Exercise Watermark Exercise planning, delivery and review report September 2011

Transcription

1 Exercise Watermark Exercise planning, delivery and review report September 2011 Author: Exercise Watermark Review Team

2 Foreword Over five million people in England and Wales live and work in properties at risk of flooding from rivers and the sea. The Pitt Review of the 2007 summer floods recommended a wide-ranging test of our emergency response to severe flood events that would engage the public. In response to this recommendation, Exercise Watermark took place at the beginning of March It is the largest and most successful civil defence preparedness event ever held in England and Wales. Over 20,000 individual players from response organisations in England and Wales took part. They thoroughly tested flood readiness and demonstrated that existing plans and arrangements work well. As always, there were lessons to learn, but thanks to greater awareness, community rehearsals of emergency activities and professional responders testing and improving, the people and communities in England and Wales are safer than before. Managed by Defra, supported by the Welsh Government and delivered through the Environment Agency, Exercise Watermark set out to test how new arrangements would cope with a severe flood scenario in England and Wales.. These arrangements included the National Flood Rescue Arrangements (NFRA), Multi-Agency Flood Plans (MAFP), new flood warning codes and elements of the Flood Forecasting Centre (FFC) capability, along with other initiatives implemented since The core scenario involved ministers at the Cabinet Office Briefing Room (COBR), the Welsh Government, more than ten UK government departments, 14 Local Resilience Forums and over 40 separate playing locations. Additionally, 35 locally delivered exercises took place across England and Wales. Combined Exercise Watermark activities demonstrated that England and Wales have the capability to manage the response to a severe, widespread flood emergency. The Pitt Review made it clear that communities and individuals need to share the responsibility by preparing themselves for flooding. Exercise Watermark looked to raise awareness of flood risk and provide tools to help people develop and test both individual and community flood plans. Over 125 community events and activities took place as part of Watermark, with significant support from the National Flood Forum (NFF), emergency responders, individuals and community groups. This level of local self help and preparedness is vital in the face of flood risk. Following the exercise, groups and organisations have carried out debriefs, and in many cases produced action plans and I am encouraged by the number of actions already being implemented. The Watermark Review Team received feedback as part of the debriefing process from professional partners, volunteers, community groups and Exercise Watermark Planning, Delivery and Review Report ii

3 individuals from over 1,100 questionnaires and 84 reports. The team used this feedback to put together an interim report with a range of key stakeholders, which formed the basis for discussion at the Exercise Watermark Conference. This was a final opportunity to review written correspondence and give feedback on this report. We welcomed this additional feedback to help complete the two parts of the Exercise Watermark final reporting. The first part contains learning points and recommendations from the exercise itself. This, the second part, is the Exercise Watermark Planning, Delivery and Review Report, which contains lessons and guidance on running an exercise of the scale of Watermark. A number of parallel stand-alone reports with findings from Exercise Watermark are also being produced, including one from Environment Agency Wales on behalf of Welsh Government in respect to the exercises held in Wales. Finally, the project involved a diverse range of groups including volunteers, members of the public, school children, private companies, government, emergency planners and responders and I would like to thank everyone who contributed their time and efforts in planning, participating in and providing feedback on Exercise Watermark. Yours sincerely, Peter Midgley Exercise Watermark, Project Executive Exercise Watermark Planning, Delivery and Review Report iii

4 Executive summary Background Defra asked the Environment Agency to deliver a senior government (Tier 1) flooding exercise in response to a Pitt Review recommendation. The exercise was supported and co-sponsored by the Welsh Government and needed to be wide-ranging and publicly engaging. This would test the implementation of the other Pitt recommendations and enable many communities to participate in the exercise to mimic a major flood response. Exercise Watermark successfully met the targets set by Defra, the Welsh Government and the Pitt Review, and England and Wales are now better prepared for a flood. This Exercise Watermark Planning, Delivery and Review Report supports the Exercise Watermark Final Report. It focuses on the planning, delivery and review of Exercise Watermark and outlines the feedback from those involved. The Exercise Watermark Planning, Review and Delivery Report Annexes contain a summary of recommendations, detailed supporting materials and diagrams relevant to this report. What s in this report? This report contains the learning from the methods used to plan, deliver and review Exercise Watermark as well as identifying what went well and where improvements could be made in future exercises. The report is split into Planning, Delivery and Review chapters containing recommendations for each stage which may be referenced in future exercises. The main conclusions to come out of this report include:» Engaging partners and community groups at an early stage in the planning process is essential for successful planning, delivery and review of the exercise;» Defining and clearly communicating the exercise scope is a key part of the planning phase and should be done early on; and» Exercises of this scale and/or complexity should plan for rigorous testing and rehearsal of exercise delivery roles and processes and a testing programme should be put in place to reduce the risk of IT failure during the exercise. The exercise planning, delivery and review processes were challenging, but these challenges were overcome to produce an exercise that planners and players acknowledged as an excellent learning opportunity and a valuable test of the multi-agency response to flooding. We hope the information in the report will be taken into account for future exercises. Exercise Watermark Planning, Delivery and Review Report iv

