Agenda item

The Interim Section 151 Officer presented the Quarterly Risk Update report for Members’ consideration.

The Executive Committee was informed that progress had been made in relation to the initial action plan for risk management that had been considered by the Audit, Governance and Standards and the Executive Committees in July.  This included:

·             An initial Officer Risk Board meeting had taken place on 8^th April 2022 and two further meetings had taken place on 22^nd June and the 21^st September, helping to embed the process.

·             Each department had nominated a representative to a Council Risk Board. These representatives met on a quarterly basis and reported back to their management teams.

·             Each department was due to complete an updated Risk Register by April. This report would be the second update of the Risk Register, following initial re-baselining in April 2022.

·             The Audit, Governance and Standards Committee, at a meeting in April 2022, had received a verbal update on progress. Subsequently, the Committee had reviewed the Risk Register in July 2022 and was due to receive a further update in October. These reports had also been presented for the consideration of the Executive Committee.

·             The Corporate Management Team (CMT) had been updated at a meeting on 13th April 2022 on progress and were presented with an initial draft Corporate Risk Register. 

·             The Officer Group was updating the Risk Register and formally reporting to CMT on this subject on a quarterly basis. These quarterly updates had happened on the 29^th June and the 28^th September 2022.

The total number of departmental risks had reduced from 96, as reported previously, to 83 by the end of September 2022.  There remained some risks that were considered to be more concerning.  This included:

·             Performance data for the Revenues team was not considered to be robust.

·             Failure to identify, maintain and test adequate disaster recovery arrangements for IT software.

·             The system functionality for managing records from an ICT perspective.

·             Within Housing, a failure to meet Care Quality Commission (CQC) requirements at St David’s House.

All the items on the Risk Register had been reviewed by the risk champions and respective Departmental Management Teams in each Service Area, as required by the Risk Board.  Risks were being reviewed departmentally on a monthly basis across all services (with one exception in August 2022). Service representatives continued to challenge individual items to ensure that all controls and assurances were properly monitored and assured.

The Officer Risk Board had reviewed risks using a new definition of what constituted a corporate risk.  These corporate risks had also been reviewed by CMT, and one extra corporate risk had been added since the previous review of the risk register.  This related to risks involved in the delivery of the Levelling Up, UKSPF and Town’s Fund projects within the timescales set by the Government.  Members were asked to note that many Councils were competing for the same contractors to deliver these works in tight timescales and this could impact on the feasibility of meeting those deadlines.

Members welcomed the report and the work that had been undertaken by the Council in respect of risk management during the year.  Reference was made to the availability of contractors to work on large infrastructure projects and Members suggested that demand had potentially peaked and was even starting to decline, which might make it easier for the Council to secure contractors to deliver works in the timescales required by the Government.

RESOLVED that

1)          the present list of Corporate Risks be approved; and

2)          the progress made on the Action Plan approved by CMT on the 16^th March 2022 be noted.