Asked by: Steff Aquarone (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to his Answer of 15 July 2025 to Question 66761 on Emergencies: Mobile Phones, what steps she is taking to support communities who have (a) no emergency sirens and (b) had their emergency sirens removed.
Answered by Abena Oppong-Asare - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
In the UK, we have a number of public warning and informing mechanisms that can be used in different situations when there is a risk to life. This includes the Emergency Alert system, introduced in April 2023, which has been used five times. Emergency Alerts are instantaneous and the Government can send alerts directly to all mobile phones within a geo-targeted area. A second national test of the emergency alerts system will take place on Sunday 7 September around 3pm in the afternoon.
Other warning methods include flood alerts via the Flood Warning Service, Met Office weather warnings and knocking door-to-door when safe.
Asked by: Steff Aquarone (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the publication entitled UK Government Resilience Action Plan published on 8 July 2025, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the adequacy of emergency alert systems in rural areas with (a) poor and (b) no mobile signal.
Answered by Abena Oppong-Asare - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Emergency Alerts are broadcast through mobile phone masts, and will be received by phones connected to the targeted masts. 95% of the UK landmass has 4G/5G coverage.
The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology is continuing to work with the UK telecommunications industry to deliver 4G and 5G mobile connectivity to places where there is limited or no coverage.
Emergency alerts are part of a collection of warning and informing systems that we use in the UK for emergency response scenarios. Other methods include local sirens and knocking door-to-door when safe, as well as providing advice through media such as TV and radio.