UK Resilience
Last updated: 28 October 2008
Whilst the Armed Forces have provided ad-hoc assistance to the civil authorities on all manner of occasions over the years, resilience planners must not assume that such support will be available in the future when developing their capability programmes. Military support is provided on an assistance basis and a variety of factors means that it cannot be guaranteed.
The Ministry of Defence has a share in the wider Government responsibility for the safety and security of the citizens of the UK. That contribution, however, rests crucially on its ability to undertake expeditionary operations, including the ability to undertake expeditionary counter terrorist operations and capacity-building. The security of the UK depends on the Armed Forces ability to undertake such tasks, and operations in the UK must therefore be regarded as exceptional and unusual. Military Assistance to the civil Authorities (MACA) can, however, make a significant contribution at times of extreme crisis, and the Armed Forces will remain prepared to respond to some emergencies in the UK, especially where Defence can achieve a strategic effect. Defence will continue to work to enhance and support the capability, capacity and confidence of civil agencies in responding to such challenges with the minimum of disruption to the lives of the ordinary citizen.
During a Recovery/consequence management operation the provision of Armed Forces’ support will require the approval of a Defence Minister following the receipt of a formal request by a government department
The Armed Forces remain heavily committed to operations overseas and are likely to remain so for the foreseeable future. Those parts of the Armed Forces that are not currently employed on operations overseas are largely preparing for, or recovering from, such operations. There is little spare capacity to carry out additional tasks.
The framework for MOD involvement in the consequence management of civil contingencies in the UK is therefore one of civil primacy, civil capability and civil capacity. Case-by-case assistance to the civil authorities is possible through the Standing Home Commitments Group of Military Tasks but resilience and recovery planners must understand that planned Defence contributions at home are very much by exception, in particular where it is unreasonable or unrealistic to expect the civil authorities to develop their own capabilities.
If available, Defence capabilities held for overseas tasks may be called upon to support the Civil Authorities providing there is no civil alternative; if the capability and/or capacity of the civil sector is overfaced; and they do not duplicate the efforts of other agencies and departments.
The Armed Forces have provided assistance on this basis to a number of other Departments and Agencies over the years and can be called upon in extreme and unusual circumstances to provide support to the civil authorities. However, historical evidence of Defence assistance for a particular role is no justification for similar requests. Moreover, it should not be planned for the Armed Forces to fill gaps in civil capability or capacity: where a gap in civil capability can be identified in advance, it is for resilience planners to fill that gap.
It is accepted that during an emergency, unforeseen failures of the resilience plan or events in excess of planning assumption, will generate requests for Military aid. Planners should bear in mind that Defence’s priority will be focused on delivering Defence outputs. Any requests will be scrutinised in terms of Military capability and capacity available and whether the actual request is a good use of Military assets - a positive response is not guaranteed. For instance, should Defence contribute to the delivery of security and public order or should they be utilised for municipal tasks; this will be a decision for ministers.
Armed Forces support to civil resilience can be divided into two categories:
The legal basis for instructing Armed Forces personnel to provide support to the civil authorities in the UK can only be one of the following:
Military units and personnel remain under the MOD chain of command at all times and are not subordinated to the command of civil authorities.
Provision of MACA remains a central issue.
Personnel of the police and other civil agencies are granted special powers unique to them. To ensure that they are even-handed in the application of these powers, they are operationally independent of Government. Local agencies have the authority to institute local responses.
The Armed Forces are not independent of Government and Armed Forces personnel do not have additional powers granted to them. They remain under Central Government control at all times and only Defence Ministers can authorise their deployment, for any purpose. Support to the civil authorities cannot be provided without this authorisation. This also means that provision of Military Support automatically involves the elevation of the response to central Government.
In the first instance, guidance on requesting military aid for recovery situations should be sought from the Joint Regional Liaison Officer (JRLO) who is a key member within the LRF / RRFs. The JRLO can then liaise with the appropriate Defence Organisations to seek further advice. JRLO liaison involves the provision of advice and the exchange of information. It does not guarantee the provision of support. However, any formal request must be made through the appropriate Government Department or Agency who will then approach the Ministry of Defence directly. It is worth noting that the armed forces are more likely to be engaged in the response to, rather than the recovery from, a crisis. Recovery is largely a local-authority-led task which requires planning of a nature where commercial alternatives might be found for the majority of tasks.
One of the principal responsibilities on any government is the defence of the realm. The UK Government distinguishes between the defence of the UK against external military threats and the safety and domestic security of the citizen. The latter is the responsibility of the Home Secretary; the former the responsibility of the Secretary of State for Defence.
The principal purpose of the Armed Forces is to deploy armed force on behalf of the state. The bulk of the Armed Forces capabilities are therefore held at varying degrees of readiness to maintain the ability to engage security threats before they reach the UK, and are configured and held at readiness for contingent operations overseas. The function of the MOD is to ensure the continuing availability of these forces, to command and control them, to organise their deployment and support and to carry out a range of associated Department of State functions. The Armed Forces are not resourced for tasks in the UK, except for very specific exceptions, and few capabilities are held for tasks in the UK.
The emphasis on the role of the Armed Forces overseas is reflected in the Government’s allocation of resources to defence and to MOD’s own priorities, planning assumptions, force structures, strategic direction and operational tasking. Responsibility for security in the UK is widely shared between agencies and departments, and so too is the funding of that responsibility. The Defence budget should not be seen as a means of providing financial support to the activities of other agencies, no matter how worthy. Doing so would divert resources from defence activity.
MOD Ministers can decide that it is in the national interest to waive all or part of the costs, but this should be seen as exceptional. In particular, it should not be assumed that the distinction between niche and augmentation capabilities has any direct impact on whether or not MOD is prepared to waive costs. In some cases MOD is only prepared to provide niche capabilities on the understanding that other Departments or agencies are prepared to fund all or part of the costs.
Historical events should not be used as evidence to approach MoD for Military assistance. Any request will be considered on its individual merits.
Operations in the UK: The Defence Contribution to Resilience [PDF, 317 pages 2.6MB]
Ministry of Defence [External website]
General enquiries: Cabinet Office, 22 Whitehall, London SW1A 2WH.
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