Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

National Resilience

Thursday 16 March 2023 · 2 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 2 Partly answered 0 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Andrew Jones inquired about the functioning standards of local resilience forums in North Yorkshire and their integration into the national resilience framework.
  • Fleur Anderson questioned the transparency and handling of the former Health Secretary's leaked WhatsApp messages concerning covid-related life and death decisions.
  • The Minister assured the House of total and full transparency from the Government regarding the covid inquiry in line with the Act and relevant legislation.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Andrew Jones Con
Context

The MP is concerned about the integration of local resilience forums into national plans to ensure preparedness for emergencies.

Question

Our preparedness for national emergencies relies on our local resilience, too. In North Yorkshire, we have a high-functioning local resilience forum. Is my right hon. Friend ensuring that these local forums are all operating at the standards needed, and are integrated into our national resilience plans?

Answer from Oliver Dowden

My hon. Friend makes an important point. We work closely with all resilience forums, which are essential to our whole-of-society resilience approach to any emergency response. There are well-established processes for Government to liaise with local resilience forums to enable national and local integration. In addition, the 2022 resilience framework commits to strengthening local resilience forums, including through clearer accountability and assurance.

Answered
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Q2 Fleur Anderson Lab Putney
NHS
Context

The MP is concerned about the transparency of evidence provided to the independent covid inquiry, especially regarding leaked messages that revealed disturbing decisions.

Question

We all know how distressing it was for the relatives of people who died from covid to read the former Health Secretary's leaked WhatsApp messages. There were some dreadful revelations about life and death decisions that were made, and about how they were made. The outcomes of the covid inquiry will be vital for learning lessons to strengthen national resilience—there could be another pandemic tomorrow. Will the Secretary of State confirm that all evidence from Ministers and former Ministers held on official channels, private emails and WhatsApps has been provided to the independent covid inquiry so that no more delays are caused by the Government?

Answer from Oliver Dowden

I can give the hon. Lady that assurance. There has been total and full transparency from Government, as we are required to do under the terms of the Act and the relevant legislation.

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