00:01Mr Speaker, with your permission, I wish to make a statement on the steps the
00:04Government's taking to ensure that the UK is the most resilient country that we
00:08can be. I'd like to begin though by sending my condolences to the families
00:13of the two men who tragically died in storm conditions this weekend. It is an
00:18all-too-grim reminder of the devastating impact that storms can have. I saw this
00:23firsthand when I visited Cornwall in the wake of Storm Goretti earlier this year.
00:27Weather stations recorded wind speeds of 100 miles an hour. 50,000 homes, schools
00:33and businesses were left without power. Entire communities became trapped as
00:38fallen trees blocked country lanes. I heard families fear as they talked about how
00:43quickly the basic necessities of everyday life were stripped away. Power, water,
00:49internet. And I thank the first responders for their tireless effort clearing roads
00:54and reconnecting homes. These scenes will be familiar to members right across the
00:59House. And on January the 8th, in the South West, it was an extreme storm. Over the summer
01:05across the UK, it was wildfires. And this week, it has been Storm Austin and Storm Bulo. Climate
01:13change is making extreme weather not just more likely, but also more powerful. And this winter
01:19is set to be difficult, with El Nino increasing the likelihood of storms and heavy rainfall.
01:25Now, since we came into government in 2024, we've been hardening and sharpening the UK's
01:31approach to resilience. We've rewritten the government's pandemic strategy, investing more
01:36than a billion pounds to build the UK's biological defences. We've launched the Home Defence Programme,
01:43to ensure our country is best prepared for the full range of potential threats, no matter how unlikely
01:50they might be. And up and down these aisles, we're taking coordinated action to prepare our infrastructure
01:56for difficult weather this winter. 1.4 billion invested in flood defences in this financial year
02:03alone. 2.4 billion invested to maintain and improve our roads and rails, rail network, over the next four
02:11years. And 2.6 billion invested to climate-proof our rail infrastructure, with projects underway or completed
02:19in places like County Durham, Derbyshire and Cumbria. And throughout this coming winter, I'll be working across
02:25government to ensure an effective response to storms as they occur. But reflecting on the experience of
02:32the people I met in Cornwall, it's clear to me that in the middle of an emergency, our brilliant first
02:37respondents, first responders can't be everywhere all at once. It's clear that proper preparedness begins
02:45in our communities, streets and homes. Now, our research shows that just 13% of people in the UK feel
02:53that
02:54they're prepared for an emergency, like a severe storm, that could cut them off from the services
02:58they rely on. This figure is far lower than our European neighbours. The very same research showed that
03:0584% of people in the UK want the government to share more information about the steps they can take
03:11to increase their preparedness. So, Mr Speaker, to give some credit to the opposition, they also recognised this
03:18resilience gap while in government and launched a new website to share preparedness guidance
03:23with the public. But that website stopped short of a proper campaign. Not enough people noticed it,
03:30and those who did found the guidance hard to follow. This government is committed to having an honest
03:37conversation with the public about the risks that we face, and helping them to prepare household by
03:43household, step by step, to improve our national resilience. To that effect, we've published updated preparedness
03:51guidance for households and launched a three-year campaign to raise awareness of the simple steps
03:58people can take to be ready for everyday emergencies. Now, I want to be clear from the outset that we
04:05are
04:05not launching this campaign because of any specific or imminent threat. Instead, launching this campaign
04:13brings the UK into line with almost every single European country, and countless others around the world,
04:20who already run similar campaigns every year. In developing this campaign, government has worked
04:27with more than 500 different organisations, emergency services, businesses, voluntary groups and local
04:33authorities, to develop guidance that meets communities' needs. Now, Mr Speaker, I would like to touch
04:40briefly on the guidance before outlining the campaign. The guidance is designed to help households be
04:46self-sufficient for three days in an emergency. We've published a full checklist of the simple steps
04:53that households can take. The two main actions are ensuring that you have three days of water and
04:59non-perishable food, and signing up to the priority services register if you or someone in your household
05:06is eligible for extra support in a utility outage. Mr Speaker, as many people who can follow this common-sense
05:14guidance should follow this guidance, and by playing their part, people will be helping themselves as
05:21well as others in their community. Because in an emergency, every household that has taken the steps
05:27set out on the checklist is one less household the emergency services need to give extra support to.
05:34We're also encouraging people to check in on their neighbours and be ready to help each other out.
05:39We've worked hand-in-hand with charities to ensure the campaign is helpful for everyone, including
05:45organisations representing disabled people, people struggling with their mental health and people who rely on
05:51food banks. Many actions on the checklist are completely free, such as signing up for the priority services
05:58register, and other actions can be ticked off over time by adding one item per week to the weekly shop.
06:05This is about helping as many people as possible to be ready for an emergency so that help can arrive
06:13to those
06:13most in need first. Now, to people who think the campaign is an overreaction, think of the people that I
06:20met in
06:20Cornwall and people in countless other communities across the UK, including tens of thousands of people who were without
06:28power this very weekend, whose lived experience proves otherwise. Mr Speaker, moving to the campaign,
06:36it will run for at least three years and is called Be Ready. It's being run hand-in-hand with
06:41our emergency
06:42services, local councils and resilience forums and voluntary organisations. And I'm pleased to report that
06:49since launch, the campaign website has been viewed hundreds of thousands of times. The campaign checklist
06:55has been downloaded tens of thousands of times. And whilst it's too early to have formal polling data,
07:02anecdotal evidence and partner data shows people up and down the country are heeding our advice. But this
07:09is just the start. Over the coming weeks, people will begin to see information about what they can do,
07:15popping up online, on the radio and out and about in their local community. And that's just the point.
07:21This is a community-led campaign. And over the coming weeks, we'll also be sharing toolkits
07:27that partners can use to get involved. I encourage members from right across the House to support the
07:33campaign, read the advice and help their constituents be ready. Together, we can ensure our communities are
07:41ready for everyday emergencies whenever or wherever they occur. I hope that the Be Ready campaign
07:47will unite communities across the United Kingdom. And I'm working closely with the devolved
07:52administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, all of whom back this campaign and the
07:59life-saving advice it will share. Mr Speaker, before entering Parliament, I was proud to serve in the
08:06Parachute Regiment, whose motto, ready for anything, comes to mind today. But Mr Speaker, what you might
08:15not know is that even longer, perhaps longer ago than I would care to admit, I was a Boy Scout.
08:25Hard, though that might be to believe. And honourable Members opposite and across the House, all I'm sure
08:33will know the motto of the Scouting movement. It isn't dib, dib, dib, I don't think, as the right
08:39Honourable Lady has said. It is be prepared. Thank you very much. Be prepared. Now, different circumstances,
08:47certainly. But I think, and I hope that the House would agree, that there is wisdom in both of those
08:53mottos. Both remind us that we have a responsibility to be ready for the sorts of everyday emergencies
09:00that people faced just this weekend. And together, by taking the simple steps in this campaign, we can
09:05help people and communities right across the United Kingdom to be ready. I commend this statement to the
09:12the House.
09:12Yeah.
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