Agenda item

To receive a report providing an update on the risk management arrangements and outlining the current significant risks that have been captured on the recent review of the Council’s Strategic Risk Register by the Senior Leadership Team.

The Assistant Director for Resources introduced the report, the purpose of which was to update Members on the Council’s risk management arrangements and to outline the current significant risks that had been captured on the recent review of the Strategic Risk Register by the Senior Leadership Team.  In doing so, he highlighted Appendix A of the report, which showed 14 risks (3 high ongoing risks and 11 medium risks).  He reassured Members that the 3 high risks (failure to secure financial sustainability of the authority, failure to deliver the Melton Mowbray Distributor Road (MMDR) in full and the implementation of the food waste collection arrangements) continued to be actively managed by Senior Leadership Team.

The Assistant Director for Resources highlighted that:

·       The stability of the future provision of IT services had reduced from high risk to medium risk, recognising the implementation of additional resources but that there remained a lot of work to be done.

·       The Council had been assessed in relation to the regulatory change in housing, preparedness and compliance, achieving a ‘C2’ grade, which confirms that there were no serious failings or areas of regulatory concern identified.  A number of areas of strong assurance were also identified and the risk had been reduced accordingly.  It was proposed to transition this strategic risk to a directorate risk, 'ensuring strong tenant outcomes across all the areas of the Housing Regularly Framework Service Delivery’.

·       Community tension and civil unrest had been added to the Housing and Communities Directorate risk register to provide assurance that the Council was alert to this, were monitoring it and could respond to any increased risk.

·       Health and Safety Risk Training – Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) Managing Safely and IOSH Safety for Executives and Directors training courses had been delivered to relevant officers during late spring/early summer.  As part of a growth bid approve in the 2024/25 budget the Council procured a new performance and risk management system, which it was in the process of setting up ready to roll out later this financial year.

During discussion the following points were noted:

·       The Chair thanked the Assistant Director for Resources for his work, commenting that he was pleased that community tension and civil unrest was being monitored via the Risk Register.

·       The Chair noted the Council’s C2 grade in relation to its housing, preparedness and compliance assessment, highlighting that the housing service was a major priority for the Council.

·       In response to a Member question, the Assistant Director for Resources advised that the target risk ratings, identified in Appendix A of the report were aspirational, while recognising that there would always be an element of risk.

·       In response to a Member question, the Assistant Director for Resources confirmed that it was primarily the responsibility of officers at all levels to identify risks, based on the information they have (i.e. performance data, Internal Audit reports, directorate risk registers etc).  The Committee can raise issues of concern with officers to gain assurance that the Council had oversight of these issues and to help ensure that all risks were being monitored accordingly.

RESOLVED that the Committee NOTED the content of the report and the updated Strategic Risk Register and associated risk management action plan.