Triennial Parliamentary Resilience Reports

4.14 Underlying principles of our Wales Resilience Framework is the need for improved transparency and accountability in relation to emergency preparedness and the Welsh Government accepts the need to provide regular updates to the Senedd.

4.15 Under the Wales Resilience Framework we have committed to provide the Senedd with a regular update on our work, a progress report on delivery and an outline of the key challenges Wales faces.

4.16 Our new risk evidence base will support the development of the report by providing information on the key risks faced by Wales, in particular those which are likely to result in whole-system civil emergencies.

4.17 To address this recommendation in full, we will continue to work across the Welsh Government and with other partners to develop in full how and when reports on whole-system civil emergency preparedness and resilience should be provided to the Senedd.

4.18 To also provide improved transparency to the public, a summary of the risks Wales faces will be published in early 2025, which will accompany existing community risk registers for Wales.

The Scottish Government accepts this recommendation in principle. We accept the spirit of regularly reporting to our legislature on whole-system civil emergency preparedness and resilience. We acknowledge the importance of aiming to continually improve the resilience landscape in Scotland to mitigate the risks and impacts of emergencies. To achieve this recommendation in principle, we will report to our legislature every three years, covering the improvements introduced on civil emergency preparedness and resilience in Scotland.

We recognise the importance of reporting on the risks we face and what we, as a government, are doing to mitigate these risks. There is significant value in increasing transparency around the actions that government are taking. This will improve awareness regarding the risks we face, how these risks may impact people, particularly vulnerable people, and how we can make improvements to our systems and processes to deal with risks effectively. To achieve this, we are committing to report to our legislature every three years on the improvements and changes that we have introduced to the Scottish Resilience landscape to enhance civil emergency preparedness and resilience across the country.

In reviewing this recommendation, we have had to consider our ability to provide open, honest advice to Ministers and to ensure that the security of the country is not impacted. For this reason, we may be unable to include full information with regard to every risk identified for some of the points listed in this recommendation. However, we will endeavour to include as much information as possible in our three yearly reports.

Publishing these reports will increase transparency around the actions that we are taking to manage civil emergencies. We will be regularly reviewing resilience systems and processes to determine whether there are any gaps for improvement, which can be acted on and reported to our legislature. This will reinforce our role in making Scotland a resilient country and contribute to our delivery of the National Performance Outcome to ensure we live in communities that are inclusive, empowered, resilient and safe.

The first of these reports will be laid before the Scottish Parliament in September 2025

We accept this recommendation and will take steps to establish a process for producing and publishing reports on whole-system civil emergency preparedness and resilience to the Northern Ireland Assembly at least every three years.

Working with departments and operational partners, TEO will submit a proposal to the Executive for consideration and agreement in summer 2025 that will set out how and when reports on whole-system civil emergency preparedness and resilience should be provided to the Northern Ireland Assembly.

The government agrees with the importance of transparency and ensuring that the wider public sector, private sector and the general public have an understanding of not only the risks that the UK faces but also the steps that are being taken to mitigate these risks. Furthermore, it will provide information on the steps that they can take to ensure their own preparedness.

There are commonly used arrangements for Parliamentary scrutiny of the government’s work across the resilience cycle, including on whole system-risks.

To increase transparency and improve public accountability on risk and resilience, the Resilience Framework, published in 2022, introduced an Annual Statement to Parliament on civil contingency risk and resilience. The inaugural statement was delivered by the then Deputy Prime Minister in December 2023. It was accompanied by an Implementation Update, which set out a public-facing summary of the risk landscape faced by the UK, alongside a progress update covering the government’s work on resilience, including on the implementation of the Resilience Framework in the first year following publication.

The 2023, UK Biological Security Strategy also committed the lead minister to report annually to Parliament on its rigorous implementation. The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster made his first report to Parliament in October 2024.

The Annual Statement to Parliament will be maintained and the resilience review will further explore how to deliver this in the most appropriate format. The government will work with the devolved governments to seek to coordinate the delivery of the statement across the legislatures of each nation as well as in Westminster.

The first report was laid before the Scottish Parliament in September 2025 and the Scottish Government has committed to providing a report to Parliament at least every three years.

The Scottish Government wrote to the inquiry chair on 12 January 2026 to confirm that this recommendation has been delivered and closed.

Status: OPEN Introduction We recognise the need to take steps to establish a process for producing and publishing reports on whole-system civil emergency preparedness and resilience in the Northern Ireland Assembly at least every three years. Progress update Work is ongoing to develop the content of a report to the NI Assembly on whole-system civil emergency preparedness and resilience in the Northern Ireland. The Northern Ireland Catastrophic Impact Programme (CIP) Task and Finish group referred to in the response above to Recommendation 3 will provide a position paper to the CCG (NI) by July 2026. This position paper will include an analysis of the NI Whole System risk landscape and will inform the basis of a comprehensive report on whole-system civil emergency preparedness and resilience. In anticipation of the drafting of NI’s first report to the NI Assembly on whole system emergency preparedness and resilience, officials continue to review, catalogue and sense check existing publications including the Regional Community Resilience Group bi-annual newsletters, public information on the NI Direct ‘Be Ready for Emergencies’ section and the Emergency Planning Group work programme.

As set out in our previous update, one of the four objectives of the Wales Resilience Framework is enhanced transparency, communication and engagement. We have committed to provide an annual statement to the Senedd about civil contingencies risks and resilience, the first of which I set out in May 2025, when announcing the Wales Resilience Framework. We expect the next annual statement to be made in summer 2026.

We will lay a 'State of Resilience Report' in the Senedd every 4 years, which will cover levels of preparedness across Wales. It will consider assessments from organisational, regional and national levels. The first report is due to be published in 2029.

Given the commitments to publish annual resilience statements and a 4‑yearly State of Resilience Report, I consider this recommendation to be completed.

Implementation update for recommendation 8 - published reports on whole-system civil emergency preparedness and resilience (updated June 2025) - recommendation closed

21. The 2025 Annual Statement to Parliament on risk and resilience was delivered by CDL, on 8 July 2025. It accompanied the laying of the Resilience Action Plan. The government will continue to make an annual statement to Parliament on risk and resilience to engage Parliamentarians in the overview of the current risk picture, performance on resilience, and the current state of preparedness and what the UK government is doing to respond.

22. The 2023 UK Biological Security Strategy committed the lead minister to report annually to Parliament on its implementation. The CDL gave his first update to Parliament in October 2024. He delivered a further update on 8 July 2025, alongside the publication of the first full implementation report setting out detailed progress against each of the outcomes.