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National Capabilities Survey 2010

Aims and Objectives

Assessing our current capabilities is a critical part of the Government’s programme to make the country more resilient to disruptive events. The keystone of this process is the National Capabilities Survey (NCS), which has been conducted every two years since 2006 by the Cabinet Office.

The results of the survey help to improve our understanding of the UK’s readiness to respond to a range of assessed risks, be they terrorist attacks or natural hazards such as flooding (for further information about assessed risks, see the National Risk Register in the ‘Risks’ section. The results of the survey also help to inform priorities for future investment, exercises and policy development.

Background

The first NCS was launched in 2006, a few months after the provisions of the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 came into effect. The last NCS was conducted in January 2008.

Results from previous surveys have proved extremely useful for developing a wide variety of capabilities work. The non-statutory Humanitarian Assistance strategic guidance due to be published next year by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport is just one example of work developed partly as a result of capability gaps identified through the NCS.

Approach

NCS 2010 is being developed by the Civil Contingencies Secretariat in collaboration with lead government departments, local and regional subject matter experts, and representatives from the responder community.

The survey comprises a range of questionnaires (known as “modules”), each tailored to specific responder categories and designed with the aim of collecting specific information relating to current capabilities work programmes. It will be sent out in May 2010 to approximately 1,200 Category 1 and 2 responders in England and Wales from three key response strands: essential services, central government and local responders, as well as local and regional resilience forums.

As in 2008, the survey will be conduced online and will run for a period of six weeks. The survey results will be treated in confidence and will be used by the Government to inform resilience planning.