Ministers launch resilience academy to prepare for future crises such as Covid
The UK Resilience Academy will train more than 4,000 people each year, working in both public services and the private sector, to better deal with crises.
Skills being taught including helping businesses maintain continuity in the event of a disaster, crowd management skills, and crisis communications.
The new academy will be based at the Hawkhills estate near Easingwold, north of York, a site which has a history of being used for emergency planning.
We're making a generational upgrade to crisis training for thousands of workers, and helping decision-makers identify vulnerable groups in a crisis Pat McFadden
The armed forces and Civil Service will also be offered the training, which is aimed at making sure Britain is better prepared in the event of something like the Covid-19 pandemic.
The training is among the steps the Government is taking following a warning from the UK Covid-19 Inquiry that the UK is not prepared nor resilient enough to deal with another pandemic.
Baroness Heather Hallett, the inquiry chairwoman, called for pandemic preparedness exercises to be held at least every three years in future in her conclusion to the first module of the wide-ranging investigation.
Ministers plan to hold one in 2025, with all Government departments, local councils, emergency services and the devolved authorities invited to take part.
An emergency alert system, which rings out from mobile phones in the event of a public emergency, is also to be tested this year.
However, Lady Hallett said only this month that the Government needs to do 'far more work' on emergency preparedness beyond the steps already being taken.
Pat McFadden, a senior minister in the Cabinet Office, who is leading the Government's resilience planning work, said: 'Today, we're making a generational upgrade to crisis training for thousands of workers, and helping decision-makers identify vulnerable groups in a crisis.'
Mr McFadden has also launched a new piece of software which will be used to highlight where vulnerable groups are, including the elderly, and those with power outages and insecure food supplies, during crises.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South Wales Argus
27 minutes ago
- South Wales Argus
Starmer and Trump call for ‘diplomacy and dialogue' in Israel and Iran conflict
The two leaders spoke on Friday evening, as western nations began a diplomatic flurry to calm the burgeoning conflict, which started with early morning Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear bases. Sir Keir earlier urged his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu to de-escalate and work towards a 'diplomatic resolution'. An explosion is seen during a missile attack in Tel Aviv, Israel (Tomer Neuberg via AP) David Lammy, the Foreign Secretary, meanwhile warned the Middle East is facing a 'moment of grave peril', after he spoke to Iran's foreign minister and called for calm. Earlier calls from the PM, as well as France's Emmanuel Macron and Germany's Friedrich Merz, for restraint appeared fruitless, as a fresh wave of strikes hit Tehran and other targets across Iran on Friday evening. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, vowed revenge, and his country launched hundreds of ballistic missiles at Israel in a retaliatory attack. Air raid sirens were sounded across Israel and its citizens were ordered to move into bomb shelters, while plumes of smoke could be seen rising in central Tel Aviv. In London, the Prime Minister convened a Cobra meeting of high level ministers and officials to discuss the situation in the Middle East. Warren Stephens, the US ambassador to the UK, was also seen outside the Cabinet Office in Whitehall after the meeting on Friday afternoon. Sir Keir spoke to US President Donald Trump on Friday evening (Alex Brandon/AP) A Downing Street spokeswoman said Sir Keir and Mr Trump 'discussed the military action in the Middle East overnight and agreed on the importance of diplomacy and dialogue' when they spoke on the phone. She added: 'Updating on his conversations with partners today, the Prime Minister reiterated the UK's grave concerns about Iran's nuclear programmes. 'The leaders looked forward to speaking again at the G7 in Canada next week.' Both the UK and the US have insisted they were not involved in the Israeli strikes and that Israel acted unilaterally. Foreign Secretary Mr Lammy would not say whether the Government had been forewarned of the action. Tzipi Hotovely, Israel's ambassador to the UK told Sky News the first time the her country discussed the strikes with the UK was at midday on Friday. Israeli's Iron Dome air defence system fires to intercept missiles over Tel Aviv, Israel (Leo Correa via AP) She also told the broadcaster: 'The aim is to make sure Iran won't have nuclear capabilities. This is why all our targets are military targets. This is why we're attacking the nuclear sites. 'This is not a plan that was created in one night. This is a plan being created in many years from understanding the levels of danger.' Among the sites hit by Israel's strikes are several of Iran's main nuclear sites, as well as missile factories. Hossein Salami, the leader of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, was also reportedly killed in the initial attacks.