5 Contents 1. Purpose...6 Other Exercise Watermark documents Introduction...8 Background...8 Exercise aim...8 Exercise structure...8 Success criteria Planning...10 Exercise Watermark governance and planning structure...10 Project start up and procurement of contractors...11 Exercise Watermark structure...13 Core exercise planning...14 Bolt-on Exercise Planning...18 Conclusions common to Core and Bolt-on Exercise Planning...19 Information technology (IT) planning...20 Media planning...22 Community engagement planning Delivery...25 Core exercise delivery...25 Information technology support delivery...28 Media delivery...29 Community engagement delivery Review...35 Core and bolt-on exercise review...35 Information technology support review...35 Media review...36 Community engagement review Exercise planning workshops feedback Concluding remarks Summary of Planning, Delivery and Review Conclusions...43 Exercise Watermark Planning, Delivery and Review Report v

6 1. Purpose 1.1. This report is intended as a reference for those delivering future exercises. Its target audience are those involved in emergency planning and exercise design and delivery Exercise Watermark incorporated a senior government level (Tier 1) flooding exercise, additional locally-driven emergency response and recovery exercises and wide-ranging activities involving local communities and businesses This report has been written by the Exercise Watermark Project Team and includes the final planning conclusions from the project. The findings from Exercise Watermark participation can be found in the Exercise Watermark Report This report details the methods used to plan, deliver and review the exercise as well as identifying what went well and where improvements could be made in future. It is broken down into the following chapters:» Planning» Delivery» Review 1.5. Each chapter covers the following key elements:» Core exercise;» Bolt-on exercise;» IT support» Media exercise; and» Community engagement Conclusions are made based upon feedback received from both exercise planners and participants This report is supported by the Exercise Watermark Planning, Review and Delivery Report Annexes which contain a summary of conclusions, detailed supporting materials and diagrams relevant to this report. Other Exercise Watermark documents 1.8. There are three further documents produced by the Exercise Watermark Review Team. These are as follows:» The Exercise Watermark Final Report contains learning and recommendations from those who participated in the exercise.» The Exercise Watermark Final Report Annexes: contain detailed supporting materials and diagrams relevant to Exercise Watermark participation. Exercise Watermark Planning, Delivery and Review Report 6

7 » Exercise Watermark - A Summary for Communities: provides a background to Exercise Watermark, case studies of community activities, explanation and findings relevant to communities, a summary of the next steps for Exercise Watermark recommendations and where to go to find more information Further reports on Exercise Watermark have been written by other groups involved in Exercise Watermark Activities. These including the Environment Agency Wales on behalf of Welsh Government, local resilience forum reports and internal organisation reports in respect to the activities relevant to their geographical area or responsibilities in a flood. Exercise Watermark Planning, Delivery and Review Report 7

8 2. Introduction Background 2.1. Following the review of the summer 2007 floods, Sir Michael Pitt made a number of key recommendations to improve the response to widespread flooding Recommendation 49 of the Pitt Review stated: A national flooding exercise should take place at the earliest opportunity in order to test the new arrangements which central government departments are putting into place to deal with flooding and infrastructure emergencies Exercise Watermark was part of the government implementation of the Pitt Review actions. Led by Defra, sponsored by the Welsh Government and Cabinet Office and delivered by the Environment Agency, Exercise Watermark was an exercise of a scale and complexity never before attempted in UK modern civil resilience. Exercise aim 2.4. The aim was to conduct a wide-ranging and publicly engaging exercise that tested the arrangements across England and Wales to respond to all aspects of severe flooding Exercise Watermark took place between 4-11 March 2011, with live play occurring between 7-10 March There was a diverse programme of three parts: core, bolt-on and community activities. Exercise structure Figure 1 the structure of Exercise Watermark participating elements Exercise Watermark Planning, Delivery and Review Report 8

