UK Act of Parliament 2004 United Kingdom

Civil Contingencies Act 2004

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At a glance

Enforced by

Cabinet Office

What's here

10 compliance obligations, 1 practical guide · 3 journeys

Penalty landscape

1 of 10 obligations carry imprisonment (3 months). 9 have no criminal penalty — flagged in the list below.

Who this Act binds

Business-side actors with duties under this Act, ranked by how often they appear.

  • Any Person 1

Plus 9 non-business duties on Crown ministers, regulators, local authorities or tribunals — shown collapsed under each section below.

Step-by-step journeys using this legislation

Walkthroughs that take you from a real business situation to compliance.

Relevant guidance

Practical guides for businesses affected by this Act, ordered by how closely they engage with it.

Supporting — topic alignment

1 guides

Other Acts binding the same actors

For each actor bound by this Act, the other UK Acts that bind them most often. Useful for understanding the full compliance landscape facing each role.

Any Person also bound by 749 other Acts (top 5 shown)

What this Act requires

Sections that create concrete duties on businesses or carry penalties. Procedural and definitional sections are folded into the “Browse other sections” expander at the bottom of each group. Click any section title to read the source text on legislation.gov.uk.

Part 1 — Local Arrangements for Civil Protection

s.009

Monitoring by Government

Other duties (1) — Crown / regulator
  • Ministers may require information on emergency planning compliance Crown / Minister / Government department
s.014

Scotland: consultation

Other duties (1) — Crown / regulator
  • Ministers must consult Scottish Ministers on emergency regulations Crown / Minister / Government department
s.014

Northern Ireland: consultation

Other duties (1) — Crown / regulator
  • Ministers must consult Northern Ireland authorities on PSNI regulations Crown / Minister / Government department
s.014

Wales: consultation

Other duties (1) — Crown / regulator
  • UK and Welsh Ministers must consult each other on emergency regulations Crown / Minister / Government department
s.015

Northern Ireland: cross-border collaboration

Other duties (1) — Crown / regulator
  • Public bodies must cooperate and share information with PSNI during emergencies Crown / Minister / Government department
Browse 19 other sections in this Part — procedural / definitional / commencement
s.008

Urgency: Wales

s.011

Enforcement: Wales

s.012

Northern Ireland: provision or disclosure of national security information

s.015

Wales: cross-border collaboration

Part 2 — Emergency powers

s.024

Regional and Emergency Coordinators

Other duties (1) — Crown / regulator
  • Government must appoint Emergency Coordinators during emergencies Crown / Minister / Government department
s.027

Parliamentary scrutiny

Other duties (1) — Crown / regulator
  • Government must submit emergency regulations to Parliament for approval Crown / Minister / Government department
Browse 9 other sections in this Part — procedural / definitional / commencement

Part 3 — General

Browse 5 other sections in this Part — procedural / definitional / commencement

Schedules

Browse 3 other Schedules — structural / supplementary
Read the full Act on legislation.gov.uk (opens in a new tab)

Official guidance

Authoritative sources published by regulators or government explaining this legislation.

Enforcement and responsible bodies

The regulators that administer or enforce this legislation.

Cabinet Office

Cabinet Office (Civil Contingencies Secretariat)

Lead government department for civil-contingencies and emergency preparedness policy under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004. Issues statutory guidance to Category 1 and …

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Browse legislation

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Regulators

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