Armed Forces: Emergencies

(asked on 19th May 2020) - View Source

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what discussions he has had with (a) local authorities, (b) the Environment Agency and (c) the NHS on a permanent role for the armed forces in planning for civil contingencies.


Answered by
James Heappey Portrait
James Heappey
This question was answered on 3rd June 2020

Defence plays a vital role in the UK's resilience, particularly in our nation's ability to anticipate, prepare for, respond to, and recover from potential emergencies and disruptive risks at home and abroad.

Defence engages regularly with Other Government Departments, agencies and the Devolved Administrations and is fully integrated into routine cross-Government contingency planning, at both the strategic and local levels, for a wide range of scenarios. We conduct training and exercises at local resilience forum level and above to prepare for civil contingency tasks, alongside civil authorities, agencies and partners and provide input to the National Security Risk Assessment and National Resilience Capability plan.

To enhance our ability to plan for and respond to crises in conjunction with Other Government Departments, Defence has a permanent military liaison officer embedded in the Cabinet Office Civil Contingencies Secretariat and a well-established regional liaison network that interfaces with local government and public service providers across the UK.

Consequently, Defence is well-prepared to respond to crises when called upon to do so, either as the lead department or in support of Other Government Departments.

Reticulating Splines