UK Resilience Academy to expand National Occupational Standards for Resilience and Emergencies

The UK Resilience Academy, working in partnership with The Workforce Development Trust, has launched a national stakeholder consultation on a set of proposed standards designed to strengthen strategic capability in resilience and emergency preparedness across the UK.

Building on the National Occupational Standards (NOS) for Resilience and Emergencies published last year, the consultation sets out standards covering aspects of what senior leaders and executives across public sector services including justice and healthcare must know and do to strategically anticipate, prepare for and recover from crises.

Developed by a diverse working group, including the Cabinet Office, NHS England, Welsh Government, Local Government Association and the National Police Chiefs’ Council, the proposed standards focus on systemic and chronic risk, the financial and economic dimensions of resilience, long‑term strategic planning and the role of organisational leaders in ensuring resilience is a whole of society endeavour.

The Resilience and Emergencies NOS are nationally agreed definitions of the knowledge, skills and understanding required to effectively prepare for, respond to and recover from risks and emergencies. Local and devolved governments, operators of critical infrastructure, emergency services and NHS organisations are among those already implementing the existing NOS, and the expanded suite will support these bodies, and others with strategic responsibilities, to further strengthen capability at senior and executive levels.

The project to expand the NOS forms part of the UK Government’s wider resilience agenda, which has seen the launch of the Resilience Action Plan and the UK Resilience Academy in recent times, as well as the formation of the House of Lords National Resilience Committee.

Roger Hargreaves, Director at COBR, said:

“The NOS provide a recognised national benchmark for our workforce, helping to define expectations, support capability development and ensure consistency across diverse governance and operating environments.

“NOS support organisations and partners to more effectively prepare, respond, recover and learn from disruptive events. Accordingly, the addition of the new leadership standards can only enhance the capacity of organisations and partners to fulfil these vital functions.”

Jon Czul, Managing Director at The Workforce Development Trust, said:

“We are committed to listening to the resilience community and continuously updating the NOS so that they remain relevant, practical and shaped by those who use them.

“These additional new standards provide a vital strategic leadership dimension, particularly for senior and executive roles, reinforcing resilience as a long‑term, system‑wide priority and supporting leaders to take a more anticipatory, risk‑informed approach.”

Stephen Gaskell, Corporate Strategy Advisor at Greater London Authority, said:

“Knowing your community is critical to building strong and cohesive places. That’s why local and strategic authorities are at the centre of how we work together across our places to achieve resilient communities.

“As resilience efforts gather pace, and as government continues to put additional tools and resources in place to strengthen societal resilience, we welcome the expansion of the NOS to enhance strategic capabilities across local and regional government.”

Daniel Scullane, Head of EPRR Training, UK Health Security Agency, said:

“Disruptions such as cyberattacks, power outages, extreme weather and health crises can strike without warning, threatening essential health and care services.

“Ensuring the health security of the public requires leaders who understand these risks and can take a whole‑of‑society approach.

“The National Occupational Standards provide the common framework to define what capability looks like across the resilience and emergencies landscape, ensuring consistency from strategic leadership to frontline response.

“These revised standards are a welcome step toward embedding that rigour across the system.”

Gabrielle West, Head of Operations, Transport Security Operations Centre at Department for Transport, said:

“The NOS provide a clear and consistent framework for the competencies and performance required to prepare for, respond to, and recover from disruptive events across the UK’s transport systems.

“For organisations leading responses at a national level, their relevance is immediate and practical, helping to ensure that organisations and individuals are equipped to act decisively in complex, high-impact situations.

“This review and expansion of the Standards is a vital step in strengthening system leadership capability across our sector and enhancing the resilience of our critical national infrastructure.”

Consultation

The Workforce Development Trust is now inviting responses to the consultation from senior leaders and stakeholders in national emergencies and systems resilience. The consultation opened on 30 March and will run for six weeks. Responses can be submitted via an online survey.