7-5 Emergency closure
Introduction
An emergency closure occurs when circumstances beyond the control of individual services cause temporary closures.
Closures are normally for one or two days only.
Funding continuity
Funding will continue where a service was forced to close for a short time, in an emergency only when funding approval for the emergency closure is obtained from the Ministry local office.
Example: emergency
The following are examples of emergencies where funding will continue:
- extreme weather conditions
- interruptions to essential services
- non-controllable health and safety issues
- civil defence emergencies.
Example: non-emergency
The following examples are not emergencies:
- lack of staff
- person responsible is absent
- funerals in the community1
- A&P show.
The Ministry will not fund closures caused by these circumstances.
Approval required
If your service is forced to close in an emergency:
| Step |
Action |
| 1 |
Contact your Ministry local office at the first available opportunity. |
| 2 |
Attach a copy of the letter from your Ministry local office confirming your service was closed due to an emergency, to your next RS7 Form. |
Record keeping requirements
The following table shows the record keeping requirements for services that have closed unexpectedly:
| If your service... |
then you must... |
| was given Ministry local office approval for an emergency closure |
- note the Emergency Closure on your RS7 using the code ‘EC’ on the day of the emergency closure
- record the same enrolment pattern on the RS7 for the days of closure as for the previous month
- attach a copy of your approval to your RS7
- keep the original approval for your records.
|
| was not given Ministry local office approval for and emergency closure |
record the days of closure as days of non-operation on your RS7. |
1 There may be exceptions to this, Contact your Ministry local office for further details.