Recommendations & Conclusions
31 items
2
Recommendation
Twenty-Seventh Report - Government res…
Deferred
The Cabinet Office is taking too long to develop its approach to investment in resilience, including private sector investment. Public and private sector investment is critical in developing national resilience to extreme weather events and to the impacts of climate change. The Cabinet Office and HM Treasury do not know …
Government response. The government is deferring action by referencing a national resilience review overseen by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, with a Treasury Minute to be published after the review concludes.
HM Treasury
3
Recommendation
Twenty-Seventh Report - Government res…
Deferred
For most extreme weather risks government has not set out what level of resilience it wants to achieve or how it will attain this, including targets and standards for the desired level of national, local or sectoral resilience. For three of the four extreme weather risks examined by the National …
Government response. The government has deferred action by announcing a review of national resilience overseen by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, with a Treasury Minute to be published after the review.
HM Treasury
4
Recommendation
Twenty-Seventh Report - Government res…
Deferred
In building resilience to extreme weather events, it will be vital to better understand how different communities and groups will be disproportionately affected. People experience different levels of exposure to extreme weather. Factors such as location, income and health affect people’s ability to cope with and respond to these events. …
Government response. The government is deferring a response pending the outcome of a review of national resilience overseen by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.
HM Treasury
5
Recommendation
Twenty-Seventh Report - Government res…
Deferred
If the government does not learn lessons on leadership and oversight for system-wide risks, this may come at a high cost to individuals, the economy and society in the future. Managing and building resilience to national risks requires coordinated action to be taken across government and beyond. But there are …
Government response. The government has deferred action by announcing a review of national resilience overseen by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, with a Treasury Minute to be published after the review.
HM Treasury
6
Recommendation
Twenty-Seventh Report - Government res…
Deferred
The Cabinet Office has yet to set out the respective roles of central government, local government, the devolved administrations, the private and voluntary sectors, and the public for developing and maintaining national resilience. Government has identified that developing resilience requires a ‘whole of society’ approach, but it has yet to …
Government response. The government is deferring a response pending the outcome of a review of national resilience overseen by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.
HM Treasury
7
Recommendation
Twenty-Seventh Report - Government res…
Deferred
Local organisations have a critical role to play in developing UK resilience, but the Cabinet Office does not know if they have the capacity or capability to fulfil their role effectively. Local organisations, such as the local responders represented in local resilience forums and other voluntary and community organisations have …
Government response. The government is deferring a response until a review of national resilience has concluded, overseen by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, and will write to the new Committee in the meantime.
HM Treasury
1
Conclusion
Twenty-Seventh Report - Government res…
Deferred
On the basis of a Report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence from the Cabinet Office, the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra), HM Treasury, and the Met Office on government’s arrangements to build resilience to national risks, including extreme weather events.1
Government response. The government is deferring a response pending the outcome of a review of national resilience overseen by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.
HM Treasury
8
Conclusion
Twenty-Seventh Report - Government res…
Deferred
Both public and private sector investment is critical in developing national resilience to extreme weather events and climate change. For example, many flood defence projects require funding from public and private sector sources in addition to government 6 Qq 1, 45 7 Qq 1, 2, 39, 43, 90, 124; C&AG’s …
Government response. The government is deferring action by referencing a national resilience review overseen by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, with a Treasury Minute to be published after the review concludes.
HM Treasury
9
Conclusion
Twenty-Seventh Report - Government res…
Deferred
The Cabinet Office and HM Treasury cannot identify how much is spent on resilience activity as there is no common definition of what constitutes this type of activity.16 Government has committed to developing a coordinated approach to investment in resilience by 2030, noting that to make strategic investment decisions, it …
Government response. The government states that a review of national resilience will be overseen by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, with a Treasury Minute to be published upon its conclusion, effectively deferring a substantive response to the findings of that …
HM Treasury
10
Conclusion
Twenty-Seventh Report - Government res…
Deferred
Regulation has an important role to play in developing resilience. Written submissions to us highlighted that resilience to climate change, including extreme weather, requires a strategic and coordinated approach to regulatory frameworks.18 Most infrastructure regulators do not have specific duties regarding climate resilience. Ofwat is the exception and has had …
Government response. The government deferred responding to the conclusion, stating that a review of national resilience will be overseen by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, and a Treasury Minute will be published after the review concludes.
HM Treasury
11
Conclusion
Twenty-Seventh Report - Government res…
Deferred
On private sector investment in climate resilience, the Cabinet Office highlighted the 2023 green finance strategy that promotes working with private sector partners to improve the approach to climate resilience assessment and disclosure, and collaboration to make sure the things that need to be funded are funded included through the …
Government response. The government is deferring action by referencing a national resilience review overseen by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, with a Treasury Minute to be published after the review concludes.
