The Cabinet Office is committed to delivering value for money to the public. There is no additional or marginal cost of issuing a nationwide Emergency Alert; the most recent activation of the Emergency Alert capability on 14 August was issued at no cost to the taxpayer.

It is important to note that every Emergency Alert is carefully coordinated with responding public bodies and agencies. Each request is evaluated by the Cabinet Office on a rigorous, case-by-case basis to ensure it is necessary for public safety.

The Cabinet Office carries out an internal review of every activation and test of the system. We are committed to learning from this experience and are currently reviewing the thresholds and operational protocols for future alerts to ensure they remain a proportionate and effective tool for preserving life. The National Fire Chiefs Council observed a decrease in wildfire responses in the 72 hours following the broadcast, suggesting the alert played a vital role in preventing further incidents.

Emergency Alerts in the UK will be sent where there is a risk to life in a defined area and the public must take immediate action. In the case of the recent activation regarding wildfires this was requested by the National Fire Chiefs Council, and the Alert content and broadcast area was coordinated between government and responding public bodies.

Each request is evaluated by the Cabinet Office on a rigorous, case-by-case basis to ensure it is necessary for public safety. While we strive to use this tool sparingly, the Cabinet Office remains committed to reviewing every alert request with the utmost care to balance public awareness with the potential for public fatigue. The Department conducts internal evaluation after each deployment of the capability and is committed to continuously improving this valuable service to keep people safe.

Unlawful activity within this zone is a matter for the police. The police monitor unlawful activity within the Government Secure Zone, and share information with relevant partners. Offences such as illegal street trading are the responsibility of relevant local authorities.

In line with policy under successive administrations, security arrangements within the Government Secure Zone are not subject to detailed public disclosure.

NATO’s definition for 1.5% reporting 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. The UK Government used these definitions to determine eligible spend. Specific sectors included within that definition are confidential.

I refer the Honourable Member to the response to Question 16155 of 28 July 2026.

Following every activation of the Emergency Alert system, the Cabinet Office carries out an internal evaluation with key stakeholders. After the 14th August, the Chair of the National Fire Chiefs Council noted that the Emergency Alert heightened public awareness of the risks affecting firefighters. It was reported that there was a reduction in the number of wildfires in the 72 hours following the Emergency Alert.

The Cabinet Office is committed to continuously improving this valuable service to keep people safe. The government remains ready to deploy the capability at short-notice in response to risks that pose a danger to life, including but not limited to flooding, severe weather and wildfires.

Whilst the Emergency Alerts capability is an important tool for warning and informing the public, the system is intended to complement rather than supersede other tools available to responders to communicate with the public in emergency situations. Those unable to be notified by this new capability will therefore be alerted by other existing mechanisms, for example, by text or phone messages, social and broadcast media.

Furthermore, each region across the UK also has a group in place, whose role it is to warn, inform and advise the public in the event of an emergency. These are called Local Resilience Forums in England and Wales, Regional Resilience Partnerships in Scotland, and Emergency Preparedness Groups in Northern Ireland. These forums are made up of local authorities, the emergency services, the NHS & health bodies and environment-related government agencies.

The Government’s ambition is for all populated areas to have access to higher quality standalone 5G by 2030. This includes rural areas. The Government continues to work closely with the industry to ensure this is delivered, including through the identification and removal of barriers to deployment. Alongside the commercial rollout of mobile networks, the Government is delivering the Shared Rural Network, which is bringing new 4G coverage to rural and hard to reach communities across the UK through the upgrade of existing infrastructure and the delivery of new sites.

Protecting victims of domestic abuse is always our priority. Both national tests of the Emergency Alerting capability were accompanied by a proactive public communications campaign. This included extensive engagement with charities and groups representing vulnerable communities, such as Refuge. Advice on how to opt-out of emergency alerts is available at all times of GOV.uk/alerts, and is included in the websites of a number of charities and organisations that support victims of domestic abuse.

As far as possible, the Cabinet Office engages with the media ahead of the transmission of an Alert to provide notice to the public. In a ‘live’ activation scenario, pre-planned public communications are difficult to ensure but will always be considered where possible. Please be assured that we are learning from each activation to ensure that the capability is being used in the most effective way.

The government understands that individuals may be worried if they did not receive the recent Emergency Alert on 14th August and wants to reassure the public that if they are unable to receive Emergency Alerts due to handset incompatibility or living in a signal black spot, they will still be alerted by other existing mechanisms. For example, by text or phone messages, social and broadcast media. The Emergency Alerts capability is intended to complement rather than supersede other tools available to responders to communicate with the public in emergency situations.

Each region across the UK also has a group in place, whose role it is to warn, inform and advise the public in the event of an emergency. These are called Local Resilience Forums in England and Wales, Regional Resilience Partnerships in Scotland, and Emergency Preparedness Groups in Northern Ireland. These forums are made up of local authorities, the emergency services, the NHS & health bodies and environment-related government agencies.

