Emergencies: Finance
The question
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the answer of 13 July 2026 to question 16362, whether her Department maintains (a) a central register and (b) an estimate of funding allocated for civil contingencies and emergency planning across departments during the spending review period.
Answered by Treasury
HM Treasury allocated significant funding to departments at Spending Review 2025 (SR25) to protect the public and the environment from emergencies, and for civil preparedness. This includes £4.2bn to build and maintain flood defences, £520m to build resilience for future health emergencies, and £1.2bn digital investment which will tackle urgent cyber security and technical risks. Looking ahead, the government has committed to spend 1.5% of GDP on security and resilience by 2035, as part of its 5% pledge to NATO.
Departments are required to maintain contingency plans for managing risks and emergencies within their SR25 budgets. HM Treasury also maintains a central Reserve, for any unforeseen and unavoidable risks which cannot be managed within departmental budgets.
HM Treasury monitors risks to departmental budgets and shares them with the Office of Budget Responsibility (OBR) on a quarterly basis, in line with Charter of Budget Responsibility and recommendations made by the OBR as part of the DEL Review.
Verbatim has judged this answer against the question that was actually asked — answered, partly answered, or evaded. Sign in to see the verdict →