Business continuity

The Cabinet Office Business Continuity Management Toolkit describes the aim as being able to "get back to business in the quickest possible time" after any incident, "large or small, whether it is natural, accidental or deliberate", that disrupts the organisation. It asks four questions: what are the organisation's key products and services, what critical activities and resources deliver them, what are the risks to those activities, and how will they be maintained if premises, utilities or other resources are lost. The toolkit says delays could mean losing business to competitors or losing customers' confidence.

Business continuity has a statutory footing. Section 2(1)(c) of the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 requires Category 1 responders to maintain plans so that, so far as is reasonably practicable, they can continue to perform their functions if an emergency occurs; regulation 19 of the Contingency Planning Regulations 2005 calls these "business continuity plans". Section 4 requires local authorities to provide advice and assistance to the public on "the continuance of commercial activities" and the continuance of voluntary organisations' activities in an emergency, a duty that gov.uk guidance says commenced in May 2006. The toolkit says the Act "recognised its importance by requiring frontline responders to maintain internal BCM arrangements and local authorities to promote BCM to commercial and voluntary organisations".