Business Continuity and Closure Policy

Overview

In the event of a major disruption to the functioning of the Community, it will be important to ensure continuity and/or managed closure of some or all services. This may include the relocation of members of the Community. While recognising that Tigh a'Chomainn Camphill may not be able to determine the speed of closure, it will be important to avoid causing undue distress or hardship to any member of the Community and to take account of the Community’s contractual obligations towards Residents, Social Work departments and Co-workers.

What you need to know

Responsible Persons:

The people with responsibility for this business continuity document are the Senior Leadership Team. In the event of a disruption the responsible person will be the most senior person on the premises.

The formal order of responsibility is: Senior Managers; Trustees; Workshop Leaders and Senior Employed Co-workers; Employed Co-workers and Short Term Co-workers. Although this list is sequential, it is better seen as a feedback loop, with circular links between parts of the Community depending on topic.

Critical services:

In prioritising our response to the disruption we will do as follows:

Manage any risk event and moderate its impact on the community.

We will strive to preserve the health and safety of all residents of Tigh a'Chomainn Camphill community; residents, employed and short term vocational co-workers.

Our next priority will be to maintain our contractual and legal commitments.

These are to:

Tigh a'Chomainn Camphill residents & their families/carers, co-workers, regulators, funding bodies, banks & loan facilitators, local authorities, OSCR and Companies House

Our next priority will be to take necessary action to minimise disruption and ensure the continuation of services. A focus on managing reputational damage and any complaints, not excluding litigation will be considered critical to sustaining Tigh a'Chomainn Camphill in the long term.

Closure

This policy and procedure relates to the planned closure of the community for circumstances other than for an emergency, for example bankruptcy, lack of co-workers, closure by the Council or the Care Commission and for any other internal or external reason that means the community can longer provide adequate and appropriate care for residents.

Closure may also follow from an emergency of any sort.

Closure may be partial or complete, temporary or permanent. While this paper sets out the procedure for a complete and permanent closure, the same principles will be applied for a partial or temporary closure.

Closure Procedure

The following is a list of responsibilities that will be covered in the Closure:

The welfare of the residents during the process of closure.

To maintain the normal level of staffing, finances, care and responsibility towards all involved in the community during the process of closure.

To liaise with the relevant Social Work Departments, the Care Inspectorate and the families and representatives of the residents in order to review the individual needs of each person and to arrange the future placements for these people.

The welfare of the co-workers during the process of closure.

To liaise with short-term vocational co-workers and their placing organisations in order to make arrangements for them to travel back to their home countries.

To give as much notice as is practical to salaried co-workers and to support them in the process of finding new positions, including providing written references and financial packages if appropriate.

To abide by the co-workers’ contract and conditions of employment, employment guidelines and good practice during the process of the termination of contracts.

To appoint a representative from the Senior Leadership Team and the Trustees to be a contact point for the press and media and to ensure that nobody else speaks to the press and media on behalf of the community unless authorised to do so.

To liaise with the bank, the insurance company, OSCR, and Companies House, to put in place appropriate arrangements for the process of closure.

To make arrangements for the termination of the community’s registration with the Care Inspectorate as a provider of care.

To terminate contracts and other obligations with all the community’s suppliers and contractors.

To liaise with the Scottish Neighbourhood Group and the Association of Camphill Communities UK and Ireland to establish the future of the property and assets of the community after closure.

To appoint a caretaker for the property and assets until new arrangements are in place or until the property has been sold.

To appoint one or two Trustee members to handle any administration up to and beyond closure for an unspecified period, including providing assistance to the caretaker.

To arrange for the appropriate storage of documents.

To dispose of equipment, vehicles and any other assets.

Signed:

T Marx, 16/01/2024

Reviewed by Trustees on 23/01/2024