Thread by @BDavisBriz

Looking forward to what should be a timely debate on how and what the UK Govt can do to help to boost the UK's resilience #IfGResilience

https://twitter.com/instituteforgov/status/1603321468183519232

First @tom_sasse opens the webinar by highlighting the recent extreme weather in both the summer & winter, the recent #Coronavirus pandemic & ongoing threats from terrorism & cybersecurity as reasons for #Resilience to be a top national priority #IfGResilience

Sasse notes that the government is due to publish its National Resilience Strategy "presently", but notes that it has probably been delayed in "the recent political maelstroms" #IfGResilience

First speaker @MichaelAdamson5 opens his presentation by stressing that resilience "affects all of us" as it is often vulnerabilities "overlapping each other". He expresses concern that "Bounce Back Better" seems to have dropped off the political discourse #IfGResilience

Adamson notes that "from Grenfell, through to Covid, through to extreme weather and the cost of living", there has been a huge impact on community and individual resilience. Says some of the long-term impacts are still to be realised #IfGResilience

On how to improve resilience, Adamson argues for greater connectivity - both in terms of people being connected to information, resources and other individuals #IfGResilience

Secondly, Adamson says there is a lack of preparedness across the UK. He highlights recent @BritishRedCross research which showed an extreme lack of knowledge & preparedness of people living on flood plains for "inevitable" flood events #IfGResilience

Thirdly, Adamson argues we need to be better at preparing for recovery - including recovery of infrastructure & also psychological & emotional recovery - noting that victims of flooding often cite the loss of "sentimental items" as the hardest impact of floods #IfGResilience

Fourthly, Adamson highlights the importance of greater data collection from a wider range of sources, and the importance of ensuring that datasets from different organisations are able to talk to each other #IfGResilience

Fifthly, Adamson argues that government needs to be more joined-up and curious about the overlaps between different departments, and what other stakeholders exist in different spaces #IfGResilience

Adamson notes that we will have lessons learned from the Grenfell inquiry and the Covid inquiry. However, he notes that these will be long-term views, whereas we also need to focus on short & medium terms #IfGResilience

On what he would like to see from the National Resilience Strategy, Adamson calls for clear roles, responsibilities & accountability for key stakeholders. He also calls on cross-sectoral leadership & a recognition that we all have a role to play in resilience #IfGResilience

Next speaker @dannruthless gives a potted history of Centre for @LongResilience and its work #IfGResilience

Dannreuther argues that we are currently "not resilient enough" towards long-term risk, especially pandemics, AI, biosecurity, nuclear conflict and climate change #IfGResilience

On how we could become more resilient, Dannreuther says a resilient world is one that has "systems to anticipate, mitigate and respond to all long-term risk". She believes that the UK has the potential to be a world leader in creating such systems #IfGResilience

Dannreuther argues that the review of the National Resilience Strategy and National Biosecurity Strategy are two promising areas. Others include the creation of an over-arching Risk Management Strategy based on 3 lines of defence #IfGResilience

Dannreuther explains that the 3 lines of defence breaks down silos, separates ownership oversight & assurance, & gives clear lines of accountability. She argues that this is a widely-used model in the private sector, which the govt should look to for best practise #IfGResilience

In conclusion, Dannreuther believes there are very clear programmes in place to increase UK resilience and, if implemented correctly, could have the UK place itself as a world leader #IfGResilience

Next speaker Sir Oliver Letwin looks at what government can do to increase resilience. Letwin says he "does not share the optimism" about the National Resilience Strategy - argues this needs political will to drive it forward, which he does not see in current Govt #IfGResilience

Letwin says this inaction is in part due to "lack of bandwidth" and "lack of political salience". Argues that this is a problem "both across open democracies and authoritarian regimes" #IfGResilience

On bandwidth, Letwin notes that Ministers often have numerous pressures on their time. This means it is often more necessary to respond to events, rather than having time to plan for "the crisis that isn't current" #IfGResilience

Letwin argues that Labour are in "the ideal position of not being in power, but almost certain to be the next Govt", as they have "the luxury of time" to plan on how their Govt will address these issues "before events take up their time" #IfGResilience

Turning to political salience, Letwin argues that resilience often "doesn't create credit for the person working on it" as "you do not get credit for things that did not happen", compared to "saving" the country from an ongoing crisis #IfGResilience

Despite this, Letwin says that the autocratic infrastructures are in place to get things done. However, this would require a PM to "impose political will" on making the changes to make UK more resilient "even if there is no political glory in it" #IfGResilience

Letwin shares his experience of forming Govt response to #Ebola. Says part of this had 2 full-time staff scanning for future viruses. After #Coronavirus, Letwin wanted to see why staff didn't see it coming - noted that they had been redeployed to deal with Brexit #IfGResilience

