§ Mr. CohenTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the scenario of Exercise NOREX; who are the anticipated protagonists in this scenario; and what is the estimated total cost.
§ Mr. John PattenNOREX is one of a series of regional civil defence exercises. It will exercise certain United Kingdom civil defence plans in a situation where there is a fictional, non-specific, threat following unrest in Europe. There are no protagonists because the scenario does not include the outbreak of hostilities.
The exercise involves staff from central and local government, public utilities, the emergency services, and the military, for whom civil defence is a normal part of their duties. Establishing the total cost of the exercise would involve disproportionate cost.