Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to paragraph 79c of the UK Government Resilience Action Plan published 8 July 2025, what recent progress has been made on the Stronger LRF Trailblazers programme to pilot new models of local resilience leadership.

The Government is continuing to deliver the Stronger Local Resilience Forum (LRF) Trailblazers programme in Cumbria, Greater Manchester, London, Northumbria and Suffolk, with a further £3.5 million being provided in 2026/27. The programme is testing approaches to strengthening strategic leadership, democratic accountability and the integration of resilience into wider local policy and delivery.

Progress includes the introduction of dedicated Chief Resilience Officer roles in all five Trailblazer LRFs and strengthened arrangements for involving local elected leaders in resilience. An independent baseline evaluation found that Trailblazers had begun putting in place the foundations for longer-term change, including strengthened leadership roles, governance and accountability arrangements and work to improve integration across local systems.

Independent evaluation of the programme is continuing, with emerging evidence and lessons informing the Government's future approach to strengthening local resilience.