Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the recent usage of the Emergency Alert System on victims of domestic violence with concealed phones.

Protecting women in abusive relationships is our highest priority. In order to protect those who may have hidden phones, both national tests of the Emergency Alerting capability have been accompanied by a wide-ranging proactive public communications campaign. This raised awareness of the system and recommended that women with hidden phones opt out of receiving Alerts and was delivered in partnership with organisations that represent these groups.

In a ‘live’ activation scenario such as this, such pre-planned public communications are not always possible. But please be assured that we are learning from each activation to ensure that the capability is being used in the most effective way and, where it is practicable, advance warning of alerts will be considered.