Now @PutneyFleur discusses the Labour Party's planned response to the National Resilience Strategy. Notes that Govt response is that Strategy "to be published in Autumn" which "lasts to December 21", so could see publication before Christmas #IfGResilience

Anderson discusses how her personal experiences have shaped her understanding of building resilience - both from an International Development perspective during #Ebola outbreak, to working with a local community centre #IfGResilience

Quoting other panellists, Anderson agrees that the UK has the infrastructure to be "world leading" in resilience and crisis response. Argues that our #Coronavirus response was poorer than it should have been due to "distraction of Brexit" #IfGResilience

Turning to Labour's planned response, Anderson says that Labour would seek to create a cross-government approach to crisis management, both working with teams in Whitehall and a dedicated Minister for Resilience post in the Cabinet Office #IfGResilience

Futhermore, Anderson says there would be a new National Security Sub-Committee on resilience and a review of how COBRA functions #IfGResilience

At the local level, Anderson says there will be a review of Local Resilience Forums - created by the last Labour Govt - & would increase funding & training standards to end "postcode lottery" of quality of LRFs #IfGResilience

Anderson also pledges to bring in a wider range of stakeholders, particularly at the voluntary and grassroots levels, to bring businesses & NGOs into national & local policymaking #IfGResilience

Finally, Anderson calls for increase in data-sharing & reforming procurement to give SMEs and NGOs to apply for contracts, as well as increasing powers to clawback from contracts that do not deliver #IfGResilience

The webinar now moves on to a Q&A session #IfGResilience

First Q is how stakeholders will measure success of National Resilience Strategy. Adamson says that, while the content of the strategy is important, it must be met with increased funding & devolution of powers to local stakeholders to take action on the ground #IfGResilience

Adamson would welcome a "whole society approach" to resilience, which will require a whole system change and an investment in local communities #IfGResilience

Dannreuther believes that Adamson's wish will be realised - noting that Penny Mordaunt in her previous role gave a speech saying HMG recognised the need to understand local issues #IfGResilience

While Dannreuther believes it is important for local communities to be empowered, she says she hopes that the Strategy does not absolve government of its role, noting that there is a vital national role for government to play in terms of oversight & guidance #IfGResilience

On how to balance data from across domains, Letwin says it is a difficult balancing act - giving the example of the #Cornavirus pandemic, whose "war cabinet" included Health Sec as well as Chancellor, so "in theory" should have been able to balance health & economy #IfGResilience

Letwin says that issues such as the furlow scheme proved that there was a balancing act. However, he believes that the challenge is that often in real life crises time passes before you understand the full impact #IfGResilience

Letwin argues that pre-preparedness could have improved our coronavirus response, as we could have developed a better understanding of all the areas a pandemic could affect, rather than responding to it as largely a health crisis #IfGResilience

On Labour proposals for a Minister for Resilience, Letwin says that this requires a senior post, with the explicit support of the Prime Minister in order to drive through the changes that are needed #IfGResilience

Anderson responds, noting that the National Insight Forum did a valuable job of "live learning" during the pandemic, but did not have "the national clout required" to make a substantive difference to national policies #IfGResilience

On the forthcoming Covid inquiry, Anderson also says that the story that we tell ourselves "before and after the inquiry" will shape the lessons we learn. Says Govt needs to be willing to contemplate mistakes & failings in order to learn the right lessons #IfGResilience

On data sharing and multi-domain decision-making, Adamson says that government needs to be better at looking beyond usual suspects to share data, but also the VCSE sector, particularly at grassroots level, need to be better at making themselves available #IfGResilience

Adamson also argues that we need to move away from the idea of resilience being a cycle of "crisis, rest, crisis, rest" towards an era of "constant adaptability". This will require a culture change across systems on how we work #IfGResilience

Dannreuther agrees that we need to get better at data sharing and, in particular, simplifying the way we get experts in to government - either through secondments or technical positions #IfGResilience

On what lessons we should learn from #Coronavirus, Dannreuther says it is not helpful to identify lessons learned if there isnt a named & funded person responsible for ensuring mistakes never happened again #IfGResilience

On what we should look out for ahead of the National Resilience Strategy, Dannreuther say Govt should continue to provide small incremental funding pots to help increase capacity & fund research into emerging risks #IfGResilience

Really interesting conversation on how current (& future?) Govts could work to increase UK resilience. Thanks to @MichaelAdamson5 Sir Oliver Letwin @PutneyFleur & @dannruthless for your insights, to @tom_sasse for chairing & @instituteforgov/@ifgevents for hosting! #IfGResilience

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