9 2.6. The core element set out to create a national scale flood scenario across several regions of England and Wales which tested the response from COBR, Defra as lead government department, Emergency Co-ordination Centre (Wales) (ECC(W)), UK and Welsh government departments and multi-agency Strategic Coordination Centres (SCC). This involved over fifty emergency command centres. The scenario included surface water, fluvial (river), reservoir and coastal flooding covering 14 Local Resilience Forum (LRF) areas Surrounding the core, were 35 bolt-on exercises which in many cases used the exercise scenario but took place independently. They were organised and delivered by LRFs, supported by materials and tools from the Exercise Watermark Project Team Community-based activities also took place across England and Wales. Activities ranged from testing business continuity plans, community and personal flood plans, to holding community-based demonstrations, workshops and flood exhibitions. These aimed to raise awareness of flooding and ways in which people can protect themselves and their property Details of where core, bolt-on and community activities took place can be found in Annex 1 - Core, Bolt-On and Community Exercise Watermark Activity. Success criteria The exercise set out to generate an honest assessment of the flood response arrangements in England and Wales. Exercise Watermark was successful as it facilitated the wider response community to further improve flood resilience in England and Wales. The exercise enabled organisations to demonstrate how they have improved, learning lessons from previous events, whilst also identifying new lessons that will allow them to further improve their capability At the start of the project nine national objectives were set by the Exercise Watermark Project Executive Group. These included objectives around subjects such as emergency plan activation, mutual aid arrangements and media management. To support the primary objectives, 62 enabling objectives were derived to demonstrate how the overarching nine objectives were met. Annex 9 - Exercise Assessment Against National Watermark Objectives, provides further detail on each of these objectives and a brief summary of evidence to demonstrate the extent to which the objectives were met. Exercise Watermark Planning, Delivery and Review Report 9

10 3. Planning Exercise Watermark governance and planning structure 3.1. An Exercise Watermark Project Executive Group, Project Board, Stakeholder Panel and Project Team were established to oversee the planning, delivery and review of Exercise Watermark. (See Annex 2 - National Exercise Watermark Project Team, for an organogram of this structure) The Exercise Watermark Project Executive Group consisted of representatives from Defra, the Welsh Government, Cabinet Office, the Civil Contingencies Secretariat (CCS) and the National Project Team. The role of the group was to:» agree the aim and objectives and agree a delivery plan» provide outline, scale, extent, scope, and success criteria;» provide guidance and direction for design, delivery and review;» validate the coordination of central and devolved government during severe wide-area flooding; and» ensure that the exercise and review was delivered to time and budget The Exercise Watermark Project Board was made up of Environment Agency senior managers from the Operations and Flood and Coastal Risk Management directorates. The board was set up in order to:» provide overall guidance and direction for the delivery of the exercise to the Exercise Watermark Executive Group s satisfaction.» oversee the design, delivery and review of Exercise Watermark;» agree the scope of Exercise Watermark within the Environment Agency; and» ensure that the required Environment Agency resources were provided The Stakeholder Panel was formed from a cross-section of the emergency response community with representation from the voluntary sector, local authorities, government departments, the military, emergency services and others. The role of the panel was to:» provide guidance and advice for the design and delivery of the exercise;» assist the Exercise Watermark Project Team by supporting exercise development and communicating with partners and the public;» assist with the development of the communication plan to government, partners and the public in the lead up to and during the event; and» enable key stakeholders to work together on mutually agreed exercise outcomes The Exercise Watermark Project Team consisted of a core team from the Environment Agency supported by a team of contractors. The integrated team, directed by Project Executive Peter Midgley, was tasked with Exercise Watermark Planning, Delivery and Review Report 10

11 managing, planning, delivering and reviewing all elements of Exercise Watermark A network of key contacts from UK government departments, Welsh Government, emergency response organisations and groups worked with the Exercise Watermark Project Team to plan and deliver Exercise Watermark. Examples include the Highways Agency, Electronic Communications Resilience Response Group, utility companies and the Fire and Rescue Service National Resilience Assurance Team Local Resilience Forums (LRFs) who planned parts of the core exercise, bolt-on exercises and community activity formed Exercise Watermark planning groups. The membership of these met local requirements and ranged in size from four to 30 planners. Their role was to plan and coordinate local delivery of Exercise Watermark The Environment Agency formed a network of Regional Planning Leads whose role was to coordinate all aspects of Watermark within their region. They led regional planning groups made up of Environment Agency flood specialists, communications specialists, Floodwise Officers 1 and those who attend LRF planning groups. Project start up and procurement of contractors 3.9. The initial planning for Exercise Watermark began in 2009 with a scoping study by the Environment Agency and a contractor, RAB Consultants. The scoping study involved a desk-top review of large-scale previous exercises and a series of workshops with potential participants. The purpose of the workshops was to introduce the concept of the exercise and to engage a wide range of emergency planning professionals to shape its development A lot of time was spent during the scoping study to engage organisations who were potential participants. There was no obligation to take part in Exercise Watermark but the early communications created a feeling that if groups didn t take part they may miss out. Early sign up and commitment to participate from potential players for a large scale exercise is an important step. Exercise Planning: Conclusion 1 A staged approach to large-scale exercise planning helps to engage the right participants early and shape the exercise to benefit as many participants as possible In January 2010, a request for expressions of interest was sent out via the Civil Contingencies Secretariat (CCS) Gateway Brief. Interested parties were asked to consider whether they would like to participate and if so, what type of flooding scenario they would like to play. A total of 84 expressions of 1 The Floodwise Officer role is to work with communities at risk from flooding. In Wales this is undertaken by Flood Awareness Wales officers Exercise Watermark Planning, Delivery and Review Report 11

