Lead Minister for Resilience and Chancellor of the Duchy of
Lancaster, MP, announced new measures to bolster the UK's
resilience.
Lead Minister for Resilience and Chancellor of the Duchy of
Lancaster, MP, announced new measures to bolster the UK’s
resilience on a visit to the Met Office yesterday (Monday 15
August).
Minister Malthouse visited the Met Office, based in Exeter, to
see how their forecasting expertise feeds into government
planning to tackle severe weather and how the agency worked
closely with Government and other partners to give people plenty
of warning and advice about staying safe in the recent extreme
heat.
The Minister announced the launch of a new public emergency text
alert system for the UK, as well as changes to the Civil
Contingencies Secretariat - the Cabinet Office’s emergency
planning and response team.
Speaking in the Operations Centre of the Met Office, the
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, MP, said:
“To make sure that government continues to offer the best
possible prevention and protection against threats, we are
shaking up how we prepare for and respond to emergencies,
strengthening the effective resilience capability we already have
in place.
“We will launch a new public emergency alerts system in the
Autumn which will focus on extreme weather, revolutionising our
ability to ‘warn and inform’ people who are in significant and
immediate danger. These alerts will be sent direct to people’s
mobiles giving details of the emergency - such as local flooding
- explaining what to do and how to seek help.
“Our vital COBR unit - which leads the government’s response to
acute domestic and international emergencies - will be bolstered
by a dedicated team helping to future-proof us from harm. This
National Resilience Framework Team will take a deeper look at our
approach to risk and how we mitigate it and help us take huge
leaps forward in terms of collecting, analysing and using live
data.”
Ian Cameron, Director of Markets at the Met Office, commented:
“The right messaging helps people take action to stay safe. It is
clear that we are seeing an increase in the number of extreme
weather events in the UK and overseas. Just this summer we have
seen temperatures in the UK exceed 40C for the first time on
record, followed closely by the heatwave which ended earlier this
week. Communicating effectively is imperative so we can warn and
alert people, ensuring they are aware and have more time to take
action and look after themselves, their friends and family.”
Minister Malthouse spoke with a range of staff in the Met Office
to learn more about their work, from the Meteorologists who lead
on weather forecasts, to the Space Weather Operations team who
are part of just one of three space weather prediction centres in
the world, monitoring potentially disruptive solar activity for
government and industry.
The emergency alerts system,
which will focus on events like extreme weather and warning the
public where there is a risk to life, will be launched in the
autumn following a public awareness campaign. The free message
will give details of the emergency – local flooding or wildfires,
for example – what to do and how to seek help, and will relay
urgent messages to over 85% of mobile phones in areas affected.
Changes to the Civil Contingencies Secretariat - the Cabinet
Office’s emergency planning and response team - will see a COBR
Unit continuing to lead the government’s response to acute
emergencies, and work on longer term planning being driven
forward by a separate team dedicated to strengthening the UK’s
underlying resilience. This National Resilience Framework Team in
the Planning and Analysis Secretariat will take a deeper look at
the government’s approach to risk and how it is mitigated as well
as collecting and analysing live data to improve future responses
to emergencies.
