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P2-47

Local resilience forums to adopt national standards

Grenfell Tower Inquiry · Grenfell Tower Inquiry: Phase 2 Report · Issued 4 September 2024 · Addressed to: UK Government

Government responseUK Government: Accepted (Feb 2025)

DeliveryMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local Government says in progress (Sep 2026)

Recommendation, verbatim from the inquiry

●Inquiry recommendation

That local resilience forums adopt national standards to ensure effective training, preparation and planning for emergencies and adopt independent auditing schemes to identify deficiencies and secure compliance. (113.71)

Grenfell Tower Inquiry, Grenfell Tower Inquiry: Phase 2 Report · 4 Sep 2024 Source PDF →

Published evidence summary

AI-generated evidence summary

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government reported in September 2026 that the government was consulting on updated National Resilience Standards for Local Resilience Forums, aiming to publish them in the third quarter of 2026 (Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, Sep 2026; Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, Sep 2026). The department stated in the same September 2026 report that a new national peer review protocol had been tested through two pilots and would be launched later in 2026 alongside the refreshed standards (Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, Sep 2026; Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, Sep 2026). It also explained in September 2026 that wider reforms across all 38 local resilience forums remained outstanding, with learning from five established trailblazer areas set to inform future implementation instead of completing rollout by the end of the year (Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, Sep 2026).

AI-generated summary of the record on this page, checked by a second model and automatic checks, 26 Sep 2026.

About this summary
This recommendation applies across many organisations. The record above reflects central policy activity; adoption in individual organisations may vary.

Government response

●UK Government · Accepted · 26 Feb 2025

Words of: HM Government, Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 2 Report: Government response (CP 1248), presented to Parliament by the Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, 26 February 2025

The government accepts this recommendation. We will refine and update the National Resilience Standards for Local Resilience Forums (LRFs) to clarify expectations on local resilience forums. Further work will be undertaken to determine appropriate levels of assurance, including the development of certification and qualifications to enable local authorities and local resilience forums to assure their training provision against a National Qualifications Framework. We have also been building processes to better understand local resilience forums’ performance, capacity and capability, following on from the introduction of local resilience forum core capacity and capability funding in 2021. We are committed to doing more together to strengthen LRFs, including through the Stronger LRF trailblazers. We have also already introduced formal reporting to better understand local resilience forums’ preparedness, have a local capability assessment process in train, and plan to test a new peer review protocol for local resilience forums to work together to assess their planning, response and recovery activities, including training. This will help both government and local partnerships understand where their strengths and weaknesses are and drive improvements.

Extract from: Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 2 Report: Government response (HTML version)

Site note: This is the government's response to the Phase 2 report (CP 1248, published 26 February 2025). It prints each recommendation and then the response to it. Where the recommendation is addressed to a body outside government, the response prints that body's own acceptance (the Architects Registration Board and RIBA, HMICFRS, London Fire Brigade, the National Fire Chiefs Council, the British Standards Institution, the National Police Chiefs' Council), and the row is filed under that body.

Delivery

●Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government says in progress · 10 Sep 2026

Timeline for delivery
2026
- Government will work with Local Resilience Forums (LRFs) to design and test a proposal for a new peer review protocol. – (Q3, Jul to Sep)
- Government will update National Resilience Standards for LRFs. – (Q3, Jul to Sep)

From: Progress report September 2026: implementation timeline for Grenfell Tower Inquiry recommendations (part of Grenfell Tower Inquiry Government Progress Report: September 2026)

Site note: This is the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government's progress report of September 2026 on the Grenfell Tower Inquiry recommendations. Where the passage describes work by another body, such as the National Fire Chiefs Council, London Fire Brigade, fire and rescue services, the British Standards Institution or the Cabinet Office, it is the Ministry's account of that body's progress, and the row is filed under the Ministry.

Earlier statements on delivery (0)

●Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government · 10 Sep 2026

Cabinet Office has continued to progress work on updating the National Resilience Standards for Local Resilience Forums (LRFs). An updated draft has been developed in response to feedback from LRFs and wider partners, which we are now consulting on. We are aiming to publish the revised National Resilience Standards for Local Resilience Forums by Q3 (July to September) 2026.

A new national peer protocol has been designed alongside the sector and successfully tested through 2 pilots. Lessons from the pilots will be incorporated into the final model and the protocol will be updated in line with the planned refresh of the National Resilience Standards before launch later in 2026.

The Stronger LRF Trailblazer programme has evolved from its original ambition to roll out reforms across all 38 Local Resilience Forums in England by the end of this year. The original 5 Trailblazer areas are now established, with Chief Resilience Officers in post and new governance arrangements in place to strengthen democratic oversight. Learning from these areas will now help inform our policy approach to wider LRF reform programme and support the future implementation of reforms across all 38 LRFs.

From: Progress report September 2026: response and recovery (part of Grenfell Tower Inquiry Government Progress Report: September 2026)

Site note: This is the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government's progress report of September 2026 on the Grenfell Tower Inquiry recommendations. Where the passage describes work by another body, such as the National Fire Chiefs Council, London Fire Brigade, fire and rescue services, the British Standards Institution or the Cabinet Office, it is the Ministry's account of that body's progress, and the row is filed under the Ministry.

●Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government · 25 Feb 2026

MHCLG selected five local resilience forums in England to join the Stronger Local Resilience Forums (LRF) trailblazer programme. This was launched in April 2025 and included Cumbria LRF, Greater Manchester LRF, London LRF, Northumbria LRF and Suffolk LRF. In September 2025, MHCLG issued grant funding to all five Local Resilience Forum trailblazers. Following the receipt of this funding all five LRF trailblazers have been implementing their plans, and four Chief Resilience Officers are in post.

In support of this work, MHCLG has begun a national community of practice forum, which has met twice since the programme started in April. Over the next year, MHCLG will continue to work closely with these LRFs to deliver the aims of the trailblazer programme to strengthen the leadership and accountability of local resilience and to integrate resilience into wider aspects of local policy-making.

MHCLG established a national working group to design a new national peer review protocol for local resilience forums and invited five LRFs to represent all regions of the country. We have held six meetings, during which the group identified the core components needed for a protocol and is currently working to finalise a draft.

During 2026 the working group will develop a protocol before the process is rolled out later in the year.

From: Annual Report February 2026: response and recovery (part of Grenfell Tower Inquiry Government Annual Report: February 2026)

Site note: This is the annex of the government's Phase 2 annual report (CP 1512, published 25 February 2026) as GOV.UK publishes it, one page per theme: the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government's account. Where the passage describes work by another body, such as the National Fire Chiefs Council, London Fire Brigade, the British Standards Institution, the Health and Safety Executive or the Cabinet Office, it is the report's account of that body's progress, and the row is filed under the Ministry. The status is what the passage says: completed only where it says the recommendation is complete or closed.

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