12 interest were received from Local Resilience Forums (LRFs) and emergency response organisations The publicly engaging aim, scale of the proposed exercise and the complex scenario required various skill sets for planning and proven IT platforms for delivery. The humans resources required needed to be flexible, have specific technical knowledge and to be available for short periods sometimes at short notice. The IT platforms needed to be proven technology previous exercises had found this to be a high risk early in the planning. A decision was taken that the best way to provide these resources would be by appointing a contractor to provide proven IT systems and support the design, delivery and review aspects of the exercise Contractors from the Environment Agency's existing flood risk management framework (Strategic Flood Risk Management -SFRM2) were asked to tender for the contract to assist in the delivery of Exercise Watermark The tender and procurement process took more time than was allocated in the project plan. As a result some of the contingency time in the project plan was used up early. Exercise Planning: Conclusion 2 Get advice early from the procurement department when contractor support is required for emergency exercises. Make sure sufficient time is allowed for the tender and procurement processes In addition to the procurement delay, there was a further eight-week delay in appointing a contractor due to the funding approval process. This was longer than normal due to the general election, change of government and new rules on the use of contractors In June 2010, a consortium of contractors was appointed to provide IT tools, and help design, deliver and review Exercise Watermark. This group was led by Capita Symonds with VectorCommand, and with support from Halcrow and Sequence. The delay in appointment made deadlines tight and added to the pressures of delivering a complex, large scale exercise in less than a year. Exercise Planning: Conclusion 3 Start the procurement process early and recognise the risks to project timescales during a General Election The delay in appointing the contractor meant that the Environment Agency had made substantial progress in planning the exercise in a manner which differed from the contractor's vision and proposal Efforts were made at the start of the contract to re-scope the commission and align the vision of the Environment Agency and contractor project teams. Exercise Planning: Conclusion 4 Client and contractors project teams should confirm the scope and vision of the exercise upon award, particularly if there are long delays or changes in requirements between tender and award. Exercise Watermark Planning, Delivery and Review Report 12

13 3.19. Efforts were made at the outset to integrate the Environment Agency and contractor teams so that individuals from different specialist backgrounds could work closely together regardless of their professional affiliation. The team was divided up into different areas of work with leads for activities and stakeholders groups. (See Annex 2 - National Exercise Watermark Project Team, for an organogram of the team structure). Exercise Planning: Conclusion 5 Partnership working is essential on large-scale complex and highly variable projects The Exercise Watermark project team was made up of a variety of staff from different organisations, and different technical backgrounds. This meant that there were at times different opinions about how to approach work. For example, Defra and the Environment Agency preferred a more consultative approach when planning the exercise and some other organisations (including the contractors) felt that a more dictatorial approach was necessary due to the short-timescales It is important for project teams and contractors to be aware of existing relationships with relevant groups and any political sensitivities. The Exercise Watermark Team worked to engage local Environment Agency staff or those who engaged with participating groups frequently to find the best approach Communication was a particular challenge for the Exercise Project Team due to the fast-moving pace of the exercise planning process and large number of people involved. A communications officer was assigned to the team however additional resource would have been beneficial. Exercise Planning: Conclusion 6 A strong management team with a clear communications plan, local contacts and dedicated communications officer is necessary to steer the planning of a large complex project In the two months leading up to Exercise Watermark in March 2011 the extended Exercise Watermark Team worked from the Exercise Control location in Fareham, Hampshire. This included the management team, contractors, project team planners and Environment Agency planners. The use of this single location allowed the team to become more efficient in planning the final stages of the project whilst also becoming familiar with the exercise control IT, facilities and location. Exercise Planning: Conclusion 7 Co-locating staff from various offices at Exercise Control for periods of time was very beneficial in strengthening relationships, and familiarising staff with facilities prior to the time when they are under-pressure to deliver the exercise. Exercise Watermark structure As detailed in the Introduction to this report in Section 2, Exercise Watermark was made up of three distinct parts; a core exercise comprising of Tier 1 (Senior Government), Local Resilience Forums and other key responder groups, locally run bolt-on exercises and community activities. At the Exercise Watermark conference in July 2011 delegates said that this range of activities provided the flexibility to meet local needs alongside those Exercise Watermark Planning, Delivery and Review Report 13

