Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether voluntary, community, and faith groups are being formally integrated into local emergency response structures.

We understand the vital role of the voluntary, community and faith sector (VCFS) in all aspects of resilience and have been working closely with a wide range of groups on our resilience approach since coming into government.

Following a recommendation from the Grenfell Tower Inquiry, the Government launched a consultation to gain views on whether placing a statutory duty on Category 1 responders to establish and maintain relationships with the VCFS is the best means to achieve stronger engagement, and what burdens any new statutory duty might have on both emergency responders and VCFS organisations. This will form part of the Post Implementation Review of the Civil Contingencies Act due to be published in March 2027.

We are continuing to identify and implement non-statutory measures that strengthen working with the VCFS in resilience and emergency response.