Business continuity professionals are calling on the
prime minister to create a single department to consolidate,
simplify and clarifypublic sector
business continuityplans.
A petition on
the Downing Street website calls on Gordon Brown to create "a
designated lead department within central government to coordinate,
initiate and oversee business continuity management within all
other government departments."
Richard Fizthugh of the Business Continuity Expo 2008, which
created the petition, said present
business continuity responsibilities are spread throughout
government. He said an attempt to create an easy-to-use guide on
who to call in an incident ran to over 200 pages. "This can't be
right," he said.
Pointing to press reports of cyber attacks against the British
government and business targets, Fitzhugh said the sector had
worked hard to provide resilience against attacks, but it was time
to do more. "It is not simply a question of cogent thinking and
sensible directorial infrastructure, it underpins the very fabric
of society," he said.
David Honour, a signatory to the petition , said, "It is
essential that central government follows business continuity best
practice. It needs to designate a lead department to coordinate and
manage business continuity activities."
Lyndon Bird from the
Business Continuity
Institute (BCI), a trade body, said a lead department to
co-ordinate policy and implement consistent strategies would
improve the UK's domestic business resilience and its international
trading performance. "The UK will be seen as a safe, secure and
consistent place to build and base business operations," he
said.