Chapter 4 – Protect Our People 45 4.142 We will take further action to protect the UK from the market uncertainties caused by instability in the Middle East and Russia’s actions in Europe’s eastern neighbourhood. We will promote investment in renewable, shale and other innovative technologies to increase domestic production, reflecting devolved arrangements where relevant, and support UK energy companies to win business overseas. We will work with the EU to shape the single energy market, helping to reduce the EU’s energy dependence on Russia. We will lead efforts to evolve international energy governance, reducing market distortions and better integrating major non-OECD consumers into decision making. Flooding 4.143 We have learned valuable lessons from our experience in responding to serious flooding over the past five years, particularly the winter floods in 2013/14. We are investing in building and maintaining flood defences in England. 4.144 It is not possible to prevent all flooding, and so maintaining and improving flood response capability is crucial in order to protect lives. We will put in place a consistent approach to managing flood risk, verifying this through local and national exercises and targeting resources to where they will have the greatest benefit. We will also build the strongest possible partnerships with local authorities, utility companies and businesses. Partnerships and local responses 4.145 We recognise that the response to, and recovery from, an emergency is carried out first and foremost at the local level. As well as the police, fire and rescue and health services, a wide range of organisations could be involved. These include local government, voluntary service organisations, businesses, community groups and individuals. We will therefore continue to develop and improve coordination between local and national levels of response. 4.146 We will also support local organisations’ ability to adapt to changing risks, through: •• Embedding work already under way to ensure that emergency responders work effectively together at the scene of major incidents. •• Helping organisations involved in planning for response to share and apply learning from exercises and real-life events. •• Providing advice, support and infrastructure (including the successful ‘ResilienceDirect’ digital information-sharing platform) to enable them to fulfil their statutory responsibilities to work together to assess risk, plan and communicate. 4.147 We will develop a new set of resilience standards. We will draw on the expertise of the Voluntary Sector Civil Protection Forum to support planning, response and recovery at the local level. We will also continue to support the Prince of Wales’ Business Emergency Recovery Group, a business-led initiative that helps businesses and communities prepare for, respond to and recover from crises. 4.148 The Armed Forces support civil authorities when needed in times of emergency. This ranges from providing specialist teams after aircraft crashes, to ensuring continuity of essential services during industrial action. We have helped local responders understand the support that the Armed Forces can provide and how to access it quickly. We have integrated military experts and planners more closely into local planning and emergency response, and conducted more preparatory exercises at local and regional levels.