HM Treasury
12
Conclusion
Twenty-Seventh Report - Government res…
Deferred
The government’s resilience framework does not set out a well-defined vision for what a resilient UK looks like, including targets and standards for the desired level of national, local, or sectoral resilience. Without specifying what outcome it is looking to achieve, such as target levels of preparedness or resilience, or …
Government response. The government deferred responding to the conclusion, stating that a review of national resilience will be overseen by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, and a Treasury Minute will be published after the review concludes.
HM Treasury
13
Conclusion
Twenty-Seventh Report - Government res…
Deferred
The Cabinet Office explained that it is difficult to have a single risk appetite across government because risks themselves vary and each risk will have different appetites. For example, society has a higher tolerance for deaths in road traffic accidents in a year than for deaths in a single terrorist …
Government response. The government deferred responding to the conclusion, stating that a review of national resilience will be overseen by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, and a Treasury Minute will be published after the review concludes.
HM Treasury
14
Conclusion
Twenty-Seventh Report - Government res…
Deferred
For three of the four extreme weather risks that the NAO examined (high temperatures and heatwaves, storms and surface water flooding), there was a lack of clarity on what outcome government is looking to achieve, such as target levels of preparedness, resilience, and an agreement on the level of tolerable …
Government response. The government deferred responding to the conclusion, stating that a review of national resilience will be overseen by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, and a Treasury Minute will be published after the review concludes.
HM Treasury
15
Conclusion
Twenty-Seventh Report - Government res…
Deferred
People experience different levels of exposure to extreme weather. Factors such as location, income and health affect people’s ability to cope with and respond to these events. For example, lower income households may be more likely to live in properties at flood risk, which are less expensive to buy or …
Government response. The government deferred responding to the conclusion, stating that a review of national resilience will be overseen by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, and a Treasury Minute will be published after the review concludes.
HM Treasury
16
Conclusion
Twenty-Seventh Report - Government res…
Deferred
The Cabinet Office has committed to implementing several measures by 2025 to better support vulnerable groups. One of these is developing a measurement of socio- economic resilience, including how risks impact across communities and vulnerable groups to guide and inform decision making on risk and resilience. Another measure is offering …
Government response. The government deferred responding to the conclusion, stating that a review of national resilience will be overseen by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, and a Treasury Minute will be published after the review concludes.
HM Treasury
17
Conclusion
Twenty-Seventh Report - Government res…
Deferred
The Met Office noted that the media has an important role to play in getting important messages across and helping people adapt. It highlighted recent extreme heat events where the whole UK media helped to get the message across that “This is not weather you have seen before and it …
Government response. The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster announced that he would oversee a review of national resilience. A Treasury Minute will be published once this review has concluded. The Cabinet Office will write to the new Committee in the meantime.
HM Treasury
18
Conclusion
Twenty-Seventh Report - Government res…
Deferred
New Zealand’s National Emergencies Management Agency runs a national communications campaign on how to prepare for emergencies. The ‘Get Ready’ campaign encourages households, workplaces, schools and communities to be ready. It provides information on what to do before, during and after natural hazard events, including floods and storms. The Australian …
Government response. The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster announced that he would oversee a review of national resilience. A Treasury Minute will be published once this review has concluded. The Cabinet Office will write to the new Committee in the meantime.
HM Treasury
19
Conclusion
Twenty-Seventh Report - Government res…
Deferred
Although the Cabinet Office assigns ownership for each national risk to either a single department or to multiple departments, managing these risks and building resilience to them often requires coordinated action across government and beyond. This can be challenging for individual or small groups of departments to coordinate and oversee.34 …
Government response. The government deferred responding to the conclusion, stating that a review of national resilience will be overseen by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, and a Treasury Minute will be published after the review concludes.
HM Treasury
20
Conclusion
Twenty-Seventh Report - Government res…
Deferred
We asked HM Treasury what more could be done to oversee national risks. It told us that the Head of the Government Risk profession is focused on improving the risk management capability of government, improving the professionalism and credibility of staff, increasing cross-boundary working, and all these actions will help. …
Government response. The government deferred responding to the conclusion, stating that a review of national resilience will be overseen by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, and a Treasury Minute will be published after the review concludes.
