Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what discussions he has had with (a) local authorities and (b) Local Resilience Forums on supporting telecommunications resilience during power outages.

From conversations with local MPs and organisations involved in the response to Storm Goretti, I understand their concerns around telecommunications resilience, particularly in rural areas.

I have asked my officials in the Cabinet Office and my ministerial colleagues in the relevant departments to look very carefully at the lessons being drawn from Storm Goretti and consider what further measures are needed.

Local Resilience Forums have access to the Resilient Voice System, a central government provided capability for use during significant disruption to the telecommunications network.