Recommendation 65

HM Government · verbatim extract Rejected

The government does not accept this recommendation for the reason that there exist already a range of complementary standing capabilities that aim to identify and assess current and future malicious and non-malicious risks. These include, but are not limited to: ● Near-term horizon scanning of civil contingencies risks with the potential to seriously disrupt normal activity in the UK or the operation of the UK government (up to six months ahead). This is conducted by the Civil Contingencies Secretariat (CCS) in collaboration with sector specific monitoring in government departments and other organisations. ● The Joint Intelligence Organisation, which provides all-source intelligence assessment and has early warning capabilities focused on a wide range of national security topics. ● The newly formed National Situation Centre (NSC), which brings together data and insights from across government and beyond to support situational awareness on national security, crises, and civil emergency issues. ● The NSRA, which is produced by CCS and looks ahead at the most serious malicious and non-malicious risks facing the UK or its interests overseas in the next two years. The NSRA focuses on understanding significant and common consequences in order to drive planning and is shared across government and with local planners. ● Longer term horizon scanning work across government to identify future risks across security and defence, science and technology, international and domestic issues. GO-Science is actively building futures capability across government, in support of the Cabinet Office and Integrated Review commitment to improve this, through shared evidence, tools and training. GO-Science will also deliver a new Foresight Project on resilience to long- term strategic trends during 2022 that will provide the government with a new risk evidence base and tools to apply this to policy development. As part of its ongoing work to develop a Resilience Strategy, the government is currently reviewing the way that it assesses risk, focusing in particular on: the nature of the information it gathers and analyses; the means for communicating and sharing that information; and the way in which recipients adapt and apply information to manage risks. In assessing how all of these factors come together, the government will consider whether new structures, specialist staff and processes are required. The overall objective will be to improve understanding of current and future risks, ensuring that the UK as a whole – the government, businesses, and individuals – can effectively plan, act and adapt.