The UK’s new Resilience Action Plan sets out how infrastructure must adapt to withstand future shocks and risks.
With cyberattacks, thousands of missed flights and multiple heatwaves on the news, resilience has been front of mind.
How the UK can withstand and recover from these, and a wider range of shocks, is the focus of the UK government’s new Resilience Action Plan.
The plan, which builds on the 2022 Resilience Framework, incorporates findings from the COVID-19 and Grenfell Tower inquiries.
It acknowledges systemic failures in preparedness and coordination, reflecting an honest and critical self-assessment of past resilience gaps.
For the infrastructure system, the plan provides direction and urgency.
It reinforces the message that resilience is not a 'nice to have'. It’s a core requirement for national security, economic stability, and public confidence.
A strategic shift from emergency response to systemic resilience
The plan reiterates the Resilience Framework’s whole-of-society approach to resilience.
It recognises that preparedness must extend beyond central government to include local authorities, businesses, infrastructure operators, and the public.
This approach is particularly relevant to infrastructure, where interdependencies between systems – such as energy, transport, water, and digital networks – mean that a failure in one can rapidly cascade into others.
The ICE has consistently advocated for infrastructure planning that accounts for these interdependencies. Siloed approaches aren’t fit for purpose in a complex, risk-laden world.
Infrastructure enables resilience
Infrastructure is positioned in the plan as both a vulnerability and a solution.
On one hand, it’s exposed to a range of threats, from physical decline and climate impacts, to cyberattacks and supply chain disruptions.
On the other, it underpins essential services such as healthcare, transport, and communications, critical for societal resilience.
The plan calls for risk-based investment in infrastructure, encouraging decision-makers to prioritise protecting critical national infrastructure (CNI).
This includes a new commitment to develop a centralised database of CNI assets with an interactive map to better understand vulnerabilities.
The government will also collaboration more closely with devolved governments to ensure consistent standards across the UK.
Together, these measures are designed to reduce the risk of cascading failures.
Climate adaptation is a central pillar
Climate change is identified in the plan as a key driver of future risk.
It highlights the need for infrastructure systems to adapt to more frequent and severe weather events, rising sea levels, and long-term environmental shifts.
The plan encourages infrastructure operators and local authorities to develop adaptation strategies and improve how they share data about their assets and their condition.
The ICE has previously called for the Adaptation Reporting Power under the Climate Change Act to be made mandatory for all infrastructure operators.
This would ensure that climate resilience is not left to discretion but becomes a regulated requirement. The government’s plan does not commit to this reform.
There is renewed emphasis on flood resilience, recognising it as a growing threat to communities and infrastructure alike. It calls for better local planning, data sharing, and coordination between agencies to mitigate flood risks.
Learning from disruption: the Heathrow substation fire
The North Hyde Substation fire in March 2025, which caused a major power outage and temporarily shut down Heathrow Airport, was a stark reminder of the consequences of infrastructure failure.
It exposed vulnerabilities in energy resilience, contingency planning, and inter-agency coordination.
While the National Energy System Operator (NESO) recent review of the incident focused on technical and operational lessons, the Resilience Action Plan provides a broader strategic context.
It reinforces the need to have backup plans in place for critical systems as well as clear communication protocols and shared situational awareness across sectors.
The Heathrow incident illustrates how a single point of failure can have national impact: precisely the kind of scenario the action plan seeks to prevent.
Developing resilience standards
The plan echoes the recent 10-Year Infrastructure Strategy in stating that the government will develop resilience standards across the infrastructure system, recognising the need for consistent benchmarks and expectations.
The ICE is currently developing a new publicly available specification (PAS) standard on climate adaptation pathways.
It will provide guidance to planners, engineers, designers, and asset managers on choosing appropriate climate change scenarios that infrastructure projects must prepare for.
Public engagement and local capacity
A notable feature of the plan is its focus on public engagement. It encourages individuals and communities to take basic steps to prepare for these risks and participate in resilience-building activities.
For infrastructure, this means ensuring that systems are not only technically robust but also socially responsive. For example, being able to support vulnerable populations and maintain services (e.g. trains running, signal operating) during a crisis.
The plan also highlights the role of local authorities, which don’t all have enough capacity to develop and implement resilience strategies.
Professional support from engineers and infrastructure specialists will be essential in bridging this gap and translating national strategy into local action.
The ICE’s view
The Resilience Action Plan outlines a convincing vision for a more resilient nation.
It recognises the central role of infrastructure in enabling resilience and aligns with some of the ICE’s policy priorities, including systems thinking and climate adaptation.
However, the effectiveness of the plan will depend on its implementation. The Heathrow substation fire has shown what is at stake when resilience is not embedded in infrastructure planning.
Moving forward, the challenge will be to turn strategic intent into operational reality through regulation, investment, leadership, and cross-sector collaboration.
The plan also builds on the foundations laid by the UK’s 10-Year Infrastructure Strategy, published last month.
That strategy set out a long-term vision for economic, housing, and social infrastructure, with a focus on improving delivery, boosting investment, and enhancing coordination across sectors.
Where the infrastructure strategy prioritised certainty and stability, the Resilience Action Plan adds a layer of risk awareness and preparedness.
Together, they represent a more mature approach to infrastructure policy that balances growth with security, and delivery with durability.
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