Twenty-Seventh Report - Government resilience: extreme weather

Select Committee
Public Accounts Committee HC 454 19 April 2024
Report Status Government responded
Conclusions & Recommendations 31 items (7 recs)
Source View on Parliament website
Government Response (AI assessment · 31 of 31 classified)
Deferred 31
Government response
Treasury minutes: Government response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Twenty-seventh report from Session 2023-24 · published 11 Jul 2025
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Recommendations & Conclusions

31 results
2 Recommendation Deferred
Implement coordinated resilience investment, give infrastructure regulators consistent climate roles, and encourage private adaptation funding.
Recommendation
The Cabinet Office is taking too long to develop its approach to investment in resilience, including private sector investment. Public and private sector investment is critical in developing national resilience to extreme weather events and to the impacts of climate … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government is deferring action by referencing a national resilience review overseen by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, with a Treasury Minute to be published after the review concludes.
HM Treasury
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3 Recommendation Deferred
Set out a resilient UK vision for extreme weather risks, including a strategy and costed plans.
Recommendation
For most extreme weather risks government has not set out what level of resilience it wants to achieve or how it will attain this, including targets and standards for the desired level of national, local or sectoral resilience. For three … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government has deferred action by announcing a review of national resilience overseen by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, with a Treasury Minute to be published after the review.
HM Treasury
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4 Recommendation Deferred
Engage communities and vulnerable groups to understand risks and impacts, ensuring better protection.
Recommendation
In building resilience to extreme weather events, it will be vital to better understand how different communities and groups will be disproportionately affected. People experience different levels of exposure to extreme weather. Factors such as location, income and health affect … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government is deferring a response pending the outcome of a review of national resilience overseen by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.
HM Treasury
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5 Recommendation Deferred
Establish a Government Chief Risk Officer to oversee cross-cutting risks and resolve system-wide concerns.
Recommendation
If the government does not learn lessons on leadership and oversight for system-wide risks, this may come at a high cost to individuals, the economy and society in the future. Managing and building resilience to national risks requires coordinated action … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government has deferred action by announcing a review of national resilience overseen by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, with a Treasury Minute to be published after the review.
HM Treasury
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6 Recommendation Deferred
Define clear roles and responsibilities for all sectors in national risk prevention and preparedness.
Recommendation
The Cabinet Office has yet to set out the respective roles of central government, local government, the devolved administrations, the private and voluntary sectors, and the public for developing and maintaining national resilience. Government has identified that developing resilience requires … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government is deferring a response pending the outcome of a review of national resilience overseen by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.
HM Treasury
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7 Recommendation Deferred
Gain assurance on local organisations' capacities, capabilities, and risk registers and plans.
Recommendation
Local organisations have a critical role to play in developing UK resilience, but the Cabinet Office does not know if they have the capacity or capability to fulfil their role effectively. Local organisations, such as the local responders represented in … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government is deferring a response until a review of national resilience has concluded, overseen by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, and will write to the new Committee in the meantime.
HM Treasury
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1 Conclusion Deferred
Committee took evidence on government's arrangements for building national resilience.
Conclusion
On the basis of a Report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence from the Cabinet Office, the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra), HM Treasury, and the Met Office on government’s arrangements to build resilience … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government is deferring a response pending the outcome of a review of national resilience overseen by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.
HM Treasury
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8 Conclusion Deferred
Public and private investment is critical for national resilience to extreme weather and climate.
Conclusion
Both public and private sector investment is critical in developing national resilience to extreme weather events and climate change. For example, many flood defence projects require funding from public and private sector sources in addition to government 6 Qq 1, … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government is deferring action by referencing a national resilience review overseen by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, with a Treasury Minute to be published after the review concludes.
HM Treasury
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9 Conclusion Deferred
No common definition for resilience activity hinders measurement of government investment.
Conclusion
The Cabinet Office and HM Treasury cannot identify how much is spent on resilience activity as there is no common definition of what constitutes this type of activity.16 Government has committed to developing a coordinated approach to investment in resilience … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government states that a review of national resilience will be overseen by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, with a Treasury Minute to be published upon its conclusion, effectively deferring a substantive response to the findings of that review.
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10 Conclusion Deferred
Most infrastructure regulators lack specific duties for climate change resilience, hindering adaptation efforts.
Conclusion
Regulation has an important role to play in developing resilience. Written submissions to us highlighted that resilience to climate change, including extreme weather, requires a strategic and coordinated approach to regulatory frameworks.18 Most infrastructure regulators do not have specific duties … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government deferred responding to the conclusion, stating that a review of national resilience will be overseen by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, and a Treasury Minute will be published after the review concludes.
