Issue - meetings

Emergency planning and business continuity activity in BCP Council over the reporting period has been dominated by COVID-19.  This update provides a high-level overview of the scale and nature of the COVID-19 response, from a governance perspective, in addition to more business as usual aspects that have continued in parallel.  It also provides a consideration of concurrent and future risks.

The Head of Audit and Management Assurance presented a report, a copy of which had been circulated to each Member and a copy of which appears as Appendix 'D' to these Minutes in the Minute Book.

The Committee received a comprehensive high-level overview of the scale and nature of the COVID-19 response, from a governance perspective and emergency planning and business continuity activity in BCP Council over the reporting period had been dominated by COVID-19.

The specific responses were set out and explained and leadership and management had been successfully delivered in line with established corporate planning and business continuity arrangements. The specific implementation of overview within service areas was also described. In Social Care these included strategic level co-ordination provided through a multi-agency group overseeing Adult Social Care. There were also key roles within the context of Local Outbreak Management Plans and through bodies such as the Dorset Civil Contingencies Unit.

It was clear that plans already in place had worked well and that many of the practical lessons learnt during the pandemic could be carried forward and incorporated as part of future emergency planning processes. The report also explained the work undertaken through the Dorset Resilience Forum and listed a wide range of sub-groups and workstreams in which officers from BCP Council had played a significant participating role.

The report also set out the environment of business as usual which had continued in parallel and identified concurrent and future risks. Significant work had been undertaken by the Emergency Planning Team on a revised resilience governance framework for Emergency Planning generally and this now represented a clear statement of roles and responsibilities across the BCP Council. The full framework document had been circulated with the agenda. The report also highlighted additional challenges and aspirations going forward.

RESOLVED that Audit and Governance Committee

a)    note the significant emergency and business continuity response to COVID-19 to date undertaken by BCP Council alongside multi-agency partners.

b)    note the new resilience governance framework.

c)    note the forward issues identified for the remainder of the year.

Voting: Unanimous