Apprenticeship Continuity Plan

Version Number	4
Issue Date (Last Review Date)	23/12/2021
Review Date	22/12/2022
Author	Andy Cheshire (MD)
Approved by	Dawn Hughes (Quality & Compliance Manager)

Introduction

The aim of having a Continuity Plan is to ensure that CQM T&C is able to maintain its activities in the face of disruptive challenges. Therefore, key personnel are expected to prepare, exercise, maintain and review this plan based on the principle that the business should be able to maintain critical activities. This policy document defines a broad framework for the implementation of a recovery plan to minimise the impact of business disruption. Full compliance with this policy will ensure procedures exist for recording, assessing and managing business continuity risk; identifying and prioritising essential activities; responding to business disruptions or incidents, regardless of cause; and maintaining essential services (or restoring services to a minimum acceptable level).

Context

The apprenticeship services of CQM T&C are set up in such a way that there is no centralisation of IT provision, all services are hosted in the cloud and as such are not dependent on a physical server location. Thus there is inherent capability built-in to resist disruption to service provision. The services which CQM T&C are able to offer to apprentices through the cloud are:
– Electronic enrolment
– E-portfolio
– Learning materials
– Functional skills e-learning and testing
If access to any of these services ceases from one location (for example, due to a PC failure), then all can be accessed via browsers from other PCs. All services are backed up and will restore to a day-before back-up if they fail.

Catastrophic Service Failure

If any of our cloud services fail, the following table details the mitigation and the emergency contact numbers for each:

Purpose	Service Name	Alternative Solution	Emergency Contact Number
Enrolment	iPEGS	Either 1. Paper based Or 2. MS Forms within MS365	01244 955350
E-portfolio	Onefile	Candidates can send documents via email to Development Coach until service is relaunched	0161 638 3876
Learning Materials	(Hosted on Onefile)	All materials duplicated on MS365 – can be emailed to learners	0161 638 3876
Functional Skills	BKSB	Wide variety of materials on MS365 – can be emailed or posted to learners	0333 300 3467
Sharepoint	MS365	All learner documentation duplicated on Onefile	SAN-IT : 0161 359 3689
ESFA	Apprenticeship Service	Wait to upload any information, no alternative available	08000 150 600; helpdesk@manage-apprenticeships.service.gov.uk
Pellcomp PICS	MIS Service	Wait to access information, no alternative available	01603 215000

Training Delivery

All physical training delivery takes place on employer premises; CQM do not have any retained training centres. In the event of being unable to deliver for whatever reasons, alternatives we have available are:
1. Hire a room/venue – using the internet to source a venue that meets needs
2. Deliver remotely using MS Teams as a first option, then Zoom as a second alternative – is dependent on learners having access to IT equipment
3. In the worst case, contacting apprentices via phone and giving them some coaching before other alternatives (1 or 2) are found

We have a number of ‘pool’ PCs which we can lend to learners who are not provided with devices by their employer.