Civil Defence; Emergency Planning

Historical Development

Air Raid Precautions and War-time Emergency Measures

Cheshire County Council first appointed an ARP Committee in 1935, two years before the passage of the Air Raids Precautions Act made this a statutory duty for County Councils.

In consultation with the Home Office and other local authorities, a Report on ARP preparations was drawn up within a year - see CCDX 1. The day after was declared, September 3rd 1939, a County Emergency Commitee was appointed - see CCC 1/9/1, originally consisting of the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Council, the Chairman of the Finance Committee and one other.

Civil Defence organisation consisted of a Report and Control system, based on County Police divisions, with the Chief Constable as ARP Controller and using police stations as control centres; communications services, consisting of Messengers, a Motor Cycle Despatch Corps and some 250 pigeons and the ARP Wardens, 15,000 strong by 1943,228 of whom were full-time, paid employees. Public Air Raid Shelters were soon provided and, by September 1940, could accomodate some 80,000 persons.

Elaborate precautions against the possibility of gas attacks included Public Gas Cleansing stations, a Decontamination Service and a staff of Gas Identification Officers.

As Public Assistance Authority, the County Council was responsible for providing food and shelter for persons rendered homeless by enemy action and for evacuees. Emergency Rest Centres were established under the control of the Public Assistance Officer, staffed by the Womens Voluntary Services for Civil Defence. During the bombing raids on the County between August 1940 and November 1941,97 such centres were opened and, under the official Evacuation Scheme from London and the Southern Counties, following the Flying Bomb attacks of 1944, some 16,415 mothers and children were evacuated to Cheshire and temporarily accomodated in 227 such centres..

To meet any major breakdown in the normal distribution of food, Emergency Food Stocks were created. From 1941, the Ministry of Food began to encourage the establishment of central kitchens - Emergency Cooking Depots - to supply hot meals in insulated containers to stricken areas. In response, Cheshire County Council set up an Emergency Feeding Department, under the Public Assistance Officer, and, in 1946, the Chairman of the County Council was to claim that "no other Authority in the country has developed the Cooking Depot, or Central Kitchen form of supply service on such a scale". Its main role came to be the provision of lunches to Elementary and other State-aided schools, reflected in the transfer of responsibility to the County Education Committee and, subsequently, the Emergency Cooking Depots came to form the basis of the post-war School Meals Service.

By May 1945, the Civil Defence Suspension of Powers Act, authorised the reduction of the Civil Defence establishment, leading to the de-requisitioning of premises, settlement of compensation claims, demolition of shelters and disposal of equipment. Cheshire dissolved its ARP Committee at the end of 1946, but the Emergency Committee remained in existence until 1957, reflecting the continuation of the role of the local authority in civil defence.

Between 1937 and 1945, some £3,282,000 had been spent on Civil Defence in the county, £2,662,000 of which came from central government grants and other income.

A review of the role of the County Council in Civil Defence during World War II, with a detailed account of bombing raids on the county, may be found in the Triennial Report of the Chairman of the County Council for 1946 - see CCC 2/1/2.

Civil Defence

The Emergency Committee continued in existence until 1957, however, in 1949, Cheshire County Council, in response to the Civil Defence Act of 1948, established a new Civil Defence Committee - see CCC1/9/2.

The Act required local authorities to maintain a Civil Defence Corps of volunteers and subsequent Home Office regulations empowered them to appoint committees to exercise these responsibilities.

Chief officers were given responsibility for certain functions - the Clerk of the Council, as County Civil Defence Officer, for the Report and Control Service; the Chief Constable for Wardens; the County Surveyor for the Rescue and Pioneer Service and the County Medical Officer for the Ambulance and Welfare Service. County Councils were responsible for the provision of public shelters and district councils for domestic and communal shelters. A system of Air Raid Warning sirens was developed and premises were earmarked for use as Emergency Rest Centres.

After 1954, many civil defence functions, including basic training, were delegated to the district councils. Recuitment of volunteers proved to be a perennial problem and the Home Office recommended figure for the County of 8,000, was never attained. Re-organisation, including greater use of local authority employees, failed to overcome this problem and, in 1968, the Civil Defence Corps was disbanded. Civil Defence was placed on a 'care and maintenance' basis, although local authorities retained their planning and administrative responsibilities, and the Civil Defence Committee was abolished. The Clerk did, however, maintain a small staff to fulfil the Council's residual responsibilities under the Civil Defence Acts of 1937 and 1948, for emergency planning, maintenance of the Control system, staff training and liason with voluntary aid societies and the responsibilities of the Civil Defence Committee were transferred, first to the Parliamentary and General Purposes Committee - see CCC1/6/10 - and, after 1974, to the Fire Brigade and Public Control Committee - CCC1/9/4 and then the Public Protection Committee - CCC1/9/6.

These responsibilities were reinforced by the Civil Defence (Planning) Regulations of 1974, including the preparation of County and District Major Disaster Plans for the provision and co-ordination of services following peace-time emergencies and war-time attacks, which led to an expansion of the staff of the Emergency Planning Unit. In 1980, the Home Office recommended that Chehsire should employ a staff of 12 officers, with Clerical support, offering to meet 75% of the costs. Further Civil Service Regulations in 1983, obliged local authorities to continually up-date planning, including population movements in the face of a threatened attack and public shelters; to train staff and volunteers; to provide premises for use as emergency headquarters at county and district level and also to provide equipment for civil defence purposes.