What are response levels?
Response levels provide a broad indication of the protective security measures that should be applied at any particular moment. They are set by security practitioners in Government and in some Critical National Infrastructure sectors. They are informed by the threat level but also take into account specific assessments of vulnerability and risk.
Response levels tend to relate to sites, whereas threat levels usually relate to broad areas of activity.
Within response levels, there is a variety of security measures that can be applied as appropriate - the response level will not produce the same measures at every location. Many of the measures will not be obvious or visible to the public.
There are three levels of response which broadly equate to threat levels as shown below:
| RESPONSE LEVEL | DESCRIPTION | RELATED THREAT LEVELS |
|---|---|---|
Normal | Routine protective security measures appropriate to the business concerned | Low and Moderate |
| Heightened | Additional and sustainable protective security measures reflecting the broad nature of the threat combined with specific business and geographical vulnerabilities and judgements on acceptable risk | Substantial and Severe |
| Exceptional | Maximum protective security measures to meet specific threats and to minimise vulnerability and risk | Critical |
The security measures taken to protect people and Critical National Infrastructure will not be announced publicly, to avoid informing terrorists about what we know and what we are doing about it. Because response levels are the result of detailed assessments of risk to specific elements of the Critical National Infrastructure, changes in the national threat level will not necessarily produce changes to the sector-specific response levels.
