Recommendation 30

We recommend that the Government: • Re-establish a ministerial governance structure for overseeing risk and resilience, with a strong connection to the NSC—for example, by re-establishing a dedicated NSC sub-committee. This ministerial committee should be directly connected to the cross-government warning function described earlier. • Establish greater clarity of responsibility for national security risks, by designating Chief Risk Officers in each department and agency, overseen by a Chief Risk Officer in the Cabinet Office. The work of the central CRO would need to be deconflicted from the strategy and policy focus of the Deputy National Security Adviser for National Security and Resilience. The Government should also consider establishing an external audit function for the assessment and management of risks where appropriate. The Government should update us on its progress against this recommendation when it informs us of the outcomes of its review of the NSRA methodology and/or the biosecurity governance review.