Lords to question politicians on security threats and strategies
Wednesday 9 June 2021
The House of Lords Risk Assessment and Risk Planning Committee will tomorrow question senior politicians and civil servants on the government’s approach to risk assessment, the UK’s National Security Strategy, National Security Risk Assessment and risk and resilience policy.
Giving evidence will be:
- Dame Margaret Beckett MP, MP for Derby South, Chair of the Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy
- Sir Oliver Letwin, former MP for West Dorset and former Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
- Lord Gus O'Donnell, former Cabinet Secretary
Questions the committee is likely to ask include:
- The Government has committed to developing a comprehensive national resilience strategy. What would you like to see included in that strategy?
- To what extent can we achieve any necessary changes to risk and resilience policy within the existing machinery of Government? Do we need to establish new bodies, or can the existing ones be re-worked and re-oriented?
- Are our current risk assessment, planning and response structures too oriented towards national security threats? Should the National Security Risk Assessment be re-separated into two versions - dealing with threats and hazards separately?
- How can we encourage governments and politicians to think in the longer term, beyond the range of the electoral cycle?
The session will take place virtually on Wednesday 9 June at 10.15am and can be followed on Parliament TV.
