Source · Select Committees · Health and Social Care Committee
Recommendation 10
10
Accepted in Part
Paragraph: 67
The resourcing and capabilities of the Civil Contingencies Secretariat should be improved.
Recommendation
The resourcing and capabilities of the Civil Contingencies Secretariat should be improved. The Civil Contingencies Secretariat should be empowered to ‘stress test’ plans and to ensure that Departments are able to carry out a contingency plan if required. The details and results of these stress tests should be included in the Cabinet Office’s annual report.
Government response summary AI-generated
The government partially accepts the recommendation, stating improvements to CCS resourcing are being considered following a review. It claims CCS already conducts stress tests and is considering how to report exercise outcomes in the annual report, balanced against security.
Summary of the government's response below — read the verbatim text to verify.
Paragraph Reference:
67
Government Response
Accepted in Part
HM Government · verbatim extract
Accepted in Part
The government partially accepts this recommendation. The government agrees that improvements should be made to the resourcing and capabilities of CCS, whilst recognising the need to balance resources against other priorities. CCS has conducted a resource review to ensure that it is adequately resourced to meet its core functions, and the conclusions are being considered. CCS does ‘stress test’ plans and ensures that departments are able to carry out contingency plans, if required. These are known as preparedness exercises and are undertaken regularly to test the UK’s readiness to respond to a wide range of threats and hazards. Exercise outcomes are regularly shared with Ministers. CCS is always seeking to improve the preparedness exercise programme and is considering how exercise outcomes can be reported in the Cabinet Office’s annual report, balanced against security considerations.
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