HM Treasury
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11 Conclusion Deferred
Government efforts to drive private sector climate adaptation investment lag behind net zero.
Conclusion
On private sector investment in climate resilience, the Cabinet Office highlighted the 2023 green finance strategy that promotes working with private sector partners to improve the approach to climate resilience assessment and disclosure, and collaboration to make sure the things … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government is deferring action by referencing a national resilience review overseen by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, with a Treasury Minute to be published after the review concludes.
HM Treasury
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12 Conclusion Deferred
Government resilience framework lacks a clear vision, targets, and standards for a resilient UK.
Conclusion
The government’s resilience framework does not set out a well-defined vision for what a resilient UK looks like, including targets and standards for the desired level of national, local, or sectoral resilience. Without specifying what outcome it is looking to … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government deferred responding to the conclusion, stating that a review of national resilience will be overseen by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, and a Treasury Minute will be published after the review concludes.
HM Treasury
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13 Conclusion Deferred
Cabinet Office notes challenges in defining a single cross-government risk appetite due to varied threats.
Conclusion
The Cabinet Office explained that it is difficult to have a single risk appetite across government because risks themselves vary and each risk will have different appetites. For example, society has a higher tolerance for deaths in road traffic accidents … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government deferred responding to the conclusion, stating that a review of national resilience will be overseen by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, and a Treasury Minute will be published after the review concludes.
HM Treasury
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14 Conclusion Deferred
Government lacks clear outcomes and tolerable risk levels for most extreme weather risks.
Conclusion
For three of the four extreme weather risks that the NAO examined (high temperatures and heatwaves, storms and surface water flooding), there was a lack of clarity on what outcome government is looking to achieve, such as target levels of … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government deferred responding to the conclusion, stating that a review of national resilience will be overseen by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, and a Treasury Minute will be published after the review concludes.
HM Treasury
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15 Conclusion Deferred
Vulnerable groups are disproportionately affected by extreme weather, with mitigation knowledge gaps.
Conclusion
People experience different levels of exposure to extreme weather. Factors such as location, income and health affect people’s ability to cope with and respond to these events. For example, lower income households may be more likely to live in properties … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government deferred responding to the conclusion, stating that a review of national resilience will be overseen by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, and a Treasury Minute will be published after the review concludes.
HM Treasury
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16 Conclusion Deferred
Cabinet Office plans 2025 measures to support vulnerable groups, acknowledging long way to go.
Conclusion
The Cabinet Office has committed to implementing several measures by 2025 to better support vulnerable groups. One of these is developing a measurement of socio- economic resilience, including how risks impact across communities and vulnerable groups to guide and inform … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government deferred responding to the conclusion, stating that a review of national resilience will be overseen by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, and a Treasury Minute will be published after the review concludes.
HM Treasury
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17 Conclusion Deferred
Media plays crucial role conveying vital adaptation messages during extreme weather events.
Conclusion
The Met Office noted that the media has an important role to play in getting important messages across and helping people adapt. It highlighted recent extreme heat events where the whole UK media helped to get the message across that … Read more
Government Response Summary
The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster announced that he would oversee a review of national resilience. A Treasury Minute will be published once this review has concluded. The Cabinet Office will write to the new Committee in the meantime.
HM Treasury
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18 Conclusion Deferred
UK lags other nations in national public communication campaigns for emergency preparedness.
Conclusion
New Zealand’s National Emergencies Management Agency runs a national communications campaign on how to prepare for emergencies. The ‘Get Ready’ campaign encourages households, workplaces, schools and communities to be ready. It provides information on what to do before, during and … Read more
Government Response Summary
The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster announced that he would oversee a review of national resilience. A Treasury Minute will be published once this review has concluded. The Cabinet Office will write to the new Committee in the meantime.
HM Treasury
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19 Conclusion Deferred
Coordinated cross-government action needed for effective national risk management and resilience building.
Conclusion
Although the Cabinet Office assigns ownership for each national risk to either a single department or to multiple departments, managing these risks and building resilience to them often requires coordinated action across government and beyond. This can be challenging for … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government deferred responding to the conclusion, stating that a review of national resilience will be overseen by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, and a Treasury Minute will be published after the review concludes.
HM Treasury
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20 Conclusion Deferred
Government risk profession's current efforts aim to improve national risk management capability
Conclusion
We asked HM Treasury what more could be done to oversee national risks. It told us that the Head of the Government Risk profession is focused on improving the risk management capability of government, improving the professionalism and credibility of … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government deferred responding to the conclusion, stating that a review of national resilience will be overseen by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, and a Treasury Minute will be published after the review concludes.
