Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what guidance (a) his Department and (b) the UK Resilience Academy have issued on the consideration of equality, diversity, inclusion and equity in relation to (i) civil contingencies, (ii) emergency planning and (iii) disaster relief.

The Government will soon publish the new Resilience Strategy which will set out our approach to building national resilience for all with particular focus on supporting our most vulnerable individuals and communities.

In April, the Cabinet Office published updated Vulnerable People Guidance to strengthen the capability of emergency responders in developing local action plans identifying and supporting vulnerable individuals and groups in an emergency. Additionally, the Cabinet Office has developed a Risk Vulnerability Tool which incorporates data such as ethnicity, age, gender, disability to improve understanding of the scale and location of disproportionately impacted populations to enable targeted support before and during crises.

The recently launched UK Resilience Academy will provide learning and leadership to government, local authorities, organisations, communities, and individuals. We will also use the National Exercising Programme to test how well our planning supports vulnerable people and communities in an emergency.

We will also continue to ensure that our current, and future, resilience guidance, including the Prepare website on GOV.UK reflects the diverse needs of individuals, households and communities.