The UK has met the NATO 1.5% commitment on security and resilience, reflecting investment across civil-military capability, resilience, industrial capacity, stockpiles and support to partners.

Under the NATO definition, investment in defence infrastructure and capabilities is core defence spend. The Defence Investment Plan has set out investments over the next 10 years, including £51 billion earmarked for the Defence estate; modernising critical airbase and airfield capabilities and delivering the biggest naval upgrade for 45 years.

I refer the hon. Member to the response my Rt Hon. Friend the Chief Secretary to the Treasury provided to Question 17649 of 9 July 2026.

https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2026-07-09/17649

The Emergency Services Network (ESN) is designed as a mission-critical communications service, with resilience built into its end-to-end architecture, governance and operational arrangements. It will provide police and other emergency services with priority and pre-emption over ordinary commercial mobile traffic, helping to maintain emergency communications during periods of network congestion or major incidents.

ESN has contracted for high levels of service availability and is working with delivery partners and cross-government resilience forums to ensure that ESN can withstand and recover from incidents affecting power, telecommunications and other supporting infrastructure.

Where telecommunications capacity is reduced, ESN users will be prioritised over commercial users. ESN resilience planning also includes enhanced coverage, resilient transmission, use of satellite connectivity for some remote sites, deployable coverage where appropriate, and contingency planning for severe weather and power disruption, including the deployment of at least 2000 additional generators for power outages. If, despite these measures, ESN coverage is unavailable in a particular area, users will be able to communicate using Tetra Direct Mode Operation, which does not rely on network coverage.

The Home Office has undertaken, and will continue to undertake, testing and risk assessment as ESN is developed and implemented. For security and operational reasons, it would not be appropriate to disclose detailed contingency arrangements or specific technical mitigations.

Additionally, individual police forces and emergency service organisations also maintain their own business continuity and disaster recovery arrangements for scenarios affecting communications infrastructure.

We are committed to ensuring the police have the capabilities needed to respond to violent disorder wherever it occurs.

Following the Summer 2024 disorder, His Majesty’s Inspectorate for Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services identified gaps in central public order mobilisation capability. It is important that we learn the lessons from the most significant public disorder in more than a decade.

We have delivered a package via the Police Reform White Paper to strengthen the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) and National Police Coordination Centre’s (NPoCC) intelligence, investigation, and co-ordination capabilities. This will equip police forces to respond rapidly to the needs of the communities they serve, enabling them to react in real-time to incidents and emergencies.

The Police Reform White Paper outlines that the National Police Service will have capabilities to direct and coordinate resources where disorder is widespread; ensure national mobilisation is more efficient and effective; and strengthen command, control, and strategic oversight across forces.

We continue to work closely with the NPoCC to ensure mutual aid arrangements can be mobilised effectively when required.

The Government does not routinely comment on ongoing investigations or operational activity.

The College of Policing is responsible for providing guidance and training to police. Whilst the police are operationally independent, this government is committed to ensuring the police have the capabilities needed to respond to violent disorder wherever it occurs. The disorder seen in Summer 2024 highlighted the importance of ensuring that policing has the capability to respond effectively to large-scale public order incidents. His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services subsequently identified shortcomings in central public order mobilisation arrangements. It is right that we take forward the lessons from the most significant period of public disorder in over a decade.

As part of the Police Reform White Paper, we have introduced measures to enhance the intelligence, investigative and coordination functions of the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) and the National Police Coordination Centre (NPoCC). These improvements will support forces in responding swiftly and effectively to emerging incidents and operational demands, helping them to better protect and serve their communities.

The White Paper sets out plans for the National Police Service to strengthen the way resources are coordinated during periods of widespread disorder, improve the effectiveness of national mobilisation arrangements, and enhance command, control and strategic oversight across policing.

The information could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

The UK has met NATO’s 1.5% defence and security-related spending target, as defined by NATO. NATO’s definition sets out that spend should be to protect our critical infrastructure, defend our networks, ensure our civil preparedness and resilience, unleash innovation and strengthen our defence industrial base.

Given this definition, contributions came from a number of departments. All spending captured as part of the 1.5% is determined through the Spending Review and set out to Parliament via the Estimates process in the usual way.

As of July 2026, all of the 38 Local Resilience Forums (LRFs) in England have a Community Risk Register currently in place, of which 21 were reviewed and updated within the past 2 years and 17 are currently under review or due to be reviewed.

LRFs, established under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004, are based on police force boundaries and bring together emergency services, local authorities, health partners and other responder organisations. The 38 LRFs in England are responsible for producing Community Risk Registers and developing and maintaining multi-agency emergency plans, which collectively cover all local authorities in England. Local authorities participate as core partners in these arrangements.

