National Resilience Committee

9 July 2026

Contents updated on 10 Jul 2026

Opening of the first panel, scrutiny of the UK Resilience Action Plan’s preparedness model, and examination of Local Resilience Forums’ mandates, resourcing, engagement with voluntary and faith sectors, vulnerable people data, and national–local coordination including the proposed National Strategic Resilience Forum.

Committee Thu, 9 Jul 2026 House of Lords

00:01 - 01:52

Speaker 1

Good morning and thank you very much both of you for taking the time to come and help us with this important inquiry. I should remind you that this is a public session, it's being broadcast live. You'll both receive a transcript of the session in a couple of days' time, so if there are any small inaccuracies that you need to correct, that's the time to do it. And if you suddenly think of something you wish you had said, we'd always welcome supplementary evidence in writing if you think of anything. We've obviously got a lot of questions to ask each of you, and before you give your first answer, could you just introduce yourself briefly so that we've got that on the record as well.

Thank you. And I will start with the first one. It seems to me, and it's been reflected in a number of the submissions of written evidence that we've seen so far, that the Resilience Action Plan is seen to be heavy on response and recovery, but rather light on planning and preparedness. And I wondered if you agreed with that, or if you could comment on that, and what your views are about how preparedness and resilience are linked at national and local levels, including through the regional forums and how gaps might be bridged between those two things. So, perhaps may I start with Ms. Agha, if you could kick off.

Thank you.

01:52 - 02:44

Speaker 3

Brilliant, thank you so much, and thank you to the committee for having us today. My name is Zainab Agha, I'm Director for Resilience and Recovery at Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. So, the UK Resilience Action Plan sees the Local Resilience Forum in England as a critical part of the resilience system, bringing together local partners and expertise in planning for, responding and recovering from emergencies. It also underlines the importance of partnership working both with the local resilience tier in England as well as devolved governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. MHCLG, so my team, provide a central role in linking the national and local together across the resilience cycle.

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