Strengthening Community Resilience

Matt Western Excerpts

Tuesday 27th October 2026 Commons Chamber

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Ms Nusrat Ghani)]

I call the Chair of the Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy.

[Matt Western (Warwick and Leamington) (Lab)]

I commend my right hon. Friend and the Government for starting this national conversation. Given the extreme heat during the summer, the storms that have ravaged our communities in recent days and the issues involving rogue states attacking our infrastructure, there was clearly a real need for that conversation to start. As my right hon. Friend will know, my Committee’s inquiry on societal resilience is under way. Along with, I am sure, all other Members, I welcomed what my right hon. Friend said about the three-year programme, but will he commit to giving the House regular updates on the roles of local resilience forums, individuals and businesses in ensuring wider societal resilience?

[Dan Jarvis]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for the important work that he does in chairing his Committee. The piece of work that he mentioned is significant, and we look forward keenly to his Committee’s findings. He rightly mentioned the three-year commitment that we have made. I think that is the right duration to aim for initially, but as I said, we now live in a world in which I expect we will need to have constant conversations of this nature with communities throughout the country, in line with our European partners, and with our allies around the world—and yes, I can absolutely give him the commitment that he seeks that we will update his Committee and the House.