Incident Management Plan: Aims, Objectives and scope of plan

1.1 Aim

This Incident Management Plan (IMP) outlines the FSA’s strategic, tactical and operational arrangements in response to non-routine food and/or feed-related incidents, which may arise in connection with the consumption of food (including risks caused by the way it is produced or supplied) in order to protect consumers.
    
The IMP defines the FSA’s response to a non-routine incident where the FSA takes responsibility, either by statutory requirement (as set out in the Food Law Code of Practice), in its role of Lead Government Department (LGD), following an actual or potential threat to the safety, quality or integrity of food and/or animal feed, or as a supporting department.

The strategic, tactical and operational command structure and the key principles as set out in this plan will also be followed for other incidents, including those that fall outside of our remit, but that require tactical and strategic measures.  For example, a business continuity incident; pandemic, non-routine policy issues or other events that have the potential to disrupt our business, and may require escalation to the Chief Executive Officer and FSA Board for an extraordinary decision. 

1.2 Objectives

The plan provides a framework to meet the following objectives:

• ensure robust command and control procedures are in place
• escalation mechanisms are clearly defined
• there is the ability to determine the key parties and resources required to develop, co-ordinate, implement and recover an effective response 
• ensure effective communication and co-ordination across all parties.

1.3 Scope of Plan

This plan summarises key activities to be undertaken during a response to a non-routine food and/or feed-related incident or outbreak. Response to other (routine) outbreaks is as set out in the current  communicable disease outbreak management: operational guidance (PDF).

From the 1 October 2020, The UK Health and Security Agency (UKHSA)(footnote)  will assume health protection operations as part of its remit. The plan establishes common procedures (to be followed by all FSA offices across England, Wales and Northern Ireland) for the command and control set up for the management of the response to a non-routine incident or outbreak. Routine incidents are dealt with using the FSA’s Routine Incident Management Plan (RIMP). The detailed processes which support this IMP are set out in a series of internal Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) and guidance.

A memorandum of understanding with Food Standards Scotland (FSS) is in place to ensure liaison arrangements continue to deliver a co-ordinated incident handling response across Scotland, England, Northern Ireland and Wales. The Food Standards Scotland Incident Management Framework defines how FSS led incidents are managed.