Community Risk Registers are public-facing risk assessments produced by LRFs. They identify the most significant risks facing a local area and draw on the National Risk Register, guidance produced by the Cabinet Office and local expertise to inform emergency planning and preparedness.

Personal Independence Payment (PIP) awards, including the rate payable and the duration, are set on an individual basis, based on the claimant’s needs and the likelihood of those needs changing. Regular reviews are a key feature of the benefit and ensure that payments accurately match the current needs of claimants. Award durations can vary from nine months to an on-going award, with a light touch review at the ten-year point.

Since 6 April 2026 we have reduced the frequency of repeated reviews in PIP. For most claimants over 25, their first review will be a minimum of 3 years and, assuming they remain entitled, 5 years for their next review. We want to ensure claimants receive the right level of award while at the same time reducing unnecessary award reviews. This will make the system far more efficient and remove unnecessary pressure from disabled claimants whose needs rarely change at each review. Reducing the frequency of PIP award reviews will enable us to increase the number of WCA reassessments and the proportion of PIP/WCA health assessments conducted face-to-face.

We know PIP can be improved, which is why we launched the Timms Review, which is being co-produced with disabled people and their organisations to ensure the benefit is fair and fit for the future. The steering group has now published its interim report, which provides a public account of the Review’s work to date and summarises the evidence gathered and engagement conducted so far. This includes the findings from the Call for Evidence, which had over 38,000 responses. The steering group is now moving into the next phase of work designing and testing their recommendations, which will be published in a final report of recommendations to the Secretary of State in the autumn.

As crises do not respect borders or boundaries, resilience is a shared responsibility between individuals, communities, businesses, local, devolved and national government across the UK.

We work in close cooperation at both official and ministerial level on resilience, organising regular ‘four nations’ meeting. These aim to complement the everyday work teams across government do to collaborate with counterparts in the devolved governments on risk and resilience. The most recent meeting was in June.

This group discusses how each government is developing its own strategies and frameworks to strengthen resilience and identify opportunities for greater collaboration.

The Government keeps risks to Critical National Infrastructure, of which data centres are a part, under continuous review through the National Risk Register process and extensive engagement with industry. As the department responsible for data infrastructure, DSIT also conducts rolling assessments of the risk of a cyber-attack to data centres. This is supplemented by DSIT’s ongoing engagement with the sector to continuously test the capabilities of data centres against known threats, including cyber attacks. DSIT’s assessments consider the potential disruption, compromise or denial of essential services resulting from a successful cyber attack on data infrastructure, and inform national resilience planning assumptions.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 17 June 2026 to Question 9408 to the hon. Member for Mid Dorset and North Poole (Vikki Slade).

https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2026-06-12/9408.

This government is fully committed to renewing the nation’s contract with those who serve and who have served. In November 2025, the Government published a new cross-government Veterans Strategy working with devolved governments and across society to set a new narrative around the remarkable men and women who have served in our Armed Forces.

During Armed Forces week (June 2025), the Prime Minister announced that military personnel, veterans, their families and the bereaved are to have their unique circumstances legally protected by central and devolved governments for the first time under plans to extend the Covenant Legal Duty to more policy areas and across the UK, through the Armed Forces Bill 2026. The Bill is now progressing through the House of Lords and must achieve Royal Assent by December 2026.

The Covenant Duty will extend to UK Government departments and the Devolved Governments as well as local public bodies currently within scope. They will all be required to have due regard to the Covenant principles in their decision and policy making. The Duty will be extended from three policy areas to encompass childcare, education and training, employment, health and social care, housing, social security benefits, personal taxation, criminal justice, transport, pensions, immigration and citizenship, and armed forces compensation.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my noble Friend, the Minister of State for Defence (Lord Coaker), on 12 February 2026 to Question HL14110 in the House of Lords.

https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2026-01-29/HL14110

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 1 July 2026 to Questions 12265 and 12266 to the hon. Member for Mid Buckinghamshire (Mr Smith).

https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2026-06-23/12265

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 1 July 2026 to Question 12262 to the hon. Member for Mid Buckinghamshire (Greg Smith).

https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2026-06-23/12262

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 1 July 2026 to Question 12262 to the hon. Member for Mid Buckinghamshire (Greg Smith).

https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2026-06-23/12262

The Department's contingency plans for maintaining the supply of medical products are under ongoing review by the Cabinet Office through their National Capabilities Assessment. This tests the Department's response to scenarios on the National Risk Register, including disruption to medical supply chains and transport networks.

The Department also takes part in exercises that test contingency arrangements. In November 2025, the Department participated in Exercise Pegasus, a tier 1 national-level exercise testing decision making processes for measures to contain, control, or mitigate the impact of a pandemic, including the impact on supply chains and transport.