MEMORANDUM 5 March 2007
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`To: All Members of Resources ScrutinyCommittee, Cabinet
All Chief Officers
/ From: COUNTY SECRETARY’S
DEPARTMENT
Ask for:
Ext: 25564
My Ref: AS
Your Ref:
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BUSINESS CONTINUITY MANAGEMENT TOPIC GROUP
23 FEBRUARY 2007
MINUTES
ATTENDANCE
N K Brook, P T J Channell, A Mitchell (Chairman), D T F Scudder.
Officers
J Boulter - Head of SERMU, Corporate Services
K Carless - Business Continuity Officer
N Rotherham - Scrutiny Officer
A Service - Democratic Services Officer
APOLOGY FOR ABSENCE
An apology for absence was submitted on behalf of the Vice Chairman of the Overview & Scrutiny Committee, R S Clements.
1. MINUTES OF 6 FEBRUARY 2007
The Minutes of the meeting held on 6 February 2007 were confirmed as a correct record.
1A. MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES
Herts Resilience Conference – 21 March 2007
John Boulter advised that since the last meeting a considerable number of places had been booked and he estimated that the number of delegates was likely to top the 450 mark. A limited number of places remained and he urged that should any member interested in attending but yet to reserve a place should do so promptly.
2. 2nd DRAFT OF FINAL REPORT ON GENERIC BUSINESS CONTINUITY PLANS
The Topic Group considered the 2nd draft of its final report on generic business continuity plans.
The Topic Group commented on the Council’s dependency on the SAP [Systems Application Programme] system which was greatly used for human resources, payroll, finance, procurement, property management operations / services by departments. John Boulter advised that the SAP system was resilient and given the back up systems that were in place any failure of the system could be managed.
The Topic Group agreed that
i) the Topic Group ‘s remit should also appear in the Executive Summary
ii) the third sentence of the first paragraph on page 3 should read ‘The Group made an influenza pandemic the key focus due to its likely impact on HCC’s service delivery.‘,
iii) the last sentence of the first paragraph on page 3 should be polished up,
iv) that throughout the document the Safety Emergency Risk Management Unit be shown as SERMU,
v) a new second paragraph on page 3 be inserted outlining the work on the influenza pandemic,
vi) in the third line of the third paragraph after the word ‘Agency’, on page 3 add
the words ‘other witnesses including, VERTEX and SERCO’ ,
vii) the start of the third sentence to the third paragraph should read ‘The Overview & Scrutiny Committee [not OSC Scrutiny Committee] will……….‘,
viii) the Executive Summary needed broadening to cover all issues and not be restrictive to only influenza pandemic, being positive praising work done and stressing that testing of the BCPs was critical,’
ix) paragraph 1.1 on page 4 be amended by the addition of the words ‘was identified following suggestions by senior officers.’ at the end of the sentence.
x) paragraphs 1.3 and 1.4 be transferred to the Executive Summary.
xi) the spelling of the word ‘thorough’, be corrected in paragraph 1.3
xii) the ending of the second sentence of paragraph 1.3 should read ’to cope with a large scale influenza outbreak such as an epidemic or a pandemic.’
A clinical explanation be added to the report stating the definitions of ‘epidemic’ ‘pandemic’.
xiii) the remit of the Topic Group be re stated to remove the sentence in italics with 2. , 3. 4. and, 5. being indented and made a) , b) , c) and d) to 1
The reference to Herts Business Services needs to be clarified to state that the Topic Group were unable to review the entire operations of HBS which included functions such as the schools meal service involving issues such as risk management outside its remit.’
