Source · Select Committees · Defence Committee
Recommendation 15
15
Acknowledged
Publish departmental responsibilities within the national defence plan and assign to named Ministers.
Recommendation
Under a national defence plan, each relevant Government Department would have its own responsibilities. We recommend that these responsibilities are published as far as possible, and—if any responsibilities cannot be published for national security reasons—these should be provided in confidence to the relevant select committee. We also recommend that, for each Department, its role in the national defence plan should be added to the list of responsibilities of a named Minister. (Paragraph 140)
Government Response Summary
The government committed to making departmental responsibilities in national defence planning as transparent as possible, following the existing approach for lead government departments in risk planning, but did not commit to publishing specific responsibilities or assigning a named minister.
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
In the published National Risk Register, the Government has declassified more risk information than ever before, adopting a transparent by default approach to the NRR, so that risk practitioners can see more clearly how the government identifies and assesses risks. Only in a small number of cases has highly sensitive information not been included, for national security or commercial reasons. Details around Departmental Responsibilities in national defence planning will be as transparent as possible and will follow the approach set by the Resilience Directorate in the Cabinet Office on the role of lead government departments in planning for risks with the support of other departments and bodies.