Content

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST MADE FOR THIS ITEM:

 
None

 

RESOLVED:
 
That
Cabinet:

Approved the Business
Continuity Policy.

 
Reasons for
decision
 
The Civil Contingencies Act 2004 places a
statutory duty on the council to have business continuity plans in
place to be able to maintain its essential functions in an
emergency.
 
These duties are reflected in the Resilience
Standards for London, in which all London boroughs report on the
adequacy of their emergency planning and resilience
arrangements.  Business Continuity
Management is a key pillar of these standards.
 
Having a clear policy is a requirement under
the relevant international standard IS022301 Business Continuity
Management and therefore represents good practice. 
 
The policy sets a clear framework for how the
council will carry out its statutory duties in preparing business
continuity plans, and assuring that they
are fit for purpose.  It therefore
provides assurance for our residents that the council is making
suitable arrangements to maintain its essential services during an
emergency.
 
This completes an action in the Business
Continuity Management Improvement Plan developed from the Business
Continuity Audit in 2023.
 
This is a key decision as although it is not
likely to result in the local authority incurring expenditure, it
introduces a policy that affects all wards and all council
services.
 
Alternative options
considered
 
Do Nothing.  
This is not recommended.  Without this
policy the Council will not meet a key requirement of the Mazars
audit and subsequent BC Improvement Plan. There will also be a lack
of clarity around both the corporate and service level Business
Continuity plans in terms of requirements, processes, roles,
responsibilities, governance and assurance of the programme.
 
It would also negatively affect the level of
assurance the Council would report via the Resilience Standards for
London.  This is the assurance framework
administered by London Councils, by which London local authorities
provide assurance on their readiness to deal with major
emergencies.
 
Without the policy, it may be less easy to
maintain effective business continuity plans and arrangements. If
the council subsequently suffered from a prolonged, difficult
business continuity incident, the lack of an up-to-date policy
would leave the council exposed to severe adverse criticism.