Incident Management Plan: Chief Executive's foreword

Document control

Ownership and maintenance of this plan and internal supporting documentation is the responsibility of the Operational Resilience Team, part of the Incidents and Resilience Unit at the Food Standards Agency. This plan is reviewed biannually. 

Version 10 published: 20 April 2026. 

Chief Executive's foreword

Delivering the Food Standards Agency’s mission requires more than strong regulation; it depends on our ability to anticipate, withstand and respond effectively to disruption. In an operating environment characterised by increasing complexity, interconnected risks and heightened expectations, organisational resilience is a core strategic capability.

This Incident Management Plan for Non-Routine Incidents underpins that capability. It provides a clear framework for leadership, decision making and assurance when the Agency faces significant incidents or crises that may threaten our objectives, reputation or ability to operate effectively. The Plan supports a structured, proportionate response, aligns with cross government standards and is designed to enable well governed action.

Continuous learning is integral to our approach in revising our plans. Insights from incidents, exercises and formal reviews have been embedded within this version of the Plan, ensuring that lessons are translated into tangible improvements. This cycle of learning and adaptation strengthens our readiness and supports continuous alignment with best practice and evolving risk. The Plan has been reinforced to support the broader risk horizon and has been successfully applied as a framework for responding to those wider disruptive events, demonstrating its value as a flexible framework and reflects our whole organisation approach to risk and resilience, ensuring preparedness for scenarios that extend beyond our statutory responsibilities.

Effective incident management is a shared organisational responsibility and a key enabler of confidence, both internally and externally. This Plan provides the foundation for that responsibility, supported by training, exercising and collaboration across the Agency and with partners.

Together, these arrangements ensure that the Food Standards Agency is well positioned to manage non routine incidents in a way that safeguards public trust, supports delivery of our strategic objectives and strengthens long-term organisational resilience.

Katie Pettifer
Chief Executive
Food Standards Agency