Issue - meetings

To consider a report on the actions in place to ensure that the Council is prepared to deliver key functions in an emergency.

The Committee considered a report on the actions in place to ensure that the Council was prepared to deliver key functions in an emergency.

A paper had been submitted to the Audit and Governance Committee on 29^th March, 2011 outlining the steps taken by the Council to develop business continuity plans to ensure that key functions could be delivered in an emergency.  The Committee had asked to be updated on business continuity arrangements on a quarterly basis, and the report aimed to provide a summary of progress and key current issues.

Departments had categorised activities into three priorities:

Priority 1 – to be delivered within 0-5 days of an incident

Priority 2 – to be delivered within days 6-14 on an incident

Priority 3 – can be suspended for at least 14 days

Appendix B to the report detailed activities which it was considered must be delivered within 0-5 days of an emergency (Priority 1). Services had developed plans to ensure that they could deliver these activities.

Regular meetings were held with Cheshire West and Chester Business Continuity representatives and Shared Services representatives to ensure that there were robust continuity plans in place for HR, Finance and IT. In addition, in conjunction with the Joint Cheshire Emergency Planning Team, discussions were in progress with Halton Borough Council and Warrington Borough Council to pursue opportunities for more joint working. 

RESOLVED

That

(1)   the actions in place to ensure that the Council is able to deliver key functions in an emergency be noted; and

(2)   future reports include a specific example of a business continuity plan.