Annual report showcases “hard work and collaboration” of West Yorkshire organisations

West Yorkshire Resilience Forum (WYRF) has published its latest annual report, showcasing the hard work, and collaborative efforts of its partners over the last year.

Covering the period between April 2023 to the end of March 2024, the report details the work of the WYRF – the region’s multi-agency partnership, which works to help communities prepare for, respond to and recover from emergencies and major incidents.

Also known as ‘West Yorkshire Prepared’, WYRF works to identify, plan and prepare for major civil emergencies, such as flooding, power outages and health pandemics, to ensure the region is better prepared to cope with potential risks and able to recover following a major incident.

Looking back to spring 2023, the annual report provides details on the numerous training exercises which have taken place to prepare partners for incidents requiring a multi-agency response, as well as responding to a number of real incidents, such as a 999 outage and an incident involving an unsafe structure.

The WYRF co-Chairs said: “Emergencies can have a huge impact on residents, communities and businesses. It is therefore vital that all organisations within the partnership are appropriately equipped to prepare for, respond to and support the recovery from incidents and emergencies across West Yorkshire.

“The Forum enables all responsible organisations to plan effectively and ensure we all understand the challenges facing us, so we can identify and address any gaps in our capacity and capability to deal with those challenges.”

The primary organisations involved in WYRF include the emergency services, the five West Yorkshire Local Authorities, the NHS, UKHSA, British Trasport Police and the Environment Agency. They are supported by organisations such as the Met Office and utility and transport companies, with all partners working collaboratively for the benefit of the communities they serve.

The LRF co-Chairs added: “We would like to take this opportunity to thank all colleagues within the West Yorkshire Resilience Forum, the sub-group teams and the Secretariat for their continued hard work and commitment over the last year.”

A copy of the Annual report can be downloaded here.