14 of government, to gain very good media coverage and to involve the community Exercise Watermark activities were focussed around one week in March A wide range of activities took place during this week including community events and testing professional response. There was significant pressure on emergency planning and media handling resources in the build up and during the week it s self. Smaller organisations or organisations that participated in many activities, as the Environment Agency, found that other activities had to be temporarily postponed. Exercise Planning: Conclusion 8 The structure of the core, bolt-on and community activities allows flexibility for testing professional response and providing support for the community action. Exercise Planning: Conclusion 9 Consideration should be given to an extended time frame for delivering activities greater than one week. The Exercise Watermark Team would suggest 2 weeks to one month may be appropriate. Core exercise planning At the start of the exercise planning process, nationally derived objectives were set and agreed. These were not linked to clear agreed targets. It is important to make sure that the exercise governance provides clear targets to help understanding, meet expectations and demonstrate progress. Measurable objectives also help to demonstrate the degree of success during the post exercise review period The core of Exercise Watermark set high level objectives and a scenario which was supported by local objectives and scenarios. It became clear in November 2010 (four months before the exercise), that not all local and government planners had understood how their planning and participation would contribute to the exercise. Additional resource was required to make sure that all the participating activities did not conflict with the high level objectives and scenarios. Exercise Planning: Conclusion 10 Exercise project teams should provide regular clear communications and hold face to face meetings make sure governance, planners and project team have a full common understanding of aims, objectives, scenario and targets A core scenario was designed to generate the impacts detailed within the national planning assumptions for surface water, fluvial, reservoir and tidal flooding. The geographical areas included in the scenario were selected from the areas covered by the LRFs that expressed an interest in participating in Exercise Watermark. Exercise Watermark Planning, Delivery and Review Report 14

15 Figure 2 Exercise Watermark timeline 7-10 March 2011 Monday - Surface water flooding affecting Devon and Cornwall, London and West Yorkshire. Tuesday - Fluvial flooding affecting Surrey, Thames Valley, London, West Mercia and Dyfed Powys. Wednesday - Reservoir breach in Derbyshire. Thursday - Coastal flooding affecting the East Coast in Humber, Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and Kent The 14 LRFs involved in the core exercise all formed planning groups, which were all attended by the Exercise Watermark Team contractors with the exception of the east coast groups. The east coast LRFs formed a Pan East Coast Planning Group chaired by the Exercise Watermark Team. These local planning groups were asked to establish local objectives to contribute to achieving the nine Exercise Watermark Objectives agreed by the project Executive Group. Exercise Planning: Conclusion 11 Local planning groups are essential for supporting the delivery of large scale and complex exercises It is evident from the feedback received from planners at all levels that they expected early and consistent engagement with the Exercise Watermark Planning Team throughout the planning process In a small number of cases the Exercise Watermark Project Team did engage as early as March 2010 with some government departments. Where this happened, planners said they were able to identified resources early and could make sure Ministers and/or senior officials were available to participate in the exercise. Some departments however, felt that this was too early and asked to be engaged later. Where engagement was later there was less time and resource available to assist with department objectives, less opportunity to influence the exercise scenario and more inconsistency in the approach to exercise planning Some planners felt that contact with the Exercise Watermark Project Team happened later than expected. Planners said that having had their expression of interest accepted, it was a number of months before any further instruction was received The delay in gaining approval to appoint the contractors may account for some of the inconsistencies regarding engagement. Exercise Planning: Conclusion 12 Ensure early engagement with executive and planning officers from partner organisations. Provide a clear scope and framework for them to sign-up to and undertake frequent regular engagement activities to ensure a consistent planning approach. Exercise Watermark Planning, Delivery and Review Report 15

