Business Continuity Policy

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1. Statement of Policy

The force is identified under the Civil Contingencies Act (CCA) 2004 as ‘category 1’ or ‘category 2’ responders. Category 1 responders are those organisations at the core of an emergency response and are subject to the full set of civil protection duties.

As an emergency service, the “Chief Officer of Police” is designated as a “Category 1 responder” under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004, with specific duties to assess the risk of emergencies occurring and plan to continue to perform its functions if an emergency occurs.

In accordance with the statutory duties, the Force will seek to identify potential disruptions to its service delivery and, where practicable, devise and implement plans to mitigate the impacts, should they occur. Examples of disruptions include the loss of use of buildings, fuel strikes, police staff industrial action, pandemic flu, severe weather, supply chain failure, IT, or communications system failure.

The force, partners and suppliers must ensure that business continuity planning is a whole system approach with each organisation playing its part.

Realistic resilience and continuity arrangements will only be achieved when everyone understands and plans to maintain an appropriate service level across all areas of service.

To support the requirements and adherence to this policy. A Business Continuity Management (BCM) Toolkit has been developed to support and assist all staff to be able to meet the Force requirement to continue to deliver services during an event or disruption in accordance with the requirements of the Civil Contingencies Act (CCA) 2004.

The Business Continuity Management system must be regularly reviewed by Senior Management/Heads of Department for its effectiveness and actions taken to address any shortcomings or changes in requirements.

Applies (but not limited) to: All categories of Dyfed-Powys Police officers and staff, whether full-time, part-time, permanent, fixed term, temporary (including agency staff, associates and contractors), seconded staff and volunteers. Police Officers, staff and volunteers accessing and using Force assets and property must have due regard to the contents of this policy.

2. Policy Scope

In the event of localised disruptions, department heads will manage their own business continuity response. The BCM Toolkit is derived from the Plan, Do, Check, Act cycle and it is advised that all senior leaders and managers should refer to this cycle to drive improvements in planning and raising the standard of Business Continuity preparedness.

A Business Continuity event can be anything that has the potential to disrupt normal service delivery but essentially, any and all such events will cause either a loss of resource (e.g. buildings, people, equipment etc.), and increase in demand or possibly both simultaneously.

If the scale of the disruption exceeds local capabilities / capacities, a Gold Group will be established under the direction of the Gold Commander. The Gold Group will co-ordinate the Force’s internal Business Continuity response, including incident response, business recovery and return to normal.

The Force has adopted an inclusive approach to Business Continuity planning that ensures engagement and ownership at all levels.

Senior Leaders/Department Managers must undertake business impact assessments at regular intervals and determine business requirements in the event of an unplanned disruption to services/activities, this may include plans address key infrastructure areas of premises, IT and communications systems, command and control systems, human resources, finance, health, safety and risk management and legal and other compliance requirements.

3. Powers and Policy/Legal Requirements

As an emergency service, the “Chief Officer of Police” is designated as a “Category 1 responder” under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004, with specific duties to assess the risk of emergencies occurring and plan to continue to perform its functions if an emergency occurs.

4. Options and Contingencies

The roles and responsibilities of the parties involved in delivering this strategy are set out below;

The Deputy Chief Constable shall be responsible for:

overseeing the corporate approach to Business Continuity;
ensuring the creation and maintenance of the Corporate Business Continuity Plan and local Business Continuity Plans;
developing and implementing a suitable testing programme for Business Continuity Plans;
reviewing the resources needed to deliver effective Business Continuity; and
leading on the area of business at Force Executive Board (FEB).

Heads of Departments/Business areas shall be responsible for:

the creation and maintenance of a Business Continuity Plan in relation to their area(s) of business, reflecting the risks to the delivery of their objectives as defined in their business plan(s);
ensuring that Business Continuity is reviewed regularly by the departmental management team;
complying with Force / departmental Business Continuity policy and guidance;
ensuring that all officers, staff, volunteers, contractors, and partners are made aware of their responsibility for Business Continuity and the mechanisms for feeding information and concerns into the Force’s formal management processes;
nominating relevant staff to act as their departmental representative / single point of contact for Business Continuity; and
nominating relevant staff for Business Continuity

Internal Audit shall be responsible for:

reviewing the content and scope of the Force and departmental Business Continuity Plans;
reviewing the adequacy of procedures to assess, review and respond to risks;
reviewing the effectiveness of the Force’s Business Continuity testing programme; and
making recommendations arising from review of systems and

All Officers, Staff and Volunteers shall be responsible for:

maintaining an awareness of Business Continuity and feeding this into the formal business planning, management and reporting processes; and
supporting and participating in Business Continuity activities, including the effective testing and operation of plans relating to their activities.

In fulfilling the aims and objectives of this policy the Force will be doing the right thing in the right way and touches upon some of the nine Code of Ethics Policing principles:

Accountability and Integrity – the policy is clear and ensures integrity within its purpose;
Fairness – the policy is lawful and proportionate and respectful of the rights of individuals;
Leadership – the policy contains clearly defined responsibilities; and
Objectivity – the policy promotes equality and diversity considerations wherever possible and is not unlawfully or unfairly discriminatory.

5. Take action and review

The Force Risk and Business Continuity Management Advisor will undertake monitoring of the policy, either reporting it as still “fit for purpose” or submitting a revised draft for approval by the Force Executive Board (FEB), to enable it to undertake an annual review, (see below).

The review and any revisions will take account of;

The policy’s effectiveness, as assessed by the FEB and internal / external audit;
Any changes to legislation / Home Office Guidance;
Challenges to the policy; and
Any identified inefficiencies in relation to

The policy will be formally reviewed on an annual basis.

CODE OF ETHICS CERTIFICATE OF COMPLIANCE

This policy has been drafted in accordance with the Code of Ethics and has been reviewed on the basis of its content and the supporting evidence and it is deemed compliant with that Code and the principles underpinning it.

HUMAN RIGHTS ACT CERTIFICATE OF COMPLIANCE

This policy has been drafted in accordance with the Human Rights Act and has been reviewed on the basis of its content and the supporting evidence and it is deemed compliant with that Act and the principles underpinning it.

EQUALITY IMPACT ASSESSMENT

Section 4 of the Equality Act 2010 sets out the protected characteristics that qualify for protection under the Act as follows: Age; Disability; Gender Reassignment; Marriage and Civil Partnership; Pregnancy and Maternity; Race; Religion or Belief; Sex; Sexual Orientation.

The public sector equality duty places a proactive legal requirement on public bodies to have regard, in the exercise of their functions, to the need to:

eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation, and any other conduct that is unlawful under the Act;
advance equality of opportunity between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it;
foster good relations between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it.

The equality duty applies to all protected characteristics with the exception of Marriage and Civil Partnership, to which only the duty to have regard to the need to eliminate discrimination applies.

Carrying out an equality impact assessment involves systematically assessing the likely or actual effects of policies on people in respect of all the protected characteristics set out above. An equality impact assessment should be carried out on any policy that is relevant to the public sector equality duty.

EQUALITY IMPACT ASSESSMENT COMPLETED: January 2024

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