Business Continuity Plans for Schools

In response to the requirements of the Civil Contingencies Act 2004, and the Civil Contingency Planning Regulations 2005, the County Council has been developing and enhancing its Business Continuity Plans.

Having robust Business Continuity Plans in place is important, not just to meet our legal obligations, but also to demonstrate good Corporate Governance. Recent incidents, affecting Schools both within and outside Staffordshire, also demonstrate the importance of having good quality plans in place. Examples of such incidents include fire, flooding and major vandalism

As part of this process a template Business Continuity Plan for Schools has been developed. The Plan has been developed in liaison with a number of Schools, who have had cause to require a plan (e.g. because of fire, flood) and this template has subsequently been considered by the LMSCC.

The Plan consists of four elements:

1)     A front cover, showing the key priority actions in the event of an emergency;

2)     Part A, showing the actions to be considered, in response to an incident, and a checklist to assist in ensuring all the key actions have been covered;

3)     Part B, containing key contact details; and

4)     Part C, containing the background information detailing the legal requirements to have plans in place, and the processes involved in managing an incident.

The Plan that you can download here is a template Plan and will need "personalising" by each School. To assist in this "personalisation" see the 'Guide for Schools on Completing the BCP'

We have tried to keep the Plan as simple as possible, whilst providing a fairly comprehensive reference document that will assist in dealing with an incident. The personalisation of the document is mainly the insertion of contact details relative to your individual School.

The template Plan will be reviewed on at least an annual basis; this revision taking into account any changes in relevant legislation, Government advice etc. We would also be only too pleased to receive any feedback from Schools.

Please pass on any feedback / comments to the County Council's Risk Management Team, namely:

Pete Hornby, Corporate Risk Manager, email: pete.hornby@staffordshire.gov.uk or telephone: 01785 276389

Chris Hawkridge, Risk Management Officer, email: chris.hawkridge@staffordshire.gov.uk or telephone: 01785 276410

Jim McComisky, Civil Contingencies Officer, email: jim.mccomisky@staffordshire.gov.uk or telephone: 01785 276173

Sue Nicholson, Risk Management Support Officer, email: sue.nicholson@staffordshire.gov.uk or telephone: 01785 276411