xi) the heading in 2. on page 5 should be ‘drivers’ not ‘drives’,
xii) the content of paragraph 2.1 be modified to chronologically state how the policy was developed pre millenium bug and onwards ,
xiii) the last word of the second sentence of the second paragraph of paragraph 2.1 on page 5 should be ‘arise‘ not ‘arose’,
xiv) the second bullet point to paragraph 2.2 should end with the word ‘incident’ not ‘episode’,
xv) first line of paragraph 2.3 on page 6 should refer to ‘the Apsley site’ rather than ‘Apsley 1’
xvi) in paragraph 2.4 on page 6 references to ‘Apsley 2’ should instead read ‘Apsley’,
xvii) the start of the third sentence to paragraph 2.4 on page 6 should start ‘In order to support its use……’ ,
xviii) in the first line of paragraph 2.6 on page 6 the text should read ‘all key officers are currently based at County Hall.’,
xix) the start of the second sentence to paragraph 2.6 on page 6 should read
‘This could present significant difficulties………… ,
xx) in the fourth line of paragraph 2.7 on page 7 correct spelling of the word ‘exercising’,
xxi) recommendation on page 7 addition of word ‘to’ in second line with the second line reading ’ conducted to establish the ‘,
xxii) second sentence of paragraph 2.8 on page 7 to read ‘The Buncefield incident (December 2005) was a recent case.’ ,
xxiii) paragraph 3 on page 7 wording should be based on the conclusions contained in the special report on pandemic influenza [see paragraph 5.1 to 5.6 of special report],
xxiv) first sentence of paragraph 4.1 on page 8 be amended to read ‘ Each Departments’ BCP representatives can access all departments BCPs through these documents being held on a central server on the Council’s computer network. ,
xxvii) the first sentence of the finding on page 8 be amended to read ‘BCPs are being tested annually.’ ,.
xxviii) in the first line of paragraph 4.4 on page 8 after the fourth word delete words ’the BCP Team’ ,
xxix) penultimate sentence of paragraph 4.4 on page 8 be amended to start and read ‘ The BCP Team currently comprises of four Team Leaders who meet on a regular basis…………..’,
xxx) delete the last sentence of paragraph 4.4 on page 8,
xxxi) the first sentence of paragraph 4.7 be amended to read ‘Given the experience of a number of incidents that have occurred which resulted in the BCP being tested the BCP Team Leader’s chief concerns related to the lack of documenting all decisions taken during an incident. ,
xxxii) in the second sentence of paragraph 4.7 on page 8 and elsewhere in the report, the words “wash up” be replaced by the words ‘lessons learnt’,
xxxiii) paragraph 4.8 on page 8 be amended by the deletion of the word ‘are’ and replacement of the word ‘is’; deletion of ‘wash up’ and replaced by ‘lessons learnt’ and the deletion of the words ‘and the media’ ,
xxxiv) paragraph 4.9 on page 9 which contains the diagram entitled ‘Where does Hoddesdon fit in’ be amended by re defining what ‘IT back up’ is and a revised last sentence clarifying the future use of IBM IT facilities. There is also a need to provide definition of terms such as MARS and VENUS used in the diagram ,
xxxv) within the Way We Work diagram in paragraph 4.10 on page 10 definitions are need to be given of SAN and SSL ,
xxxvi) in paragraph 4.10 on page 10 delete sentence ‘John Boulter drew attention………the contents.’
xxxvii) second finding on page 10 change last date to be 2008 not 2007,
xxxviii) delete last sentence of paragraph 4.13 on page 11,
xxxix) in the bullet points to paragraph 5.1 on page 11 ;
a) delete the second bullet point
b) the new second bullet point read ‘ If a disaster scenario occurred there would be a need to prioritise community needs and perhaps be at the expense of Fire Rescue Service routine callouts,
c) review the need for the contents to be retained,
xl) the wording of paragraph 5.7 on page 12 be tidied up and include the replacement of the third word of the second sentence ‘had’ by ‘have’,
xli) the third sentence of paragraph 5.8 on page 12 be deleted ,
xlii) the recommendation on page 12 relates to paragraph 5.9 rather than paragraph 5.8 ,
xliii) the numbering of section 5 be re ordered with each Department starting on a new split sum number i.e Fire & Rescue 5.1 ; ACS 5.2 ,
xliv) the points listed in bullet point format in paragraphs 5.11.1 to 5.11.3 on page 13 be listed in paragraph number fashion,
xlv) the content of last bullet point of paragraph 5.11.2 on page 13 be fully shown Health P …….Team
xlvi) the percentage stated in paragraph 5.12 on page 13 be deleted,
xlvii) the last two words ‘ / offer sanctuary’ of the first sentence to paragraph 5.13 on page 13 be deleted
xlviii) in the second line of paragraph 5.14 on page 13 the word ‘were‘ be replaced by the word ‘are’ ,
xlix) at the end of the second line of paragraph 5.15 on page 13 add the words ‘following incidents’,
l) in the second line of paragraph 5.16 on page 14 add ‘’ after the word ‘Concern’ and in third line delete the words ’a multitude of’,
li) delete the contents of paragraph 5.17 on page 14,
lii) in the fourth line of paragraph 5.18 delete the word ‘were’ and replace it with the word ‘was’. Plus in the last line state what the organisation ‘SOQAR’ is.
