Continuity Plan
Version No. |
Date Change Made |
New Version No. |
Changes Made By (initial) |
Comment |
---|---|---|---|---|
00.01 |
14 Sep 2018 |
|
HW |
New document |
01.00 |
24 Oct 2018 |
|
HW |
Adopted on 08/10/18 |
01.01 |
Jun 2020 |
|
HW |
Reviewed at Full Council 15/6/20 Agenda item 10.5. |
Contents
1. Purpose
1.1 This document supports Macclesfield Town Council to:
- Respond to a disruptive incident (incident management),
- Deliver critical activities/services during an incident (business continuity),
- Return to ‘business as usual’ (resumption and recovery).
2. Responsibilities
2.1 The Clerk is responsible for ensuring that this document is maintained, exercised and updated in accordance with internal requirements.
2.2 The plan will be reviewed annually.
3. Plan Activation
3.1 Circumstances
3.1.1 This plan will be activated in response to an incident causing significant disruption to normal service delivery/business, particularly the delivery of key/critical activities.
3.1.2 The Clerk will be responsible for activating the Plan.
3.1.3 Examples of circumstances triggering activation of this Plan include:
- Loss of key staff or skills e.g. above normal levels of absenteeism due to illness,
- Loss of critical systems e.g. ICT failure,
- Denial of access, or damage to, facilities e.g. loss of a building through fire,
- Loss of a key resource e.g. a major supplier vital to the delivery of a key service.
3.2 Process for Activation

Description of image, text from the top, following the arrows down the chart:
- Incident occurs
- Assess the nature, scale & impact of the disruption
Chart splits into two, branch 1 (left):
- Incident has significant impact on critical activities
- Activate plan and continuity arrangements
- Notify relevant people
- Take action to manage the incident
- Maintain critical activities
- Take action to return to ‘business as usual’
Branch 2 (right):
- Incident has little or no impact on critical activities
- Do not activate continuity arrangements
- Situation monitored (with dotted line back to where branch splits)
4. Incident Management
4.1 Actions to protect the safety and welfare of staff, visitors and the public
Number |
Action |
Futher Info/Details |
---|---|---|
1. |
Evacuate the building if necessary |
Use normal evacuation procedures for the building |
2. |
Ensure all staff report to the Assembly Point |
Use the normal Assembly Points as identified by the building emergency procedures |
3. |
Call emergency services (as appropriate) |
Cheshire East Council staff may take responsibility for this |
4. |
Check that all staff, contractors and any visitors of Macclesfield Town Council have been evacuated from the building and are present. Consider safety of all staff, contactors and visitors as a priority |
The Clerk is responsible for completing this action |
5. |
Ensure an incident log is started and maintained throughout the incident phase |
The Clerk is responsible for completing this action |
6. |
Record names and details of any staff, contractors or visitors who may have been injured or distressed in the incident. |
The Clerk is responsible for completing this action |
7. |
Forward details of any fatalities or injuries in the incident to HR (depending on scale of incident) and agree action that will be taken. |
HR contacts are at the end of this document |
8. |
Assess impact of the incident to agree response / next steps |
The Clerk is responsible for completing this action in consultation with the Mayor. |
9. |
Log details of all items lost by staff, visitors etc as a result of the incident |
The Clerk is responsible for completing this action |
10. |
Consider whether the involvement of other teams, services or organisations are required to support the management of the incident |
Depending on the incident the following may be approached to assist with incident management:
|
Number |
Action |
Further Info/Details |
---|---|---|
1. |
Recover vital assets/equipment to enable delivery of critical activities |
The essential equipment/resources/information that need to be recovered where possible are:
|
2. |
Assess the key priorities for the remainder of the working day and take relevant action |
Priorities will include but not be limited to:
|
3. |
Inform staff what is required of them |
E.g. Will staff work from home? |
4. |
Publicise the interim arrangements for delivery of critical activities |
|
Number |
Action |
Futher Info/Details |
---|---|---|
1. |
Take any salvage/asset recovery actions that are appropriate |
Remove any equipment and records that are at risk of damage and are business critical |
2. |
Log all expenditure incurred as a result of the incident |
Use the incident log
|
3. |
Seek specific advice/ inform the Insurance Company |
The Clerk is responsible for completing this action |
5. Business Continuity
5.1 Purpose
5.1.1 The purpose of the business continuity phase of the response is to ensure that critical activities are resumed as quickly as possible and/or continue to be delivered during the disruption.
5.2 Critical Activities
Number |
Brief Description of Critical Activities |
---|---|
1. |
Availability of statutory information to the public. |
2. |
Financial management and reporting |
3. |
Delivery of scheduled events, services and meetings |
5.3 Non-Critical Activities
5.3.1 A number of activities are non-critical, and consideration will be given to:
- Not recovering these activities until critical activities have been resumed
- Suspending these activities and diverting their resources to support the critical ones
Number |
Brief Description of Non-Critical Activities |
---|---|
1. |
Formal meetings e.g. Full Council, Finance Commitee |
2. |
Timely payment of accounts/payroll |
3. |
Management of the Civic Diary |
4. |
Event delivery |
5. |
Project delivery |
6. |
Community engagement |
5.4 Business Continuity Actions
Number |
Action |
Futher Info/Details |
---|---|---|
1. |
Identify any other staff required to be involved in the response |
E.g. ICT services |
2. |
Evaluate the impact of the incident |
To understand the impact of the incident on ‘business as usual’ working activities. |
3. |
Plan how critical activities will be maintained. |
Consider:
|
4. |
Allocate specific roles as necessary |
Roles allocated will depend on the incident and availability of staff |
5. |
Secure resources to enable critical activities to continue/be recovered |
Consider requirements such as the staffing, premises, equipment. |
6. |
Deliver appropriate communication actions as required |
Ensure methods of communication and key messages are developed as appropriate to the needs of your key stakeholders |
6. Recovery and Resumption
6.1 Purpose of the Recovery and Resumption Phase
6.1.1 The purpose of the recovery and resumption phase is to resume normal working practises for Macclesfield Town Council. Where the impact of the incident is prolonged, normal operations may need to be delivered under new circumstances e.g. from a different building.
Number |
Action |
Futher Info/Details |
---|---|---|
1. |
Agree and plan the actions required to enable recovery and resumption of normal working practises |
Agreed actions will be detailed in an action plan and set against timescales with responsibility for completion clearly indicated. |
2. |
Continue to log all expenditure incurred as a result of the incident |
|
3. |
Respond to any long terms support needs of staff |
The Clerk may need to consider involvement of WireHouse |
4. |
Carry out a ‘debrief’ of the incident and complete an Incident Report to document opportunities for improvement and any lessons identified |
Report to all Councillors |
5. |
Review this Continuity Plan in light of lessons learned from incident and the response to it |
Implement recommendations for improvement and update this Plan. |
6. |
Publicise that there is now ‘business as usual’ |
Contact all stakeholders
|
7. Contacts
7.1 Separate to this document, the Clerk will maintain contact details for services used in the operation of the Council, such as banking, insurance and health and safety.