Exercise Unicorn 2008 Recommendations

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Exercise Unicorn Recommendation Review Group

EXERCISE UNICORN RECOMMENDATIONS AND FINAL STATUS

The recommendations following Exercise Unicorn, the 2008 National Contingency Plan for Marine Pollution from Shipping and Offshore Installations exercise, are listed below.

All recommendations are considered to be complete with regard to the remit and function of the Review Group, the reason for any action taken, or otherwise, is entered in the Status Report column.

The Review Group consisted of:

Colin Mulvana, Deputy to the SOSREP

Bill McFadyen, MCA Regional Director ScotNI

Michael Reid, DECC Senior Investigations Officer

Jim McWilliams, MCA SAR Operations Manager

Dominic Stevens, SOSREP Support Officer – provided support to the group and collated the evidence submitted by assigned persons.

In the Final Report and original recommendation section references are made to the Department of Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (DBERR), the Department has since been changed to Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) the abbreviation DECC has, in this Annex, therefore been amended to recognise the change in the name of the department.

No.	Recommendation	Assigned	Status Report
1	Establish an exercise recommendation and best practice review group	Colin Mulvana	Group established - The group met at selected intervals to assess the progress of implementation by assigned persons and considered the rationale for non implementation of the recommendations. Final meeting took place on 28.10.2009 at Atholl House, Aberdeen where the recommendations were discussed thoroughly and considered to be complete. The Exercise Unicorn Review Group, on completion of report signing, will be dissolved.
2	Provision of an offshore installation fact sheet to be incorporated into OSCPs and Guidance Notes. NB – Oil Spill Contingency Plans (OSCP) are now titled Oil Pollution Emergency Plans (OPEPs)	Craig Bunyan	The OPEP Guidance for Offshore Installations has been rewritten, published on the DECC website and includes the pertinent information relating to an installation. This Guidance has been implemented with immediate effect for all new and updates to OPEP's.
3	Conduct appropriate and suitable presentations to Government, agencies, authorities and organisations who have a responsibility to respond to major oil spills	Colin Mulvana	The Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA) Resilience Unit were tasked to arrange a series ‘road-shows’ for Strategic Co-ordinating Groups around the UK to attract Police Forces and local authority personnel to attend however owing to the workload created by the Swine Flu pandemic the MCA Resilience Unit has been unable to fulfil this task. Presentations have been arranged and conducted regionally. Presentations conducted include: Department for Transport (DfT) Legal Department Protection & Indemnity (P&I) Clubs UK Harbour Masters Association (UKHMA) Offshore Oil and Gas Operators - completed on request. Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPOS), Grampian. Attempts were made to arrange a presentation to the Europe Offshore Conference and Exhibition however this was not possible due to time constraints. Presentations will continue to be conducted as and when necessary, required or requested.
4	Review of the Incident Briefing Room (IBR) function with regard to dealing with incident response prior to and following activation of the Operations Control Unit (OCU).	Michael Reid	Function reviewed – the role of the IBR is to monitor activities of the incident response, if an OCU is established the IBR role is one of support. Down-manning may take place but the IBR will remain active while the OCU is operational.
5	Review of IT equipment for field operatives during incident response	Craig Bunyan & Toby Stone	The MCA have issued new encrypted laptop computers with 3G functionality to incident response personnel although the 3G is currently disabled. It is anticipated that activation will be completed during the Spring of 2010. The DECC have distributed 3G enabled encrypted laptops to all personnel. Recommendation 11 and 15 also refer.
6	Review the MCA helicopter requirement for a HF radio	John Morphew	The MCA Interim contract includes the provision of Satellite and VHF based communications fits to the platforms. Both communications media ensure that the Agency can maintain communications with the platforms at all times. On the basis that there is an effective Satellite communications fit on the platforms, there is insufficient evidence to justify an HF Radio installation on the S92 or AW139 fleet.
