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Written Question
Emergencies: Mobile Phones
Monday 27th January 2025

Asked by: Richard Foord (Liberal Democrat - Honiton and Sidmouth)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the UK Emergency Alert System since its introduction.

Answered by Abena Oppong-Asare - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

In September 2024, the Cabinet Office delivered a thorough internal One Year Evaluation Report. Lessons identified from the report have been considered and are being implemented into processes used during an alert activation. Since the release of the cross-HMG evaluation, the capability has been used three times, each successfully mitigating danger to lives and most recently in support of organisations in Northern Ireland and Scotland coordinating the response to storm Eowyn.

Whilst the system was used sparingly in its first year of operation, it is expected that it will be used more often and for a variety of use cases as the confidence of the resilience community builds in requesting Alerts.

The Cabinet Office and other government departments continue to work closely to deliver training and facilitate exercising to empower requesting authorities to be confident in the request protocol and drafting process.


Written Question
Special Forces: Afghanistan
Tuesday 21st May 2024

Asked by: Richard Foord (Liberal Democrat - Honiton and Sidmouth)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if the Minister for Veterans Affairs will provide the Independent inquiry into alleged unlawful activity by UK Special Forces during deliberate detention operations in Afghanistan the names of officers that contacted him with information on such alleged activity.

Answered by Johnny Mercer

This question relates to ongoing legal proceedings therefore it would be inappropriate to provide any commentary until the legal process has concluded.


Written Question
Prime Minister: Travel
Tuesday 12th July 2022

Asked by: Richard Foord (Liberal Democrat - Honiton and Sidmouth)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many times the Prime Minister has used the VIP RAF Voyager or equivalent aircraft to fly internally in the UK since 1 January 2022; and what the (a) locations of departure and arrival were and (b) cost was for each of those journeys.

Answered by Michael Ellis

Information on air travel for 2021-22 will be published alongside the audited Cabinet Office annual report and accounts.