Question to the Cabinet Office:

What discussions his Department has had with Local Resilience Forums on the level of local authority engagement in the response to the covid-19 outbreak.

This Government is in frequent contact with all 38 Local Resilience Forums in England, with officials present at all strategic level meetings. Each Forum has an assigned Government Liaison Officer who serves as a direct line between the Forum and central government. Weekly calls take place between officials and Local Resilience Forum Chairs.

Of course, we recognise that local authorities' functions vary across the UK and that the devolved administrations are responsible for supporting their respective resilience partnerships. The Government has been in regular contact with the devolved administrations in order to coordinate a UK-wide response to the pandemic.