Welcome to the Standby Manual

The Standby Service policy was defined by the Policy & Resources Committee on 22 June 1982.

The Committee resolved that the Standby Service should be used only where there appears to be a risk of:-

  • Injury to Persons
  • Damage to Council Property
  • A breach of any Statutory Duty of the Council

The Standby Superintendent should fully establish, from the caller, the extent of the problem and ensure that it is covered by the above criteria before committing the Council to any expenditure.

They should decide, from the information gained, what type of assistance (if any) to provide e.g. Standby crew or contractor, or whether the Emergencies Co-Ordinator should be contacted.

Problems that are the responsibility of other bodies, either public (e.g. WSCC, EA, Parishes etc) or private (e.g. Gas, Electric, Water Cos., SWSetc) should be directed to them.

Further guidance to OoH Standby officers (June 2021)

  • The out of hours service is to enable members of the public to contact Arun District Council in the case of an emergency out of the normal office hours, this would primarily be to report tenant emergency housing repairs issues, noise complaints, homelessness and any other emergency issue.
  • If the customer is not satisfied with the OoH service provided and wants to complain during out of hours,  the complaint would be escalated to the OoH officer on duty in the first instance. The matter will be progressed with the respective Manager/Group Head the next working day. If it is an emergency situation the OoH Officer would escalate to the duty Emergency Planning Officer immediately.