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Environment Protection and Safety

Cabinet Office written question – answered at on 19 January 2026.

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Photo of Alison Griffiths Alison Griffiths Conservative, Bognor Regis and Littlehampton

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what guidance his Department has issued to local authorities on (a) formally notifying and (b) engaging with Members of Parliament during significant environmental or public safety incidents affecting their constituencies.

Photo of Dan Jarvis Dan Jarvis The Minister of State, Home Department, Minister of State (Home Office) (Security), Minister of State (Cabinet Office)

The government issues a range of guidance on the Civil Contingencies Act 2004, its associated regulations and wider non-statutory arrangements for civil protection. This supports local responders, which includes Local Authorities, to understand how to fulfil their duties under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 and how to prepare for, respond to, and recover from emergencies taking place in the UK, including environmental and public safety incidents.

Cabinet Office guidance, including the ‘Emergency Response and Recovery’ guidance and ‘National Resilience Standards for Local Resilience Forums’ guidance, provides information on protocols that local responders should have for ensuring appropriate political involvement in the management of emergencies, particularly in the recovery phase. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has also issued ‘Local authorities’ preparedness for civil emergencies: a good practice guide for chief executives’ guidance which provides assistance to chief executives of local authorities to make sure they are well-prepared to respond and recover from emergencies. This includes the need to provide clear information to politicians on what is happening during an emergency.

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  • (Citation: HC Deb, 19 January 2026, cW)

Cabinet

The cabinet is the group of twenty or so (and no more than 22) senior government ministers who are responsible for running the departments of state and deciding government policy.

It is chaired by the prime minister.

The cabinet is bound by collective responsibility, which means that all its members must abide by and defend the decisions it takes, despite any private doubts that they might have.

Cabinet ministers are appointed by the prime minister and chosen from MPs or peers of the governing party.

However, during periods of national emergency, or when no single party gains a large enough majority to govern alone, coalition governments have been formed with cabinets containing members from more than one political party.

War cabinets have sometimes been formed with a much smaller membership than the full cabinet.

From time to time the prime minister will reorganise the cabinet in order to bring in new members, or to move existing members around. This reorganisation is known as a cabinet re-shuffle.

The cabinet normally meets once a week in the cabinet room at Downing Street.

Minister

Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.