Twenty-Seventh Report - Government resilience: extreme weather

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 … Read more 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 how much money is spent on resilience to extreme weather events or other national risks. The Cabinet Office has committed to having a coordinated and prioritised approach to investment in resilience within government, informed by a shared understanding of risk, by 2030. By 2030, the Cabinet Office has also committed to reviewing existing regulatory regimes on resilience to ensure they are fit for purpose. Currently, some regulators do not have a statutory climate resilience remit and we are concerned that slow implementation of these measures is holding back UK resilience. The 2023 Green Finance Strategy sets out government’s proposed action to prepare the UK for the physical impacts of the changing climate, to align financial flows with a climate-resilient economy, and to increase investment in adaptation, but its commitments on adaptation are substantially weaker than those on net zero and on nature. Recommendation 2: By 2028, the Cabinet Office should: a) implement the government’s coordinated and prioritised approach to investment in resilience; b) give infrastructure regulators consistent climate resilience roles; and 6 Government resilience: extreme weather c) work with HM Treasury and other government departments to encourage greater private investment in climate adaptation. Show less

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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 … Read more 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 Audit Office (high temperatures and heatwaves, storms and surface water flooding), government has not specified what outcome it is looking to achieve, such as target levels of preparedness or resilience, or the amount of risk that it is willing to accept in the pursuit of those outcomes (risk appetite). For droughts, water companies are currently required to plan to ensure resilience to a 1-in-200 year ‘severe’ drought and from 2024, to a 1-in- 500 year ‘extreme’ drought. Without defining the level of risk government is willing to accept and aiming to attain, it cannot make informed decisions about trade- offs between long- and short-term priorities, investment or funding allocation in priority areas. It also makes it difficult for government or other stakeholders to track progress and evaluate how effectively and efficiently government is using public funds to improve national resilience. Recommendation 3: Using extreme weather risks as a pilot with a view to then applying more widely to other sets of national risks, the Cabinet Office should set out what a resilient UK looks like for these risks and a strategy to deliver this. This could include identifying the gap between the tolerable and acceptable level of risk and the current position, producing costed plans to drive down the risk to this level, bringing this information together to develop a coordinated and prioritised approach to investment, and monitoring and tracking progress in driving down the risk to this level. Show less

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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 … Read more 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. Better understanding of vulnerability to the impacts of extreme weather could be used to target adaptation measures and emergency response. Government has committed to conducting an annual survey of public perceptions of risk, resilience and preparedness and develop a measurement of socio-economic resilience by 2025. This will include how risks impact across communities and vulnerable groups, to guide and inform decision making on risk and resilience. Other countries such as Australia and New Zealand have programmes of public education and communication on how to prepare for crises. Recommendation 4: The Cabinet Office should set out how it will better engage different communities and vulnerable groups to understand the risks and impacts that affect them, for example, by using the results of its 2025 survey to better protect vulnerable groups. Show less

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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 … Read more 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 resilience: extreme weather 7 gaps in improving UK resilience as accountability is too fragmented and diffuse. 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. This post has not been created. Instead, the Cabinet Office appointed a Head of Resilience to lead the efforts to strengthen UK resilience and HM Treasury appointed a Head of the Government Risk Profession to build capabilities and skills in the risk management profession. These roles do not adequately address the objective of the Committee’s previous recommendation. There is still a lack of independent challenge on the extent to which risk is properly identified and considered at the most senior levels when decisions are made, and a lack of cohesive leadership and objective oversight of how government as a whole manages national risks. A Chief Risk Officer should address these shortcomings, ensure that there are no gaps in risk oversight, and address systemic challenges across government and any consequential risks. Recommendation 5: By 2025, the government should establish a Government Chief Risk Officer role to oversee the identification and proactive management of cross-cutting consequential risks in government and the resolution of system-wide concerns in a cohesive and coherent manner. This role should be independent and have sufficient seniority to not only provide professional leadership and expert advice across the risk profession but also advise and constructively challenge senior leaders in government. Show less

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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 … Read more 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 clarify the roles the different parts of government and society ought to play, leading to uncertainty on what actions to take. This uncertainty on roles, responsibilities and actions is particularly challenging for communities dealing with a novel risk that is impacting them for the first time where who does what has not been well rehearsed. Considering individual extreme weather risks, the public does not always know who is responsible for mitigating the risk. For example, public awareness of the risk of surface water flooding is low and it is not always clear who the public should contact to report incidents to when they happen. There are also opportunities to learn from other countries. For example, the Australian government has issued statements of responsibility for government, business, the third sector and individuals. Recommendation 6: The Cabinet Office should set out clear roles, responsibilities, and guidance for citizens, the third sector, the public sector and the private sector on prevention and preparedness for national risks, and how this links with the roles and responsibilities of central and local government. Show less

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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 … Read more 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 a critical role in making the UK resilient. For example, each forum produces a community risk register setting out the greatest risks to their local area, what is 8 Government resilience: extreme weather being done to manage them and where the public can get help or advice. They also prepare supporting emergency plans, that may either be generic plans that describe a response to a wide range of possible scenarios, such as a major incident plan, or specific plans that deal with a particular kind of emergency, such as a flood. However, central government does not check local plans to see if they are fit for purpose and does not know if local organisations have the capacity and capability to fulfil their functions effectively. The Cabinet Office, in its 2021 integrated review of security, defence, development and foreign policy, recognised the that the roles and responsibilities of these forums needs to be strengthened. The Department for Levelling up, Housing and Communities plans to pilot ways to strengthen their leadership and accountability by 2025. Recommendation 7: The Cabinet Office, working with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, should put measures in place to gain assurance on local organisations’ capacities and capabilities and to gain assurance on local risk registers and plans so support and resources can be targeted where improvement is most needed. Government resilience: extreme weather 9 1 Building resilience Show less

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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 … Read more 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 most senior levels when decisions are made, provide cohesive leadership and objective oversight of how government manages national risks.38 Show less

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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

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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 …

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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 …

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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 …

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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 …

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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 …

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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 …

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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 …

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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 …

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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 …

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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 …

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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 …

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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 …

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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. …

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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 …

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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 …

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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

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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 …

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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 …

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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 …

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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 …

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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 …

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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, …

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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 …

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