Cabinet Office Briefing Room (COBR)
From SR
Cabinet Office Briefing Room (COBR) is a Government dedicated crisis management facility that is activated in cases of national or regional emergency or crisis, or during events abroad with major implications for the UK, where the nature of the emergency is such that it affects the business of a number of government departments and a collective response will be required. It is also referred to as COBRA (or Cobra), given that its meetings are held in conference room A of the Cabinet Office. The term COBRA is used both for the actual facility, and for the Civil Contingencies Committee which meets there.
COBR is situated in an undisclosed part of Whitehall. Physically it is a secure suite of rooms containing a bank of telephone lines, fax machines, computer terminals, video conference facilities, and other state-of-the-art communication equipment. Its purpose is to enable the Prime Minister, senior Ministers, key government officials, and other critical persons (Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Mayor of London and Intelligence Officials) to obtain vital information about an incident and to secure lines of communication to the police and other emergency services, army, hospitals, and all relevant branches of government. The chairmanship of COBR meetings depends on the nature of the incident or crisis. The Prime Minister, Home Secretary or another senior Minister will normally chair key meetings involving Ministers and officials from relevant departments, as appropriate. Meetings will cover all the strategic aspects of the response and recovery effort.
Once activated, relevant departments and agencies will immediately send representatives to COBR. COBR will remain open until the emergency has passed. The COBR Secretariat in consultation with the LGD will decide on the timings of meetings, and whether and, if so, which departments need to be represented in COBR 24/7.
Officials in COBR will identify options and propose advice on the issues on which Ministers will need to focus. In times of immense national crisis it can invoke emergency powers such as suspending Parliament or restricting movement within the country. Although these powers may only be used with the consent of Her Majesty the Queen.
