Resolution planning
The Construction Playbook, Government Guidance on sourcing and contracting public works projects and programmes Version 1, produced by the Cabinet Office and published in December 2020, is focused on getting projects and programmes right from the start. Its principles and policies are intended to transform how public works projects and programmes are assessed, procured and managed. It is a ‘compact’ between government and industry, setting out how they will work together in future.
It states:
‘Resolution planning can help to mitigate the impacts of insolvency, ensuring that projects can continue following an orderly transfer to a new supplier. The best time to put this in place is when contracts commence, and with regular updates thereafter.
‘All new critical construction contracts will now require resolution planning information to be provided by suppliers. This requirement applies throughout the life of the contract. This will allow us to:
- ‘understand better the potential impact of a supplier’s failure and key risks to continued delivery of the project
- ‘work with suppliers (and/or insolvency practitioners) to develop mitigations to limit the risk to critical public works
‘When reviewing suppliers’ Service Continuity Plans (previously known as Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Plans) and exit plans, we should check to ensure they are robust and deal adequately with the consequences of supplier insolvency.
‘Contracting authorities should put in place their own contingency plans for all critical construction projects and programmes, putting these in place at the earliest stage possible and keeping them regularly refreshed. Guidance on how to do this is included in the Resolution Planning Guidance Note.’
For more information see: The Construction Playbook.
NB Commercial Continuous Improvement Assessment Framework, published by HM Government in May 2021, suggests that resolution plans are: ‘A component of contingency planning that defines how a significant incident will be resolved and who is accountable and responsible for the plan within the organisation.’
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