The government’s ambition is for all populated areas to have access to higher quality standalone 5G by 2030. This includes rural areas. The Government continues to work closely with the industry to ensure this is delivered, including through the identification and removal of barriers to deployment. Alongside the commercial rollout of mobile networks, the Government is delivering the Shared Rural Network, which is bringing new 4G coverage to rural and hard to reach communities across the UK through the upgrade of existing infrastructure and the delivery of new sites.

Young people have consistently expressed a strong desire for more education on climate change, so they are prepared for life and work in a changing world. Teachers have also highlighted previously that limited depth on environmental topics in the national curriculum has made it difficult to develop effective provision in this area.

The independent Curriculum and Assessment Review recommended earlier sequencing and updated environmental content within the subjects of citizenship, geography, science, and design and technology. The Secretary of State is considering the recommendations of the Review, and we expect there will be a public consultation on the proposals for the curriculum and assessment system in due course.

The department takes periods of hot weather and heatwaves seriously and has published a climate risk assessment and continues to support Responsible Bodies and schools to provide education in a safe environment. The department has published guidance on hot weather available via the Education Hub on www.gov.uk.

In addition to the recent guidance published by the Department for Education, on Friday 14 August, millions of people were sent wildfire emergency phone alerts warning against any activity that could start a fire. The Emergency Alerts system is used to amplify and complement other methods of warning and informing the public in emergency situations. In this case, we took the decision to use the system after a direct request from fire and rescue services on the front line of the fight against wildfires.

The Government furthermore released a press notice reminding the public not to light fires and to take litter home, and took action to implement a temporary ban on disposable barbecues. Various public information campaigns from the Fire and Rescue Services (national and local) include fire safety advice for the public.

The Government takes matters of national security very seriously, including cyber security, and has robust procedures in place to prevent the loss of sensitive information.

However, we do not routinely comment on the specifics on matters relating to national security.

The Civil Contingencies Act 2004 provides a legislative framework for emergency preparedness across the UK. This includes supporting preparedness for situations which cause, or may cause, a disruption of a supply of food.

We are currently undertaking a Post-Implementation Review of the Civil Contingencies Act 2004, which is required to be presented to Parliament by March 2027. Through this review we will assess whether the Act is delivering its objectives and consider any changes to the legislation or accompanying guidance, which are required to strengthen the Act. A Call for Views was launched on 14 July 2026 to gather evidence from across the resilience community to inform the review's conclusions.

While the review does not explicitly consider the merits of including additional measures related to food shortages, we will consider, based on the evidence gathered, what changes could support increased preparedness for emergencies, including disruption to food supplies.

The eligibility criteria for 2027 internship schemes in the United Kingdom Intelligence Community were or will be made publicly available on agency websites when the schemes are advertised.

We are striving wherever possible to ensure that people from backgrounds that are typically underrepresented in these industries are given opportunities they have previously been denied, so we make the most of all of our country’s brilliant talent.

Our interactions and equities decision making relating to China sits across a wide-range of Departments. All have responsibilities for assessing the priorities and trade-offs in their policy space, informed by deep expertise and analysis. As with many areas, this requires some central co-ordination through the Cabinet office to ensure a cohesive, whole-of-government approach that empowers departments to deliver while maintaining consistency. This includes supporting the National Security Council.

The campaign will be delivered through a low-cost strategy to drive national behaviour change. We are actively engaging local government, emergency services, utilities, industry, academia, and the voluntary and faith sectors to support the campaign to embed campaign messages into people's everyday lives (such as libraries, utility bills and via healthcare providers) and significantly amplify our overall reach.

We secured funding through the Spending Review process to design assets and to target priority audiences with paid advertising, where we have evidence that low/no cost communications activity had limited reach.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 15 April 2026 to Question UIN 125344.

Protecting women in abusive relationships is our highest priority. In order to protect those who may have hidden phones, both national tests of the Emergency Alerting capability have been accompanied by a wide-ranging proactive public communications campaign. This raised awareness of the system and recommended that women with hidden phones opt out of receiving Alerts and was delivered in partnership with organisations that represent these groups.

In a ‘live’ activation scenario such as this, such pre-planned public communications are not always possible. But please be assured that we are learning from each activation to ensure that the capability is being used in the most effective way and, where it is practicable, advance warning of alerts will be considered.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 15 April 2026 to Question UIN 125344.

The Cabinet Office develops Emergency Alerts in collaboration with local responders and emergency services. Every Alert is carefully coordinated with responding public bodies and each request is evaluated by the Cabinet Office on a rigorous, case-by-case basis to ensure it is necessary for public safety.

All Emergency Alerts must meet the criteria for use and since the launch of the capability in April 2023, the Cabinet Office has authorised seven live activations, six of which were related to extreme weather.

The Government remains ready to deploy the capability at short-notice in response to risks that pose a danger to life, including but not limited to flooding, severe weather and wildfires.