Agenda item

This report provides Members with an overview of the council’s risk management arrangements and presents the Leadership risk register as at 31^st August 2017

Declarations of interest:

None

Witnesses:

Kevin Kilburn, Deputy Chief Finance Officer

Tim Oliver, Cabinet Member for Property and Business Services.

Key points raised during the discussion:

1.    Members enquired as to why the Adult Social Care directorate was not referenced in the risk column for L1, financial outlook.  The Deputy Chief Finance Officer explained that this was because the risk related specifically to funding.  As Adult Social Care received minimal funding from central government, this was not considered to be a risk to the directorate, at least as far as this element of risk L1 is concerned.

2.    The Chairman asked when the Leadership Risk Register (LRR) was last seen by the Cabinet.  The Deputy Chief Finance Officer informed Members that the LRR was last reviewed by Cabinet in July 2017.  The current version had yet to be reviewed by the Cabinet as it was reviewed on a quarterly basis.

3.    Members highlighted that the role of Cabinet Associate was removed post-election in May 2017, and therefore the processes in place listed in L3, page 37, required updating.  The Committee also questioned whether one of the controls listed in L3, regarding the implementation of a new strategic plan for safeguarding, was correct in terms of timescale.  The Deputy Chief Finance Officer agreed to check whether it was one year or two years.

4.    Members suggested that the monthly reporting of the forecast outturn position to the Continuous Improvement and Productivity Network, mentioned in L4, ought to be reflected on the risk governance arrangements matrix.  The Deputy Chief Finance Officer agreed to feedback the suggestion to the Chief Finance Officer.

5.    Members were concerned that Senior Leadership Succession Planning, L7, was considered to be a medium risk despite the imminent retirement of the Chief Executive.  The Committee were concerned that the risk had been downgraded given the current situation.

6.    Members noted that the Deputy Chief Executive had been appointed as Interim Chief Executive and an Interim Director of Children, Schools and Families had also been appointed. There were, however, concerns that with the Director of Environment & Infrastructure working a three-day week and the recent departure of the Director for Communities, the Council appeared to be short of strategic leadership cover.

7.    The Deputy Chief Finance Officer explained that whilst the High Performance Development Programme mentioned in L6 had come to an end, the HR and OD departments were in the process of developing a replacement scheme.  Members noted this, and suggested that the wording of the document was updated to reflect this change.

8.    The Chairman enquired as to why the Strategic Infrastructure risk was removed from the register in August 2017, given that strategic infrastructure was integral to the council’s operation.  The Deputy Chief Finance Officer agreed to seek the rationale for the decision and circulate to the committee.

9.    Members also questioned the removal of Waste as a risk from the register in January 2016.  The Deputy Chief Finance Officer explained that this was due to a suspension in the credits of the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) waste contract, along with the fact that the eco-park build was currently in progress.  The Community Recycling Centres issue was a service issue, therefore this would be reflected in the directorate’s risk register. 

RESOLVED

The Deputy Chief Finance Officer agreed to seek a summary of the rationale behind the decision to remove the Strategic Infrastructure risk from the register in January 2017 and circulate to the committee.

Further information requested

The Deputy Chief Finance Officer to confirm whether the timescale relating to the implementation of the safeguarding strategic plan mentioned in L3 was correct.