Source · Select Committees · Defence Committee
Recommendation 31
31
Accepted
Cabinet Office leadership on resilience lacks external engagement and a clear plan.
Conclusion
The Cabinet Office’s leadership in this area appears to be inward focused rather than engaging with other Government departments and wider society. What is required is a clear plan and consistent messaging with well-defined leadership responsibilities—resilience and readiness are not an internal government matter; they require whole of society engagement. (Conclusion, Paragraph 124)
Government Response Summary
The government has published the Resilience Action Plan on 8 July, which sets out a strategic vision, an all-hazards approach, and steps for whole-of-society engagement to build resilience and readiness, also highlighting the Home Defence Programme.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
The Resilience Action Plan, published on 8 July, sets out the UK Government’s strategic vision for a stronger and more resilient UK and the steps being taken to deliver this. This action plan articulates an ‘all hazards approach’ to build resilience across the increasingly volatile and varied risks we face. It sets out how the UK Government is taking action to build our national resilience and how it will support the whole of society to build their own resilience. The Plan complements the NSS and SDR, by enhancing domestic resilience to ensure ‘security at home’ and underlining the importance of the whole of society. The action plan will be delivered over the course of this Parliament. As referenced in the SDR and NSS, the HDP has been established to provide an additional layer of defence, security, and resilience planning that is focused on alignment between military and civilian effort in a period of international hostilities affecting the UK. This is in line with what we see our Partners and Allies also undertaking. approach. This will expand over the coming months and years, driven at a pace commensurate with the Government’s assessment of the developing risk. A developed and shared understanding of the risks we face is fundamental and we are therefore taking a much broader focus on resilience. This includes how we structure the centre of the UK Government, and what we expect of businesses, the local tier, voluntary organisations, community groups, and the public, as detailed in the UK’s Resilience Action Plan. Together this will support a shared understanding of risk and priorities, allowing a better and more efficient use of our capabilities and resources.