Triennial Parliamentary Resilience Reports
The governments of the UK, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland should each produce and publish reports to their respective legislatures at least every three years on whole-system civil emergency preparedness and resilience. The reports should include as a minimum: the risks that each government has identified are likely to result in whole-system civil emergencies; the recommendations that have been made to each government to mitigate those risks, and whether these recommendations have been accepted or rejected; a cost–benefit analysis setting out the economic and social costs of accepting the risks as against taking action to mitigate the risks; who may be vulnerable to the risks and what steps are being taken to mitigate those risks; a plan setting out the timescales for implementing the recommendations that have been accepted; and an update on the progress that has been made on implementing previously accepted recommendations.
- The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster delivered the 2025 Annual Statement to Parliament on risk and resilience on 8 July 2025 (Module 1 Implementation Update, Cabinet Office, 8 July 2025).
- The UK Biological Security Strategy implementation report was published in July 2025 (Module 1 Implementation Update, Cabinet Office, 8 July 2025).
- The July 2025 implementation update marked this recommendation as CLOSED, with annual Parliamentary statements on risk and resilience confirmed as ongoing (Module 1 Implementation Update, Cabinet Office, 8 July 2025).
How was this evidence gathered?
Response
Accepted in Part
Response
Accepted in PartNo formal response published by this government.
No formal response published by this government.
No formal response published by this government.
The government agrees with the importance of transparency and ensuring that the wider public sector, private sector and the general public have an understanding of not only the risks that the UK faces but also the steps that are being taken to mitigate these risks. Furthermore, it will provide information on the steps that they can take to ensure their own preparedness.
There are commonly used arrangements for Parliamentary scrutiny of the government’s work across the resilience cycle, including on whole system-risks.
To increase transparency and improve public accountability on risk and resilience, the Resilience Framework, published in 2022, introduced an Annual Statement to Parliament on civil contingency risk and resilience. The inaugural statement was delivered by the then Deputy Prime Minister in December 2023. It was accompanied by an Implementation Update, which set out a public-facing summary of the risk landscape faced by the UK, alongside a progress update covering the government’s work on resilience, including on the implementation of the Resilience Framework in the first year following publication.
The 2023, UK Biological Security Strategy also committed the lead minister to report annually to Parliament on its rigorous implementation. The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster made his first report to Parliament in October 2024.
The Annual Statement to Parliament will be maintained and the resilience review will further explore how to deliver this in the most appropriate format. The government will work with the devolved governments to seek to coordinate the delivery of the statement across the legislatures of each nation as well as in Westminster.
[CLOSED] Annual Statement to Parliament on risk and resilience delivered July 2025. Biological Security Strategy implementation report published July 2025. Annual reporting to continue.
Progress Timeline
Status: In Progress. The government agrees with the importance of transparency and ensuring that the wider public sector, private sector and the general public have an understanding of not only the risks that the UK faces but also the steps that are being taken to mitigate these risks. Furthermore, it will provide information on the steps that they can take to ensure their own preparedness. There are commonly used arrangements for Parliamentary scrutiny of the government’s work across the resilience cycle, includin
Implementation update (8 Jul 2025): [CLOSED] Annual Statement to Parliament on risk and resilience delivered July 2025. Biological Security Strategy implementation report published July 2025. Annual reporting to continue.
The government agrees with the importance of transparency and ensuring that the wider public sector, private sector and the general public have an understanding of not only the risks that the UK faces but also the steps that are being taken to mitigate these risks. Furthermore, it will provide information on the steps that they can take to ensure their own preparedness. There are commonly used arrangements for Parliamentary scrutiny of the government’s work across the resilience cycle, including on whole system-risks. To increase transparency and improve public accountability on risk and resilience, the Resilience Framework, published in 2022, introduced an Annual Statement to Parliament on civil contingency risk and resilience. The inaugural statement was delivered by the then Deputy Prime Minister in December 2023. It was accompanied by an Implementation Update, which set out a public-facing summary of the risk landscape faced by the UK, alongside a progress update covering the government’s work on resilience, including on the implementation of the Resilience Framework in the first year following publication. The 2023, UK Biological Security Strategy also committed the lead minister to report annually to Parliament on its rigorous implementation. The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster made his first report to Parliament in October 2024. The Annual Statement to Parliament will be maintained and the resilience review will further explore how to deliver this in the most appropriate format. The government will work with the devolved governments to seek to coordinate the delivery of the statement across the legislatures of each nation as well as in Westminster.