Glasgow Times
27 minutes ago
- Glasgow Times
Starmer and Trump call for ‘diplomacy and dialogue' in Israel and Iran conflict
The two leaders spoke on Friday evening, as western nations began a diplomatic flurry to calm the burgeoning conflict, which started with early morning Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear bases. Sir Keir earlier urged his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu to de-escalate and work towards a 'diplomatic resolution'. An explosion is seen during a missile attack in Tel Aviv, Israel (Tomer Neuberg via AP) David Lammy, the Foreign Secretary, meanwhile warned the Middle East is facing a 'moment of grave peril', after he spoke to Iran's foreign minister and called for calm. Earlier calls from the PM, as well as France's Emmanuel Macron and Germany's Friedrich Merz, for restraint appeared fruitless, as a fresh wave of strikes hit Tehran and other targets across Iran on Friday evening. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, vowed revenge, and his country launched hundreds of ballistic missiles at Israel in a retaliatory attack. Air raid sirens were sounded across Israel and its citizens were ordered to move into bomb shelters, while plumes of smoke could be seen rising in central Tel Aviv. In London, the Prime Minister convened a Cobra meeting of high level ministers and officials to discuss the situation in the Middle East. Warren Stephens, the US ambassador to the UK, was also seen outside the Cabinet Office in Whitehall after the meeting on Friday afternoon. Sir Keir spoke to US President Donald Trump on Friday evening (Alex Brandon/AP) A Downing Street spokeswoman said Sir Keir and Mr Trump 'discussed the military action in the Middle East overnight and agreed on the importance of diplomacy and dialogue' when they spoke on the phone. She added: 'Updating on his conversations with partners today, the Prime Minister reiterated the UK's grave concerns about Iran's nuclear programmes. 'The leaders looked forward to speaking again at the G7 in Canada next week.' Both the UK and the US have insisted they were not involved in the Israeli strikes and that Israel acted unilaterally. Foreign Secretary Mr Lammy would not say whether the Government had been forewarned of the action. Tzipi Hotovely, Israel's ambassador to the UK told Sky News the first time the her country discussed the strikes with the UK was at midday on Friday. Israeli's Iron Dome air defence system fires to intercept missiles over Tel Aviv, Israel (Leo Correa via AP) She also told the broadcaster: 'The aim is to make sure Iran won't have nuclear capabilities. This is why all our targets are military targets. This is why we're attacking the nuclear sites. 'This is not a plan that was created in one night. This is a plan being created in many years from understanding the levels of danger.' Among the sites hit by Israel's strikes are several of Iran's main nuclear sites, as well as missile factories. Hossein Salami, the leader of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, was also reportedly killed in the initial attacks.
Powys County Times
27 minutes ago
- Powys County Times
Starmer and Trump call for ‘diplomacy and dialogue' in Israel and Iran conflict
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and US President Donald Trump have agreed the mounting conflict between Iran and Israel should be resolved by 'diplomacy and dialogue'. The two leaders spoke on Friday evening, as western nations began a diplomatic flurry to calm the burgeoning conflict, which started with early morning Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear bases. Sir Keir earlier urged his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu to de-escalate and work towards a 'diplomatic resolution'. David Lammy, the Foreign Secretary, meanwhile warned the Middle East is facing a 'moment of grave peril', after he spoke to Iran's foreign minister and called for calm. Earlier calls from the PM, as well as France's Emmanuel Macron and Germany's Friedrich Merz, for restraint appeared fruitless, as a fresh wave of strikes hit Tehran and other targets across Iran on Friday evening. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, vowed revenge, and his country launched hundreds of ballistic missiles at Israel in a retaliatory attack. Air raid sirens were sounded across Israel and its citizens were ordered to move into bomb shelters, while plumes of smoke could be seen rising in central Tel Aviv. In London, the Prime Minister convened a Cobra meeting of high level ministers and officials to discuss the situation in the Middle East. Warren Stephens, the US ambassador to the UK, was also seen outside the Cabinet Office in Whitehall after the meeting on Friday afternoon. A Downing Street spokeswoman said Sir Keir and Mr Trump 'discussed the military action in the Middle East overnight and agreed on the importance of diplomacy and dialogue' when they spoke on the phone. She added: 'Updating on his conversations with partners today, the Prime Minister reiterated the UK's grave concerns about Iran's nuclear programmes. 'The leaders looked forward to speaking again at the G7 in Canada next week.' Both the UK and the US have insisted they were not involved in the Israeli strikes and that Israel acted unilaterally. Foreign Secretary Mr Lammy would not say whether the Government had been forewarned of the action. Tzipi Hotovely, Israel's ambassador to the UK told Sky News the first time the her country discussed the strikes with the UK was at midday on Friday. She also told the broadcaster: 'The aim is to make sure Iran won't have nuclear capabilities. This is why all our targets are military targets. This is why we're attacking the nuclear sites. 'This is not a plan that was created in one night. This is a plan being created in many years from understanding the levels of danger.' Among the sites hit by Israel's strikes are several of Iran's main nuclear sites, as well as missile factories.
