Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of statutory changes to clarify the duty of community service providers to engage with local resilience frameworks.

We understand the vital role of all parts of society in resilience, and work closely with a wide range of groups on all aspects of resilience. This includes work with a variety of Voluntary, Community and Faith Sector (VCFS) organisations, such as those who provide community services that support local resilience activities. There are currently no duties placed on community service providers to engage with local resilience structures or frameworks.

Following a recommendation from the Grenfell Tower Inquiry, the Government launched a public consultation to gather 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. Findings from this consultation will form part of the Post Implementation Review of the Civil Contingencies Act.