Recommendation 11

The Government should introduce annual reporting to Parliament by a responsible minister—such as the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster—on the state of national 54 Biosecurity and national security preparedness for top-tier risks in the Risk Register. This should be compiled in consultation with industry experts on supply chains. The report to Parliament should be prepared by a new task force that we recommend below, with responsibility for resilience capabilities and for leading the UK’s biological security efforts (see paragraph 99). The task force should regularly report on: a) the national stockpile of critical items (including their condition, suitability for use and applicability across a range of risk scenarios) and the domestic manufacturing capacity of strategic supplies; b) surge capacity within relevant public services; c) lessons learned and actions taken as a result of drills, table-top exercises and other exercises (which we discuss in Chapter 5); d) its approach to coordination with the devolved administrations and local government, and the adequacy of arrangements in each Local Resilience Forum area (see Chapter 4); e) the level of capacity-building and training undertaken by ministers in emergency response and crisis management (see paragraph 94); and f) any other actions taken to improve preparedness and resilience. We expect that sensitive security information could be shared with us, and potentially also with other parliamentary committees, in confidence. (Paragraph 63) Resilience on the ‘frontlines’