7	Conduct appropriate and suitable presentations to MCA stations, Operations and Survey, on the intervention powers and the role of the Secretary of State’s Representative (SOSREP) and his responsibilities.	Hugh Shaw & Colin Mulvana	Preparation and organisation was to be completed in conjunction with 3 above and the MCA Resilience Unit. Discussion within the group realised other opportunities: e-learning, M-net, MCA Conference (Surveyors & Sector Managers) are being considered. Presentations have been locally arranged by CPSOs; Nine MCA stations have been visited and a presentation conducted; planning for the remaining stations has been initiated. The MCA Resilience Unit were tasked to arrange a series ‘road-shows’ for Strategic Co-ordinating Groups around the UK to attract Police Forces and local authority personnel to attend however owing to the workload created by the Swine Flu pandemic the MCA Resilience Unit has been unable to fulfil the task at this time.
8	MCA staff, administration and operations, to be trained in order to be of assistance during major incident response.	Colin Mulvana	Proposal for the training and a draft programme was developed and submitted stating reasons for requirement. The proposal was declined on the grounds of depleted staffing resources, post restructure, and financial constraints. Consideration is being given to conduct Emergency Response Training on a Regional basis.
9	Consideration to creating a single contact e-mail address during major maritime incident response.	Toby Stone	Distributed to incident response organisations which includes; Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC), Countryside Council for Wales (CCW), Marine Fisheries Agency (MFA) etc., suggesting they consider creating a single contact e-mail address for all messages relating to incidents. It is up to the response organisation whether to initiate the recommendation. DECC and the MCA do have a dedicated incident response e-mail address.
10	Exercising of SAR response in testing the National Contingency Plan (NCP) to be proportionate in relation to the scenario of an offshore pollution response exercise.	Michael Reid & Toby Stone	Discussed and agreed that the recommendation will be incorporated within the National Contingency Plan (NCP) review proposed 2010-2011. During the interim period future exercise planning teams to be made aware through liaison/contact with Head of the Counter Pollution and Response Branch, MCA and Head of Offshore Environment Operations Unit, DECC.
11	Review and consider the resources and equipment requirement for DECC press officers	Michael Reid	DECC media now issued with mobile telephone, BlackBerry and remote operating laptop. Head of DECC Media is conducting a review of the unit’s role and functionality. Recommendation 5 and 15 refer
12	To conduct a full scale ‘media only’ exercise within the next 2-3 years which involves setting up of a media briefing centre.	Mark Clark	Media will be exercised when the main combatants have as one of their main objectives, media play. Fully intend to engage on media play as and when the opportunity presents itself. Media only exercise would have to be included in budgetary bid for the financial year 2010/11.
13	Review of security measures at Marine House, Blaikies Quay	Steve Pigott	The present system is considered robust and no reason to enhance the arrangement of issuing key cards. The system will be reviewed on a regular basis. A degree of exercise artificiality was a contributing factor. Regional Director Scotland & Northern Ireland (ScotNI) will ensure there is an emphasis on security of the building.
14	Individuals and operational cells to submit a message to other participating groups/cells when they are established and operational. The message should also include confirmation of contact details. Template to be created.	Colin Mulvana	Template for the activation and de-activation of response cells has been designed and agreed with DECC and MCA. Distribution: SOSREP DECC MCA Counter Pollution & Response Branch Environment Groups.
15	Review of facilities for Cells and procedures highlighted to strengthen current arrangements including the roles and responsibilities of all individual post holders. The core membership of the Marine Response Centre (MRC) to be reviewed, in particular the Environment Group (EG) input and the requirement, or otherwise, for Marine Scotland – Marine Laboratory and local fishery interests particularly with regard to the use of dispersants.	Michael Reid & Toby Stone	The location of the IBR was subject of an internal review and has since been relocated within the building with an equipment upgrade. DECC have distributed 3G enabled encrypted laptops to all personnel which has replaced desk top IT equipment. Roles and responsibilities have been re-emphasised during ongoing incident response training sessions. The Information and Technology Unit is reviewing the IT status of certain MCA personnel to ensure respective cells have the correct equipment to effectively fulfil their role. The MCA have issued encrypted laptops to specific personnel however 3G connectivity is currently disabled.

We the undersigned acknowledge the work of the Exercise Unicorn Recommendations Review Group and consider the recommendations above have been fulfilled.

Signed:

Wendy Kennedy