16 3.34. The Exercise Watermark Team engaged the Met Office and flood forecasting centre who provided a credible weather scenario to support the timeline in figure 2 above Flood maps were created to show the area and number of properties flooded. These were interrogated via a Geographical Information System (GIS) to determine how many schools, hospitals, police stations etc., had been impacted by flood water The Met Office and Flood Forecasting Centre provided weather forecasts, flood guidance statements, extreme rainfall alerts and other flood warning materials to assist with exercise planning To provide players with information regarding the flood extent, maps were provided on licensed CDs. Significant time was spent in setting up the licence agreements across different data sets in order to make materials available to planners. The format of the materials was not then readily accessible to all organisations. Exercise Planning: Conclusion 13 Identify early any data sharing requirements for the exercise. Plan in time to set up licence agreements and make sure intellectual property rights and data disposal is agreed up front with all parties Exercise flood maps and flood warning products were issued to local planners and a cycle of developing information to mimic a flooding scenario and quality assurance began. This information was used for exercise injects - the s, attachments, phone calls, forecasts and media reports the exercise players received When it came to writing exercise injects, organisation and LRF planners were given the option of either writing their own injects or have the Exercise Watermark Team write injects for them. Both options required a collaborative approach with the Exercise Watermark Team but made sure that local and technical knowledge and issues were taken into account The injects supported the national exercise planning assumptions. An example of this was a large number of injects reporting properties flooded. When added up the numbers of properties within these s, phone calls and reports totalled the number in the national exercise planning assumption The National Project Team worked with planners to identify which agencies they expected to interact with during a response, and by what means that interaction usually took place i.e. phone, etc. This built an understanding of the extent of interaction to be expected between playing command posts, as well as confirming how inject material would be sent out An organogram for each day of the core exercise showing the organisations who participated and the communication Photo: Rob Munro/ Exercise Watermark Planning, Delivery and Review Report 16

17 lines between them could be seen in Annex 3 Player Organograms There were several rounds of quality checks on the inject sets as it was important for the project to ensure that the needs of local responders were taken into account. Equally as important was making sure that the local scenarios complemented the national picture and that the scenario at the local level triggered government level decisions at COBR where necessary A timeline of flood impacts and decisions for the local level was drafted for each day of the core exercise. This can be seen in Annex 3 Exercise Watermark Core Timeline Once the scenario and injects were finalised a comprehensive test of the delivery processes was done. Exercise First Run took place on January Exercise First Run was an invaluable learning experience for all involved. It showed the Exercise Watermark Team the issues that needed to be solved; these included organisational IT systems, contact details and the format of injects. First Run was followed by a series of training days for the Exercise Watermark Team and representatives from the planning groups and two further dress rehearsals. During the exercise the Project Team and representatives from planning groups attended Exercise Control to deliver the Watermark inject s, phone calls, web site updates and faxes. Exercise Planning: Conclusion 14 Exercises of a large scale and/or complexity should plan for rigorous testing and rehearsal of roles and processes at Exercise Control A network of umpires was created to introduce the exercise, maintain control and communicate with Exercise Control at the 40+ dispersed playing locations that took part. Each playing location provided a representative who had a good understanding of the purpose and roles of their command or operation centre The umpire training programme, delivered to most core exercise umpires, was intended to inform their role and responsibilities and detail how to raise issues to Exercise Control and maintain exercise play. Suggestions to improve the training programme included training more umpires by including those at individual emergency operation centres and tactical coordinating groups and improving the content. A suggestion to provide more relevant and cost effective umpire training was to use a train the trainer approach During the final stages of planning the network of umpires became a useful group to help prepare participants for the exercise. Many provided introductory materials for their playing locations and made sure that the right players were available. It would have been beneficial to set up and train the core umpires earlier in the project as they were valuable ambassadors for Exercise Watermark. Exercise Planning: Conclusion 15 Identify and train umpires early in the planning of a major exercise. Umpires can be a useful network of contacts to deliver messages to participants prior to the start of an exercise. Exercise Watermark Planning, Delivery and Review Report 17

