Recommendation 12

Organisations at the local level—in particular local authorities, Local Resilience Forums and community organisations—form the ‘frontline’ of planning for, and response to, emergencies. We recognise the work done by the Government to improve consistency and good practice locally, including the 2019 National Resilience Standard. However, LRFs are under significant pressure due to the protracted nature of the covid-19 emergency (rather than the short-term emergencies that LRFs are intended to deal with). During the current pandemic, they have sometimes lacked the necessary intelligence, data and support from central government to carry out their role effectively.