HM Treasury
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21 Recommendation Deferred
Committee previously recommended establishing a Chief Risk Officer for cross-cutting government risks
Recommendation
In 2022, we recommended the establishment of a Chief Risk Officer to consider cross- cutting risks in government and proactively manage the identification and resolution of system-wide concerns. We stated that the role should provide independent challenge on the extent … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government deferred responding to the recommendation, stating that a review of national resilience will be overseen by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, and a Treasury Minute will be published after the review concludes.
HM Treasury
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22 Conclusion Deferred
No dedicated Chief Risk Officer role exists, despite previous recommendations and ongoing debate
Conclusion
We asked the witnesses why there is still no Chief Risk Officer or Advisor, like the National Security Adviser, to provide a more cohesive system-wide view and leadership. The Cabinet Office told us that the Head of Resilience fulfils that … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government deferred responding to the conclusion, stating that a review of national resilience will be overseen by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, and a Treasury Minute will be published after the review concludes.
HM Treasury
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23 Conclusion Deferred
Government resilience framework lacks clarity on specific roles and responsibilities across society
Conclusion
Although the government’s resilience framework highlighted that developing resilience requires a ‘whole of society’ approach, it has not set out what the respective roles of central government, local government, the devolved administrations, the private and voluntary sectors, and the public … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government is deferring a response pending the outcome of a review of national resilience overseen by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.
HM Treasury
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24 Conclusion Deferred
Cabinet Office guidance clarifies acute national risk ownership and devolved nation roles
Conclusion
The Cabinet Office assigns ownership of acute national risks to lead government departments. It updated the relevant guidance in 2023 with specific responsibilities for building resilience and preventing risks from occurring. It assured us that the lead government department list … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government is deferring a response pending the outcome of a review of national resilience overseen by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.
HM Treasury
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25 Conclusion Deferred
Civil Contingencies Act defines local emergency roles, not for businesses or the voluntary sector
Conclusion
The Civil Contingencies Act sets out the roles and responsibilities for those involved in emergency preparation and response at the local level. The Cabinet Office explained that there are no defined responsibilities for businesses and the voluntary sector but highlighted … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government is deferring a response pending the outcome of a review of national resilience overseen by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.
HM Treasury
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26 Conclusion Deferred
Public awareness of extreme weather risks and incident reporting mechanisms remains low
Conclusion
Considering individual extreme weather risks, the public does not always know who is responsible for mitigating the risk, particularly if it is a novel risk impacting them for the first time. For example, public awareness of the risk of surface … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government is deferring a response pending the outcome of a review of national resilience overseen by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.
HM Treasury
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27 Conclusion Deferred
Storm Babet exposed local clarity gaps in flood response and long-term climate adaptation roles
Conclusion
During Storm Babet in 2022–23, there were 5.7 million properties in England at risk of flooding from rivers, the sea, surface water or groundwater. Over 150 rivers had record water levels and 2,200 homes were flooded. The storm hit local … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government is deferring a response pending the outcome of a review of national resilience overseen by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.
HM Treasury
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28 Conclusion Deferred
National resilience standards for LRFs are voluntary, with many outdated community risk registers
Conclusion
Local organisations have a critical role in responding to emergencies and building resilience.50 Emergency responders in a local area convene in local resilience forums (LRFs) and the Cabinet Office published a set of national resilience standards for LRFs in 2020. … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government is deferring a response pending the outcome of a review of national resilience overseen by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.
HM Treasury
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29 Conclusion Deferred
Central government lacks formal review or assurance of local emergency plans and risk registers
Conclusion
We asked the witnesses whether central government reviews local emergency plans and monitors community risk registers. The Cabinet Office told us that LRF plans are not examined and assured by central government, noting that the powers exist to do this … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government is deferring a response pending the outcome of a review of national resilience overseen by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.
HM Treasury
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30 Conclusion Deferred
Local resilience capacity and capability remain insufficient given falling local authority spending.
Conclusion
When asked if LRFs and other local organisations have the capacity and capability to carry out their resilience roles effectively, the Cabinet Office told us that resilience is often a function of the capacity and capability of the broader system … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government is deferring a response until a review of national resilience has concluded, overseen by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, and will write to the new Committee in the meantime.
HM Treasury
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31 Conclusion Deferred
Strengthening Local Resilience Forum leadership and accountability remains a priority for the Cabinet Office.
Conclusion
The Cabinet Office, in its 2021 integrated review of security, defence, development and foreign policy, recognised the that the roles and responsibilities of LRFs needs to be strengthened. The Department for Levelling up, Housing and Communities plans to pilot ways … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government has deferred action by announcing a review of national resilience overseen by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, with a Treasury Minute to be published after the review.
HM Treasury
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