18 3.50. The Exercise Watermark Project Team recognised that the exercise scope and extent of participation were not defined early enough. The scope remained flexible which led to the exercise increasing in size putting pressure on exercise planning resources. As the number of participants grew this meant more engagement, communications and data collection was required However allowing this flexibility meant local objectives could be delivered and contributed to a greater variety of learning. Some LRFs wanted to test Tactical Command Groups (TCGs) alongside Strategic Command Groups (SCGs), and others expressing a desire to put all their efforts into exercising solely SCGs. Exercise Planning: Conclusion 16 The scope and extent of participation should be agreed by all involved early on in exercise planning. Defining, communicating and checking understanding of the exercise scope and participation is important to exercise planning Ministerial play forming the National Security Council, Threats Hazards Resilience and Contingencies sub committee (NSC (THRC)) took place on Monday and Tuesday of Exercise Watermark at COBR. On the following two days a nominal NSC (THRC) was simulated by Defra and Cabinet Office. This was to allow the two possible days of ministerial play to be set over the period when most timely strategic decisions were anticipated. On the days of ministerial participation, play extended beyond the hours of 9-5 due to the timescales required to complete the reporting cycle collection of information from LRFs to provide situation reports to COBR and the distribution of a Commonly Recognised Information Picture (CRIP) by COBR Many planners stated that the scenario should have been kept away from players ensuring that future events within the exercise did not distract from the events at that time. The National Project Team asked that the detail of the scenario was not shared with players but provided the main flood events for each day. There was evidence that more detailed information was leaked to players in some locations. Exercise Planning: Conclusion 17 Set a clear boundary between planners and players and keep the scenario secret from the players prior to the exercise. Bolt-on Exercise Planning Local Resilience Forums (LRFs) that were not included in the core scenario were invited to plan a bolt-on exercise. These could be run under the Exercise Watermark brand but would not interact with the national core scenario The Exercise Watermark Planning Team developed a guidance pack to assist those participating in bolt-on exercises. These included generic injects, joining instruction templates, briefing presentation templates, and tailored forecasts from the Met Office and Flood Forecasting Centre (FFC) Participants appreciated the flexibility of being involved in the exercise from the bolt-on aspect. Exercise Watermark Planning, Delivery and Review Report 18

19 Exercise Planning: Conclusion 18 Bolt-On exercises are a good way of allowing participants to be involved with flexibility to test outside the scenario and different levels of activity. Conclusions common to Core and Bolt-on Exercise Planning Communication was a challenge throughout the planning of Exercise Watermark. Some planning groups (LRFs in particular), observed that there were lapses in communication and at times inconsistent or unclear messages. This was largely due to the large scale and evolving nature of the exercise. Exercise Planning: Conclusion 19 A clear and detailed communication plan is required at the outset of the planning stage, which is owned by a dedicated communications officer and reviewed regularly Some planners were unsure of the tasks that were expected of them and/or did not have sufficient resource to complete the tasks within the given timescales Exercise Planning: Conclusion 20 Set clear tasks, resource expectations and deadlines early in the planning process Face to face meetings helped to improve understanding of the exercise and the implications for each organisation and group. Feedback indicates that partners strongly valued the opportunity to meet with the national (or Environment Agency regional) Exercise Watermark planners. Exercise Planning: Conclusion 21 Face to face meetings are important in the exercise planning process. Meetings should be scheduled early and have a clear purpose A limited number of playing organisations commented that some of the exercise injects were unrealistic and detracted from the scenario. Examples included reports of flooding for locations that did not exist, or injects to government departments which would have been resolved by other parties. This mainly occurred where it was necessary to write injects late in the planning, and/or when consultation with the technical specialist from a specific organisation or department was not possible. This was also balanced by players who fed back that injects that caused confusion added to the realism of the exercise as in real incidents there is often miss communications and errors in reports. Exercise Planning: Conclusion 22 Local expert planners should be engaged early and prepared to draft and confirm injects to fit the national scenario within the required timescales A particular challenge was establishing the contact information for the players and umpires, which was critical to the delivery of the inject material, especially with multiple players who do not necessarily have dedicated emergency response channels. Exercise Planning: Conclusion 23 Dedicated lines of communication ( addresses / phone numbers) should be established early in the Exercise Watermark Planning, Delivery and Review Report 19

20 planning process and the responsibility placed on individuals and/or planning representatives to maintain them Exercise Watermark provided an excellent opportunity for multi-agency collaboration at every level. Feedback from all participants confirms the value gained through joint working arrangements. It also prompted participants to ensure their Multi Agency Flood Plans (MAFPs) and local plans were in place and up to date The Environment agency directors set targets for the level of involvement in Exercise Watermark. Targets for community events and at least one LRF in each region testing professional response made the exercise a priority for the Environment Agency across England and Wales Exercise Planning: Conclusion 24 Gain early and continued commitment from Executive managers, a wide variety of responders, relevant organisations and multi-agency groups in collaboration for exercise planning, delivery and review. Information technology (IT) planning Lessons identified from previous exercises such as Exercise Triton promoted the use of IT tools to support the planning and delivery of exercises. Exercise Watermark developed three IT tools:» planning and collaboration tool for the core planning team;» exercise website with public and secure areas;» exercise management tool A SharePoint site hosted by Capita Symonds was used as a planning and collaboration tool. This enabled the National Project Team and the Environment Agency regional leads to develop the scenarios and share programme documentation. Over 100 planners were given access to the site The planning and collaboration tool was useful for storage and access of information. However with such a large amount of data, it was at times difficult to find information, and there was duplication between work streams. A Sharepoint User guide was uploaded onto the site and provided useful information on data storage and tips for using the system. Training was also provided for all Sharepoint users which was beneficial. Some users required more intensive training to fully benefit from the tool. Stricter version control and a site owner responsible for content would have helped to manage the information more effectively. IT Planning: Conclusion 25 Use of a collaboration tool is essential in storing shared data between a large number of partners. This should include appropriate version control of documents, familiarisation and training for users and a site owner responsible for content management The Watermark website was used to promote the exercise, engage with the public and host many of the exercise materials One of the key objectives of Exercise Watermark was to engage local communities, mainly through online communication channels. The website Exercise Watermark Planning, Delivery and Review Report 20

