Policy paper

UK Resilience Forum inaugural meeting: 14 July 2021

Updated 13 February 2024

This was published under the 2019 to 2022 Johnson Conservative government

The inaugural meeting of the UK Resilience Forum was Chaired by the Paymaster General, the Rt. Hon. Penny Mordaunt, on Wednesday 14 July 2021.

Representatives from the following organisations were in attendance:

• Scottish Government
• Welsh Government
• Northern Ireland Executive
• Cabinet Office Civil Contingencies Secretariat
• Government Office for Science
• Ministry of Defence
• National Fire Chiefs Council
• NHS England
• Society of Local Authority Chief Executives
• Electronic Communications Resilience and Response Group
• Voluntary and Community Sector Emergencies Partnership
• Maritime and Coastguard Agency
• Network Rail
• Energy Networks Association
• Confederation of Business Industry
• Water Industry Platinum Incident Management Group
• National Emergencies Trust
• Citizens Advice Bureau
• Equality and Human Rights Commission

Invited organisations unable to attend:

• National Police Chiefs Council
• Environment Agency

Subject specific sub-groups of the UKRF may be established in due course.

MEETING HELD BY VIDEO CONFERENCE Wednesday 14 July 2021

The Paymaster General, the Rt. Hon. Penny Mordaunt, MP (Chair), welcomed attendees to the UK Resilience Forum (UKRF).

The UKRF was introduced, including its aims and objectives, within the context of the Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy, and the commitment to a comprehensive Resilience Strategy, in partnership with devolved administrations, English regions, local responders, the private sector and the public. The purpose of the UKRF was to strengthen that work; to strengthen relationships; and align efforts to drive our ambitions on resilience. The UKRF would act in an advisory capacity to support those aims.

The Cabinet Office Civil Contingencies Secretariat presented a Risk Horizon Scan, highlighting key risks in the coming months including the ongoing impacts of Covid-19, protest, disruption at borders, industrial action or commercial failure, and potential for severe weather.

The Cabinet Office Civil Contingencies Secretariat then presented the plans for the National Resilience Strategy and the Call for Evidence, which launched on Tuesday 13 July 2021.

The six key themes of the Call for Evidence were discussed: Risk and Resilience; Responsibilities and Accountability; Partnerships; Community; Investment; Resilience in an Interconnected World;

Attendees were asked for their views on the Call for Evidence and to consider how we can best encourage people within their sectors to engage with it. A number of points were made in discussion, including the following:

• The Strategy, and the approach to the Call for Evidence were welcomed by the Forum members.
• The Forum noted the opportunity arising from the present heightened interest in resilience.
• The importance of making resilience work for everyone was widely acknowledged, with attendees noting the disproportionate impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic and the link between inequalities and lower resilience, tying into the government’s Levelling Up agenda. This should extend across the whole emergencies cycle from risk assessment to recovery.
• The Four Nations approach of the Forum was the right one, and highlighted the importance of close working between governments in building a resilient UK. This would require full recognition of devolved administration responsibilities as key partners in the resilience of the UK.
• Members welcomed the recognition of the importance of the local level in resilience, but noted the need for further clarity on the role of elected members and directly elected mayors in crisis management.
• Members highlighted the challenges of achieving consistency across Critical National Infrastructure in a varied regulatory landscape, but also noted there was much good practice which could be shared across sectors.
• Members raised the need to recognise the voluntary sector in the Strategy, and noted the difficulty in measuring the community relationships that help build resilience.
• Members advised there would be many lessons from the Covid-19 pandemic, both positive and negative. Some of the most useful ones would be about how the public responded, and their experience of life through a pandemic. * * These lessons would have wide applicability across many kinds of emergencies.
• There was support for the focus in the Call for Evidence on transnational and interconnected risks, with a need to tackle challenges such as decarbonisation on a global rather than national basis.
• Members emphasised the need for a longer term focus on strategic risks and the role of recovery in building resilience. All of this pointed towards a broad framing of resilience rather than a narrow focus on emergency response.

The Paymaster General, the Rt. Hon. Penny Mordaunt, MP (Chair), closed the meeting noting the importance of the discussion, and thanking all for their insightful contributions.

Cabinet Office officials committed to follow up discussions with all organisations in attendance directly on the Resilience Strategy Call for Evidence.