Category 2 responder

Section 3(5) of the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 says that a person or body listed in Part 3, 4 or 5 of Schedule 1 "may be referred to as a Category 2 responder". Part 3 is the general list, Part 4 covers Scotland and Part 5 Wales.

The general list in Part 3 is headed utilities, transport, health and safety and miscellaneous. It covers holders of electricity transmission, distribution, system operator and interconnector licences, gas licence holders, water and sewerage undertakers in England, providers of public electronic communications networks offering telephone services, railway licence holders, Transport for London and London Underground, airport operators, harbour authorities, the Health and Safety Executive, the Office for Nuclear Regulation, the Coal Authority and the Secretary of State in respect of the Meteorological Office.

Gov.uk guidance calls Category 2 organisations "co-operating bodies". It says they are less likely to be involved in the heart of planning work but will be heavily involved in incidents that affect their own sector, and that their duties are co-operating and sharing relevant information with other Category 1 and 2 responders. Under regulation 4 of the Contingency Planning Regulations 2005 they must attend a local resilience forum meeting when all the Category 1 responders in the area invite them.