New emergency text alerts to be trialled this summer

The Cabinet Office has said that a new emergency alert text system will be trialled this summer before being rolled out across the UK.

Adopting the success of similar global systems, like seen in New Zealand, the warnings will be sent directly to people's phones in the event a risk to life, such as a terrorist attack, flooding or fire. Alerts could be sent for situations including public health emergencies, severe floods, fires and industrial incidents.

The first trial will be in East Suffolk on 25 May, when residents will receive a test alert. A second test will be held in Reading on 15 June. If it is successful, the system will be rolled out across the UK.

The alerts would issue a warning, details of the affected area, advice on what to do, and a link to further information. Penny Mordaunt, the Cabinet Office minister, said the rollout would ‘allow us to more quickly and effectively get life-saving messages to people’.

The new system would use cell broadcasting technology, which the government says will ensure alerts are ‘secure, free to receive, and one-way’. The system does not use people's phone numbers, instead sending alerts to anyone in a specific area. A similar concept was used during the peak of the pandemic where text alerts were sent to remind people to stay at home.

Mordaunt said the government was working with the devolved administrations to ensure all emergency services have access to the system, as well as consulting the charity sector to make sure ‘the needs of the elderly, vulnerable, young people and those with disabilities are fully considered as the new service is delivered’.