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

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they will take to give (1) council leaders, and (2) directly elected mayors, the statutory right to sit on local resilience forums in their areas.

There are currently no plans for council leaders or mayors to sit on Local Resilience Forums (LRFs). Through the Devolution White Paper and the UK Resilience Action Plan, the Government has committed to working with local leaders to clarify and strengthen the role of local government and mayors in local resilience. The Government believes stronger links to elected leaders will increase our overall resilience as responses will be better tailored to geographic areas, accounting for local challenges and needs. As part of MHCLG’s Stronger LRF Trailblazers Programme, five local areas have begun testing new methods to strengthen accountability to democratically elected local leaders.

The Government will review the Civil Contingencies Act (CCA) and its supporting regulations through the next Post-Implementation Review, with a report due to be laid in Parliament by March 2027. This review will consider the impact of wider reforms on English devolution and will look to clarify and strengthen the role of Strategic Authorities and Mayors in local resilience.