Guidance for Schools

Planning for Fuel Shortages

Introduction

All businesses rely to some extent on fuel; be it getting staff to work, distributing products or providing services. The availability of fuel within the UK is generally very good; however there have been examples within recent years of brief disruptions to supply, both on a regional and national basis.

A disruption could be caused by a number of factors, including scarcity of supply, a technical problem with part of the fuel supply infrastructure, industrial action or public protest.

This guidance is intended to assist schools in planning for and managing the consequences of a disruption to fuel supplies. Its aim is to reduce the impact of a Fuel Shortage by offering some helpful suggestions which should be considered when preparing the schools Business Continuity Plans (BCP’s).

Business Continuity

Business Continuity Management (BCM) is the process through which organisations aim to continue the delivery of their key products and services during and following a disruption to normal activity and to effect a recovery afterwards. Effective business continuity is the first line of defence for any organisation to ensure they are able to maintain the delivery of their core services.

Schools have a responsibility to ensure business continuity plans are in place, that they are regularly reviewed and that all staff are aware of the plans and what they involve.

Planning for a Fuel Disruption

Devon County Council have Business Continuity Plans in place to prepare for a fuel supply disruption.However it is unlikely that schools, and services supporting schools (e.g. school transport) will have access to the limited amount of bunkered fuel supplies which are available for critical life saving services only. It is therefore vital that schools concentrate on maintaining effective BCP’s, including;

1. Planning to reduce fuel usageduring a fuel supply disruption re-focusing resources on priority areas; such as access for students and staff during exam periods.

2. Communication with the School Transport Team in advance of any fuel supply disruption to ascertain service resilience (of contractors and suppliers) and business continuity.

3. Communication protocol for informing parents and pupils of schools actions and planning.

4. Informing staff of the schools planning, preparations and actions.

Check List - Planning for a fuel disruption

Points to Consider when reviewing your
Business Continuity Plans / Not Applicable / Complete
1.0 / Travelling to Work
1.1 / Identify how staff usually travel to work and ifany alternative modes of transport would be available if required.
1.2 / Identify which staff live locally and are able to walk to work.
1.3 / Consider whether it is possible for staff to work from home.
1.4 / Consider if staff live closer to alternative schools, or work bases and if it would be easier for staff to get to those locations to work and reciprocally whether there are staff from other schools living more locally to your site.
1.5 / Encourage staff to utilise other means of transport where possible such as public transport, car sharing, walking or cycling to work and encourage staff to plan in advance their own contingency arrangements for accessing work if fuel was limited.
1.6 / Consider if it is possible to organise communal travel for some staff, for example by taxi or minibus.
1.7 / Discuss with staff and ascertain if they may be prepared to stay overnight?
Could you arrange appropriate sleeping facilities at work or are there local hotels or other facilities where staff could stay?
2.0 / Service Provision
2.1 / Identify which of the school activitiesmust be maintained. Priority should be given to statutory activities.
2.2 / Would all of these activities be affected by a fuel shortage?
2.3 / Identify what resources (including staff) that support your critical activities (e.g. school transport, escort services, sub-contractor services/products, and security)?
2.4 / Consider how internal resources could be re-allocated to ensure the safe delivery of these activities.
2.5 / Are staff able to safely cover other roles to ensure that these keyactivities can be delivered?
Will additional training and/or close supervision be required?
2.6 / Discuss with your suppliers/sub contractors whether they have robust Business Continuity Plans in place.
Ask your suppliers how they plan to respond to a crisis and if they have identified any concerns. Ensure there are clear lines of communications between you both and a process to keep you informed of progress.
2.7 / Decide how the school could safely reduce some school functions and still deliver key activities.
2.8 / Decide how non-essential work could be stopped safely, smoothly and restarted again when possible to do so.
2.9 / Identify how other support functions will be affected by a fuel shortage; e.g. building maintenance, facilities management, cleaning, caretaking, post delivery or couriers, security and food provisions for staff and pupils?
3.0 / Alternative Work Arrangements and Flexible shifts
3.1 / Flexibility to working patterns should be considered although any change should be sensitive to problems staff may have regarding being at work at certain times due to transport arrangements and family commitments.
3.2 / Consider temporary changes in curriculum and lesson plans such as running longer lesson periods or increasing pupil class sizes and reducing the number of teaching staff required.
3.3 / Consider setting pupil home-study activities or utilising ICT platforms or forums such as South West Grid for Learning.
3.4 / Consider creative strategies such as whether pupil ‘sleepovers’ could be facilitated if shortages occur at key times – for example during exam periods.
4.0 / Communication
4.1 / Regularly inform and make staff aware of theservice business continuity plans, and how they will be implemented.
4.2 / Encourage staff to purchase fuel normally, keep tanks topped up and avoid panic buying which will increase the risk of creating problems locally.
4.3 / Encourage staff to prioritise journeys, avoiding unnecessary journeys, taking into consideration fuel needed to attend work.
4.4 / Consider introducing a dedicated telephone number and named manager that staff, pupils or parents can contact for any issues and update emergency contact details of staff.
4.5 / Consider the messages and process you might need to communicate to pupils and parents.
In some circumstances it may be useful to discuss and provide information on the possible impacts in advance.
5.0 / Other Considerations
5.1 / During a fuel shortage there may be other demands on staff (e.g. children may not be able to attend school, staff sickness). Consideration should be given to the impacts of these situations
5.2 / Consider reducing the number of meetings that involve travel, and instead consider teleconferencing or re-scheduling
5.3 / Consider how pupils/parents using own transport will be affected by the fuel shortage? What other measures can you put in place to minimise the effect.
5.4 / Consider keeping a larger supply of critical commodities or supplies if deliveries of these items are likely to be affected.
6.0 / Tips on ways to Conserve Fuel
  • Ask yourself if you really need to drive? Don’t use the car unless you have to;try alternative options such as walking / cycling / using public transport / car sharing vehicles with others.
  • Combine your errands –Try and avoid making 2 car trips if you can do it in 1.
  • Maintain your car properly – poorly tuned engines can more than double your fuel consumption.
  • Check your tyre pressure: having the correct pressure can save you fuel.
  • Plan your journey: avoid travelling at peak times if you can – sitting in traffic will waste fuel.
  • Know your route - you will waste fuel getting lost or driving further than necessary
  • By keeping a constant speed you will consume less fuel – drive steadily. (As a rule of thumb a one-unit increase in speed requires a 3-unit increase in power consumption)
  • Restrict your speed – the most efficient speed to drive at is 56 mph where permitted. This is also true for HGVs and large vehicles.
  • Don’t idle: one minute of idling consumes more fuel than starting your engine. Turn off the ignition if you’re waiting.
  • Use fewer electrics: they make your car burn more fuel.
  • Don’t carry unnecessary weight in your car – only take what you need, the heavier your car the more fuel it will consume.
  • Try and keep your fuel tank topped up if possible but avoid Panic Buying.

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Melanie Wellard – Version 2 - 08.05.2012