in Wales, emergency co-ordination centres that will manage the response to civil emergencies such as major floods were officially opened by First Minister Carwyn Jones on September 15. The ‘Strategic Co-ordination Centres’ at Carmarthen, Colwyn Bay and Cardiff have been jointly-funded by the Welsh Government and the four police authorities.
They will provide facilities to ensure that the emergency services and other partner agencies in Wales can respond promptly and effectively to any civil emergency.
The new centres create an infrastructure which will facilitate multi-agency planning, training and exercises whilst also providing a base to manage the response to emergencies.
The facilities will be interconnected and will also link to the Emergency Co-ordination Centre (Wales) at the Welsh Government in Cardiff. This will establish a co-ordination network which can manage both the response to a local incident and to a wider, national emergency.
The Welsh Government contributed £10 m to the project.
The First Minister attended an event at the Carmarthen Centre to formally launch the facilities.
Mr Jones said: "This is a very significant day in the ongoing process of strengthening our resilience. The project is a first-class example of the Welsh public sector working together for the people of Wales.
"The centres are now fully operational and will allow all those involved in resilience, from our emergency services to the Environment Agency to plan, train and respond together.
"These facilities put Wales at the forefront of emergency preparedness in the UK. We are the first of the Devolved Administrations and English regions to have full coverage by dedicated, bespoke Strategic Co-ordination Centres.
"This has truly been a pan-Wales project which has been effectively delivered by collaboration across the public sector. The new centres are symbols of our commitment to build a safer Wales."
