The UK's Article 3 obligations and the Defence Readiness Bill

The committee welcomes responses from anyone with answers to the questions in the call for evidence. The deadline to submit evidence is 11:59pm on 7 October 2026.

What the committee is asking

What are the responsibilities and roles of UK Defence under Article 3 and is it currently capable of fulfilling these responsibilities? Specifically, within:

The development of civilian preparedness for a military crisis affecting the UK.

The lead-up to a conflict affecting the NATO Area of Operations, including the UK.

A conflict affecting NATO AOR, including the UK.

What are the responsibilities and roles of other Government Departments in supporting UK Defence under Article 3 and are they currently capable of fulfilling these responsibilities? Specifically, within:

The development of civilian preparedness for a military crisis affecting the UK.

The lead-up to a conflict affecting the NATO Area of Operations, including the UK.

A conflict affecting NATO AOR, including the UK.

What additional civilian and military powers does the Government need for the escalation into, and management of, a full-scale conflict affecting the NATO AOR, including the UK?

Which of these powers should be included in the Defence Readiness Bill and which might reasonably be adopted through emergency legislation once the specifics of any conflict became clear?

What additional policy measures need to be in place to make it easier to use the new powers under the Defence Readiness Bill in a crisis?

How effective is cross-Government work on developing the Home Defence Programme, as part of wider resilience policy?

What best practice could the UK adopt from European allies and partners to improve military readiness and civil preparedness for major conflict in the NATO AOR, including for the period of escalation and transition?The deadline for written evidence is 23:59 on 7th October.

Why this inquiry exists

This inquiry will examine the UK’s resilience and preparedness for conflict, asking whether the UK government is meeting its obligations under NATO’s Article 3. The inquiry will also look at what powers the proposed Defence Readiness Bill might need to include to enable civil assistance to military authority in the event of a conflict.

Under NATO’s Article 3 obligations, the UK has committed to a “national resilience” 1.5% of GDP spending target, including protecting critical infrastructure, defending networks, ensuring civil preparedness and resilience, innovating, and strengthening the defence industrial base. This inquiry will seek to understand what the responsibilities and roles of UK Defence are under Article 3 and whether the UK is currently capable of fulfilling these responsibilities.

It will explore the contributions towards Article 3 obligations from each department and whether the cross-government work on preparedness and resilience is effective. It will also examine best practice from Allies across Europe.

How to send evidence

Evidence goes to the committee through Parliament’s own form. There is no way to submit it from here: Parliament publishes no API for written evidence, so the button above opens the committee’s page.

What you send is published under your name and can be quoted in the committee’s report. Keep it under 3,000 words, send it as a document rather than a letter in the body of an email, and answer the questions above rather than writing generally.

Open the inquiry on committees.parliament.uk