21 became the central point of information for communities throughout and contained details of local events and support. Quantitative feedback on the website was collected as part of the review of Exercise Watermark and is included in Section 5 of this report. (See Annex 8 - Report on the Development and Use of the Exercise Watermark Website). IT Planning: Conclusion 26 The use of a public facing website is an effective tool for engaging organisations and the public as well as disseminating updates. The information uploaded and updates should be included in the project Communication Plan A secure area of the website was developed for use by exercise players and umpires. The area was password protected and contained simulated news information (TV, radio and print media) as well as weather updates, flood warnings, transport information and social media feeds. It was updated in real time during the exercise to reflect the developing scenario and player decisions and actions This secure area also hosted supporting documents such as the exercise contacts directory, business continuity management plan and umpire back-up materials (See Annex 8 - Report on the Development and Use of the Exercise Watermark Website) It would have been possible to have set up groups with different access details allowing them access to more personalised content. For example, if you logged in as Dyfed Powys Police, you would initially only see documents relating to the police in Dyfed Powys, although you would have the option of looking at other documents. This would have improved the realism of the exercise, it was not however used as it would have increased the time required to set up and the cost of implementation. IT Planning: Conclusion 27 In future exercises, consider wider group access to any exercise secure website to allow more users to access personalised content The third web tool was an exercise management tool. To enable the scenario to effectively play out, injects needed to be delivered to the right people, at the right time and at the right location Exercise Control also required a mechanism for monitoring the exercise so they could take action if things started to go wrong. The exercise needed to be as realistic as possible and any simulated information needed to be received by players in the way they would normally receive it during a real incident To achieve these objectives, the core exercise was delivered using VectorCommand s Training and Exercising System (TES). This technology delivered injects in the form of s, SMS texts to players and umpires at the control centres and prompts to those at exercise control Photo: Rob Munro/ Exercise Watermark Planning, Delivery and Review Report 21

22 who delivered telephone call injects at pre-determined times IT failure was identified as one of the main risks to the success of Exercise Watermark along with information security. To reassure stakeholders, a report on IT resilience was produced to explain how the risk of IT failure was being managed. The report also explained the hosting arrangements and the technical and physical barriers that were put in place to mitigate the risk of unsolicited access to the secure website An IT checklist was also distributed to all playing organisations and made available on the secure website to advise players IT departments about what needed to be checked Rigorous testing of the IT tools and the development of a training plan ensured that participants were as prepared as possible The IT system design included resilience and fallback measures; these were further strengthened through lessons learnt in rehearsals and testing. Back-up materials were produced for umpires as support in the unlikely event of IT failure. These were made available on the secure website and also on memory sticks and CDs depending on what the umpires could access at their base locations A comprehensive training and testing programme was implemented in the lead up to Exercise Watermark. Testing IT had significant value during the final planning for Exercise Watermark. Exercise First Run occurred in January 2011 and tested the set-up at Exercise Control as well as IT system checks at local playing locations First Run resulted in a number of improvements. Another two rehearsal events followed to refine processes further and ensure the smooth running of Exercise Control. This increased confidence of those at exercise control, making users more familiar with the TES and strengthening the ability to deliver an exercise of this scale. IT Planning: Conclusion 28 An extensive training and testing programme is essential in reducing the risk of IT failure during the exercise. Media planning With media playing an increasingly important role in communicating information during an emergency it was felt that including it in Exercise Watermark would play a vital role in generating a realistic scenario for players. The challenge is how to effectively imitate traditional and social media in an exercise. To replicate the media for Exercise Watermark, a media role play team was created. This was made up of ten former BBC and Central Office of Information (COI) employees and journalists Approximately 400 media injects were scripted for locations with a participating press office. These were injects and represented examples of general questions often posed in a flood. LRFs and the Environment Agency also provided a variety of media injects to provide realism for the scenario. An example of this would have contained information from the public which resulted in players providing public safety messages. Exercise Watermark Planning, Delivery and Review Report 22