Refreshed National Risk Register to be published in ‘mid 2023’

The Government has published a new version of the Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy. The 2023 refresh confirms that National Risk Register, based on the National Security Risk Assessment (NSRA), will be updated and published later in 2023.

Since the early 2000s, the Government has assessed risks to the UK through the NSRA, publishing an update every two years. In response to 2021 Integrated Review’s direction to be more dynamic and adaptive, the NSRA has moved to an iterative approach, reviewing risks on a rolling basis.

The new methodology for the NSRA has been developed following a formal review by the Royal Academy of Engineering with stakeholders from government industry and academia. The new methodology includes longer timescales, assessment of multiple scenarios, and the use of a wider range of relevant data and insight alongside external challenge.

The NSRA will now separate acute and chronic risks with the NSRA focusing on acute risks of generally time bound, discrete events such as major flooding. The Government is establishing a new process for identifying and assessing chronic risks, which are enduring challenges that gradually erode elements of the economy, society and way of life. This new approach had already been set out in the National Resilience Framework published before Christmas.

The Government also confirmed it will run a cross-government exercise to identify and understand the UK’s current and future vulnerabilities, with recommendations for action.