The UK Government’s preparedness objectives for Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) terror attacks are captured under the Prepare pillar of the Home Office Counter Terrorism Strategy (CONTEST). The Home Office ‘Strategic Framework for the Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Response by the Emergency Services’ sets out, in more detail, the strategic requirements for the emergency services to respond to CBRN incidents to meet these objectives. This document, together with the Joint Emergency Services Interoperability Principles (JESIP)1 and ‘Responding to a CBRN(E) Event: Joint Operating Principles (JOPs) ‘for the Emergency Services’, sets out the operational delivery arrangements, put in place by the emergency services, to deliver the Home Office CBRN preparedness requirements.

Following an in-depth review, this operational guidance has been created to replace the Initial Operational Response (IOR) to CBRN Incidents (June 2015) which focused on terrorist incidents involving CBRN agents.