What does a new war book look like for the UK?
Are we ready for war? It is a question that is seemingly asked more and more as the world grows dangerous. Are we ready to respond to the threats we face? As geopolitical risk increases, this is important to consider. The conversation often focuses on our armed forces; the number of those serving, the kit and weapons they have access to, and if the capabilities to defend ourselves are sufficient and available.
But one thing has become clear: having a plan about how we respond as a nation and recover from impacts – whether physical, economic or cyber – is an imperative. The chief of defence staff, Richard Knighton, has said the UK is preparing a new version of the government “war book” which was developed during the First World War.
The war book was about much more than just how the military responds – it was about how society and the economy remain resilient and continue to function during a time of crisis. The updated version will need to drive conversation across society, and facilitate involvement from industry, business, and government.
For organisations like Serco, who deliver critical public services, we have an important role to play in the planning and testing of the nation’s plans.
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We understand the reliance put on us by governments to deliver critical public services to citizens, but we also know how those services support the nation’s resilience and readiness. Our job is to know how we can stay fully aligned to meet societies needs, regardless of the impact or disruption from events.
Resilience often runs counter to the emphasis on efficiency that has dominated thinking on public finances for the last three decades. It involves duplication and dispersal, but as new threats emerge, we need to ensure that we have resilient systems that enable us to be flexible enough to absorb shock and respond. It’s something we take very seriously at Serco, and, working alongside our expert colleagues at the UK Resilience Academy, we are developing plans to enhance our own organisational resilience and readiness. Our work is centring on three areas: the continued delivery of critical defence services in the event of conflict, mobilising the nation, and maintaining functioning public services.
Today, you’ll find our teams at the UK’s critical bases: from the three naval bases to RAF Fylingdales, which provides continuous ballistic missile early warning and space surveillance for the UK and US.
The war book must consider how civilian contractors will be mobilised in a scenario in which the UK has been attacked, how peace-time regulations will need to change to support defence, and enact some “break glass” options for contractors in a time of crisis that protects organisations. It is vital that industry is involved in war gaming and scenario exercising for how the UK would respond to an attack on its soil.
Mobilising the wider population is another important element, including how to prepare the strategic reserve and how to muster veterans and reservists. This is especially important for those who work for organisations delivering critical roles – whether in the defence industry, emergency services or other important industries such as the NHS, prisons and critical national infrastructure, including utilities and transport hubs.
The war book will also need to consider how we can fill capability gaps, and develop plans to recruit, train and mobilise wider society if required.
It will need to include plans to ensure public services function well, in order to support a society under the strain of war.
The government will need to work in collaboration with its partners, with industry bringing capacity to maintain services, as well as the need to adapt or propose new ways of providing administrative services and the creation of entirely new services.
There are many difficult questions. It is clear the conversation is going to continue as the war book develops. The UK is a different country than it was when the war book was first developed. A modern version will require a whole of society approach – civil society, academia and business – if we are to build our resilience and readiness. We look forward to sharing our what we have learnt and helping to ensure that we are ready to respond to the threats the UK may face.
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