HM Treasury
21
Recommendation
Twenty-Seventh Report - Government res…
Deferred
In 2022, we recommended the establishment of a Chief Risk Officer to consider cross- cutting risks in government and proactively manage the identification and resolution of system-wide concerns. We stated that the role should provide independent challenge on the extent to which risk is properly identified and considered at the …
Government response. The government deferred responding to the recommendation, stating that a review of national resilience will be overseen by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, and a Treasury Minute will be published after the review concludes.
HM Treasury
22
Conclusion
Twenty-Seventh Report - Government res…
Deferred
We asked the witnesses why there is still no Chief Risk Officer or Advisor, like the National Security Adviser, to provide a more cohesive system-wide view and leadership. The Cabinet Office told us that the Head of Resilience fulfils that role, by looking at all the resilience risks across Government …
Government response. The government deferred responding to the conclusion, stating that a review of national resilience will be overseen by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, and a Treasury Minute will be published after the review concludes.
HM Treasury
23
Conclusion
Twenty-Seventh Report - Government res…
Deferred
Although the government’s resilience framework highlighted that developing resilience requires a ‘whole of society’ approach, it has not set out what the respective roles of central government, local government, the devolved administrations, the private and voluntary sectors, and the public are.41 We also received written evidence from several organisations and …
Government response. The government is deferring a response pending the outcome of a review of national resilience overseen by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.
HM Treasury
24
Conclusion
Twenty-Seventh Report - Government res…
Deferred
The Cabinet Office assigns ownership of acute national risks to lead government departments. It updated the relevant guidance in 2023 with specific responsibilities for building resilience and preventing risks from occurring. It assured us that the lead government department list is also clear on the roles of the devolved nations.45
Government response. The government is deferring a response pending the outcome of a review of national resilience overseen by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.
HM Treasury
25
Conclusion
Twenty-Seventh Report - Government res…
Deferred
The Civil Contingencies Act sets out the roles and responsibilities for those involved in emergency preparation and response at the local level. The Cabinet Office explained that there are no defined responsibilities for businesses and the voluntary sector but highlighted that it engages with the response community, voluntary organisations and …
Government response. The government is deferring a response pending the outcome of a review of national resilience overseen by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.
HM Treasury
26
Conclusion
Twenty-Seventh Report - Government res…
Deferred
Considering individual extreme weather risks, the public does not always know who is responsible for mitigating the risk, particularly if it is a novel risk impacting them for the first time. For example, public awareness of the risk of surface water flooding is low and it is not always clear …
Government response. The government is deferring a response pending the outcome of a review of national resilience overseen by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.
HM Treasury
27
Conclusion
Twenty-Seventh Report - Government res…
Deferred
During Storm Babet in 2022–23, there were 5.7 million properties in England at risk of flooding from rivers, the sea, surface water or groundwater. Over 150 rivers had record water levels and 2,200 homes were flooded. The storm hit local areas that were less used 40 Q 46 41 C&AG’s …
Government response. The government is deferring a response pending the outcome of a review of national resilience overseen by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.
HM Treasury
28
Conclusion
Twenty-Seventh Report - Government res…
Deferred
Local organisations have a critical role in responding to emergencies and building resilience.50 Emergency responders in a local area convene in local resilience forums (LRFs) and the Cabinet Office published a set of national resilience standards for LRFs in 2020. These standards provide a consistent way for LRFs and their …
Government response. The government is deferring a response pending the outcome of a review of national resilience overseen by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.
HM Treasury
29
Conclusion
Twenty-Seventh Report - Government res…
Deferred
We asked the witnesses whether central government reviews local emergency plans and monitors community risk registers. The Cabinet Office told us that LRF plans are not examined and assured by central government, noting that the powers exist to do this but not the funding for implementation. It also highlighted that …
Government response. The government is deferring a response pending the outcome of a review of national resilience overseen by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.
HM Treasury
30
Conclusion
Twenty-Seventh Report - Government res…
Deferred
When asked if LRFs and other local organisations have the capacity and capability to carry out their resilience roles effectively, the Cabinet Office told us that resilience is often a function of the capacity and capability of the broader system more generally, such as the strength of their social services, …
Government response. The government is deferring a response until a review of national resilience has concluded, overseen by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, and will write to the new Committee in the meantime.
HM Treasury
31
Conclusion
Twenty-Seventh Report - Government res…
Deferred
The Cabinet Office, in its 2021 integrated review of security, defence, development and foreign policy, recognised the that the roles and responsibilities of LRFs needs to be strengthened. The Department for Levelling up, Housing and Communities plans to pilot ways to strengthen their leadership and accountability by 2025. The Cabinet …
Government response. The government has deferred action by announcing a review of national resilience overseen by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, with a Treasury Minute to be published after the review.
HM Treasury