Industry flu pandemic exercise report published

The report from the Financial Services Agency (FSA) followed the recent Tripartite Authorities (FSA, HM Treasury and Bank of England) exercise involving 70 UK financial sector firms, which simulated the impact of a flu pandemic on the sector.

Feedback was provided by those taking part in the exercise, which ran for six weeks from 13 October to 24 November - simulating 22 weeks of a pandemic.

It revealed that the main impact would be on availability of personnel, with a gradual increase in the overall level of absenteeism rising from 15% at the start of the exercise to a peak of 49% at the height of the pandemic – with "clusters" of absence taking the peak rate up to 60% in some cases.

According to the FSA report, such levels of anticipated absenteeism forced firms to examine a whole range of approaches - including repatriation of staff from overseas locations, quarantine rules, certifying sickness, use of vaccines and absence due to caring for children following the closure of schools and crèches.

Voluntary absence arising from the "fear factor" associated with a flu pandemic, as well as bereavement counselling, dealing with financial hardship and the "fungibility of staff" across business units were also considered.

Telecoms availability

Home working strategies of firms in particular were put to the test, according to the report, with many issues surfacing such as ensuring effective compliance and control over remote activity, IT security and support and health and safety.

The exercise also raised the question of whether the telecoms infrastructure would be able to support large-scale home working for a prolonged period, when staff shortages in the telecoms sector "progressively eroded maintenance capability."

Unsurprisingly, the heaviest impact of the pandemic was on more labour-intensive/customer-facing financial service providers. For example, the distribution of cash across the country proved to be an early challenge for the banking industry.

Although no overall cash shortage emerged during the exercise, there were bottlenecks, according to the report. Many high street banks would also be forced to close, leading to the FSA calling for a "co-ordinated strategy" to be developed in order to respond effectively.

Online survey

However, despite a sharp fall in activity, the overall feedback from firms was that it was important to keep the markets open, even if on reduced hours.

The scenario appeared to be less testing for insurance sector participants, according to the report, although a major challenge would result from processing the surge of claims that would be faced during a pandemic.

The Tripartite Authorities described the exercise as a "major success" and that it had already prompted many firms to make adjustments to their business continuity plans.

Since the report was published, the Cabinet Office has called for both employers and employees from all industries to complete an online survey to help assess the impact of possible school and childcare closures on absences at work in the UK.

In July, the Department for Education and Skills issued guidance advising schools and childcare providers to plan for possible closure during an influenza pandemic.

The online surveys, available via the Government's UK Resilience website - see link above/right - will assist with a "desk top study", said a Cabinet Office spokesperson.