To receive a report on the current position regarding Business Continuity Planning at the Council and the proposed way forward to develop the Plans to meet the needs of the organisation.
Contact:A Dobbyne 388100
Minutes:
The Panel received a report by the Corporate Team Manager (a copy of which is appended in the Minute Book) to outline the current position regarding business continuity planning at the Council and the proposed way forward to develop the Plans to meet the needs of the organisation.
Following a reorganisation of the Council, the Plans were no longer aligned to the new structure and responsibilities for business continuity planning had not been updated. Also some Officers who had lead responsibilities were no longer an employee of the organisation.
It was explained to the Committee that although there was an option to do nothing regarding business continuity planning, it was recommended that the Corporate Team Manager be tasked to prepare a new template for the Business Continuity Plan and consider having one organisational Plan with appendices that provided additional information. The Plan would be annually tested and an audit would be scheduled once the Plan had been updated.
The Committee agreed that the Plan needed to be realistic, detailed, audited and practiced so that in an event that it was required people would know their respective roles.
During discussions on the matter, at 7.40pm, Councillor R Fuller left the Civic Suite and did not return to the meeting.
Aside from the reorganisation that the Council had experienced over recent years the Committee also noted that the Plan needed to consider that Pathfinder House shared its offices with external organisations.
In response to questions it was explained that the proposal to complete the first set of actions listed in paragraph 3.2 of the Officer’s report by November 2016 was realistic and that dependant on the role an individual had within the business continuity planning process would determine its significance in the appraisal process. Once the Plans had been revised and a new Plan was operational an annual report on Business Continuity Planning would be presented to the Committee.
The Committee agreed with the suggested proposal and stated that it would be useful if the Plans were consolidated into one with a system that automatically updated when people ceased or commenced employment with the authority to ensure that the Plan was always current. Whereupon it was,
RESOLVED
i. that the Corporate Governance Committee agree Option B as detailed in paragraph 3.2 of the Officer’s report, that the Corporate Team Manager be tasked to follow up on the recommendations from the review by the Business Analyst and look to:
• prepare a new Template for the Business Continuity Plan;
• consider having one organisational Plan with appendices that provide additional information per Service where relevant;
• review roles and responsibilities and confirm these to all concerned;
• review the management of the plans and the mechanism of storage and accessibility;
• organise for an annual test of the new Plan;
• schedule an audit for early 2017 by Internal Audit, after the Plans have been updated and the test carried out; and
• undertake a review of the various scenario Plans (e.g. adverse weather, fuel shortages).
ii. that the Corporate Governance Committee receive a Business Continuity Planning update report at its December meeting.
Supporting documents: