such as the national lockdown, school closures and business continuity pressures before being given the opportunity to ask questions.

Further participation in virtual meetings of this kind is planned for HRH.