National Preparedness Commission

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The National Preparedness Commission is an independent, not for profit non-political organisation in the United Kingdom. [1] [2] Its primary objective is to assist people, business and government with preparation and mitigation to major challenges, including war and disaster. [3] This includes enhancing national preparedness through, for example, an adequate assessments of threats, risks and vulnerabilities, as well as a shift in culture and national attitude towards prioritising emergency preparedness. [4]

Contents

The Committee was established in November 2020. [5] [6] The current chair of the commission is Toby Harris, Baron Harris of Haringey. [7]

Commissioners

Ken Olisa is a Vice-Chair of the commission. [8]

Rebecca Lawrence was appointed a commissioner of the organisation in 2025. [9] [10]

John Armitt, final chairman of the UK's National Infrastructure Commission is a commissioner. [9] Other commissioners include Victor Adebowale, Baron Adebowale and James Arbuthnot. [9]

Reports

The commission creates public policy reports and briefing documents to assist with national preparedness in the UK. [11]

In March 2022, the commission published an independent review of the UK Civil Contingencies Act 2004. [12]

In February 2024, the commission published a report on food security, specifically civil resilience in protecting the UK food supply. [13] [14] [15] The lead author of the report was Tim Lang, Professor Emeritus of Food Policy at City St George's, University of London. [14] [15] [13]

In August 2025, the commission published a report on energy security and infrastructure, entitle “Assessing Energy Resilience in the UK 2050”. [3]

References

  1. "About". National Preparedness Commission. 2025-08-01. Retrieved 2025-08-21.
  2. "Written evidence from the National Preparedness Commission". House of Commons. Retrieved 2025-08-21.
  3. 1 2 Anderson, Mitch; Blog, DeSmog (2025-08-18). "How resilient is our energy system? Reflections on the findings of a report by the National Preparedness Commission". resilience. Retrieved 2025-08-21.
  4. "Preparedness". National Preparedness Commission. 2025-08-01. Retrieved 2025-08-21.
  5. Whannel, Kate (2020-11-20). "Post-Covid planning: The committee aiming to protect us from disaster". BBC News. Retrieved 2025-08-21.
  6. Tominey, Camilla (2020-11-18). "Disaster planning committee formed after failures in UK's Covid response". The Telegraph. Retrieved 2025-08-21.
  7. "Lord Toby Harris, Chair, National Preparedness Commission". ABI. Retrieved 2025-08-21.
  8. "The Royal Geographical Society". RGS. Retrieved 2025-08-21.
  9. 1 2 3 "Commissioners - National Preparedness Commission". nationalpreparednesscommission.uk. Retrieved 2025-08-21.
  10. "Advice letter: Commissioner, National Preparedness Commission". GOV.UK. 2025-03-05. Retrieved 2025-08-21.
  11. "The National Preparedness Commission". Resilience First. 2021-01-05. Retrieved 2025-08-21.
  12. "News". Resilience Association. Retrieved 2025-08-21.
  13. 1 2 Laville, Sandra (2025-02-06). "Urgent action needed to ensure UK food security, report warns". the Guardian. Retrieved 2025-08-21.
  14. 1 2 "NFU responds to warnings in NPC report on food security". NFUonline. 2025-02-06. Retrieved 2025-08-21.
  15. 1 2 Grylls, Bethan (2025-02-26). "UK food security in 'precarious state'". FoodManufacture.co.uk. Retrieved 2025-08-21.