liii) the first sentence of paragraph 5.19 on page 14 be amended to read ‘ The Topic Group were provided with details of how the operation of residential and day services was adapted to handle the Buncefield incident. Plus in the fourth line add the word ‘and’ after 2005 ,
liv) in the finding on page 14 delete the word ‘ that’ from the fifth line ,
lv) the second sentence of paragraph 5.20 on page 14 be amended to read ‘In this instance the Micklefield Road Home is only a mile from the Buncefield site and vulnerable residents were evacuated initially to the Litten Tree public house and then onto Jarman Park Leisure Centre.
lvi) in the seventh line of paragraph 5.20 on page 14 delete the first word ‘only’
and with the last words of that sentence reading ‘that might have been displaced’. ,
lvii) the last line of paragraph 5.21 on page 14 be amended to read ‘ arrangements were made to ensure that staff were supported. ‘,
lviii) the last line of paragraph 5.22 on page 15 be amended to read ‘ Many staff who experienced damage to their properties nonetheless attended for work.‘,
lix) delete the contents of paragraph 5.25 on page 15 ,
lx) the wording of paragraph 5.26 on page 15 should start ‘ In order to provide ’ ,
lxi) the first recommendation on page 16 be amended to read ‘ In the event of a serious incident Hertsdirect must be updated at the earliest possible time and regularly updated in order to improve communication for the benefit of staff and the public.
lxii) in the third line of the last bullet point to the learning points on page 16
replace the word ‘minimise’ by the word ‘reduce’ ,
lxiii) at the bottom of page 16 an explanation needs to be given of the gold and silver command team ,
lxiv) the finding appearing at the top of page 17 which more appropriately appears alongside paragraph 5.19 be deleted from page 17,
lxv) the statement contained in paragraph 5.28 on page 17 be verified and if necessary be re worded,
lxvi) if appropriate details of the staff support post which provided trauma assistance for adult care services staff be added to paragraph 5.23 ,
lxvii) in the second recommendation on page 17 the first word ‘to’ of the fifth line should be deleted ,
lxviii) the first sentence of paragraph 5.30.5 on page 17 be shown as a finding ,
lxix) the third recommendation on page 17 should read ‘ All schools must have Emergency Response Plans and should test them regularly. ,
lxx) the first sentence of paragraph 5.30.6 on page 18 be shown as a finding ,
lxxi) in the last line of paragraph 5.30.6 on page 18 the first word be ‘testing’ rather than ‘trialling’ ,
lxxii) the wording of paragraph 5.30.9 on page 18 be amended to read that colleges and independent schools could utilise this system ,
lxxiii) paragraph 5.30.10 on page 18 be rephrased and split the child care and foster care issues,
lxxiv) the third word of paragraph 5.31.3 on page 19 should be ‘are ‘ rather than ‘is’,
lxxv) an additional finding be added to page 19 stating that Herts Catering would prioritise the supply and delivery of, at the least, free meals to all open schools. ,
lxxvi) consideration be given to combining the contents of paragraphs 5.31.5 and 5.31.7 on page 19 and / or re drafting ,
lxxvii) consideration be given to re phrasing the contents of paragraph 5.31.4 i) to iii)
on page 19
lxxviii) an additional finding be added to page 20 stating that the current arrangements for the Meals on Wheels Service is under revision.
lxxix) an additional recommendation be added to page 20 suggesting that the Overview & Scrutiny Committee request that the efficacy of the new arrangements be reviewed in 6 – 9 months time,
lxxx) details concerning the Meals on Wheels Service be contained in a separate paragraph to those for school meals,