To receive this
report as an update on the progress made by the Council to ensure that a
complete risk register is in place and is being maintained, and considers the
highest risks that the Council faces.
Decision:
DECISION:
·
To
accept the report as an update on the steps the Council is taking to ensure
there is a complete risk register in place and is being maintained
·
To
accept the greatest risks the Council is facing and recommend rationalising the
scoring procedure among departments
Minutes:
A report was submitted by the Assistant Head of Finance (Revenue and
Risk) updating the Committee on developments in risk management arrangements
and the next implementation steps. Members were reminded that one of the
Committee's statutory responsibilities was to review and assess the authority’s
arrangements for risk management, internal control and corporate governance, in
accordance with part 81(1)(c) of the Local Government (Wales) Measure 2011.
It was explained that the risk register was a live document and was
updated appropriately to reflect the Council's actual position. With the support
of the IT Department, a new Corporate Risk Register was launched in March 2021
to facilitate the system to retain the register on Sharepoint rather than on an
Excel spreadsheet. It was reported that
the new system offers a user-friendly facility for users in all departments to
prioritise, update and review the register; however, ongoing work was needed to
ensure that the use of the register was consistent across the Council. It was
added that the evolution of the Council's performance management arrangements
also included a formal discussion regarding the risk register in departmental
performance management meetings once a year. It was considered that this was a
motivation for departments to update the register and the actions being
developed to alleviate risks.
The context of the expectation was explained and it was noted that there
were 300 risks on the register, including four that had not been scored. The scoring system was discussed and the need
to alleviate this risk as low as possible within the resources and the effort
available within the Departments.
A request was made for Members to submit observations regarding the best
method to present the report in the future. It was highlighted that there were
23 very high risks and these had been included as an appendix to the report and
it was emphasised that it was the Departments themselves who had set the score.
The need to reconcile the system was accepted and although discussions had been
held with every department to challenge every very high score, it was reported
that the Departments were comfortable with the score issued on the register.
Members were reminded that it was the responsibility of the Committee to ensure
that a risk management system was in place and this did not mean that every
individual risk would be considered in detail. However, if the Committee wished
to receive further information regarding a specific risk, then it would be
possible to invite the Departments to a meeting to expand on this risk.
Thanks was given for the report
During the ensuing discussion, the following
observations were made by members:
·
the impact of
furlough needed to be reviewed
·
the tourism score
needed to be reviewed
·
serious shortages in
residential and nursing and home care provision - the score needed to be
reviewed and the risks of staff leaving these services needed to be considered
·
safety of maritime
staff - body cameras for the service needed to be prioritised
Observations regarding
the content and format of the report in the future:
·
the headings needed
to be reconciled
·
observations / risks
needed to be reconciled prior to submission to committee - some of the risks
were 'the department's everyday work'.
·
those that are
really catastrophic and destructive needed to be identified
·
data, information,
hard evidence of how the score is set was needed
·
It would be useful
to include the 'likelihood' and 'impact' score as well as the risk score, in
order that members can see how the risk score has been calculated
·
There was a
suggestion that a score reduction should be introduced to reflect the
mitigation plans that had been implemented successfully together with an
increase in score due to external factors that increase risk - highlighting
likelihood and impact.
In response to the observations, the Head of
Corporate Support noted that some of the observations were recognised and
reflected in the priorities of the Council's Improvement Plan e.g. workforce
planning together with staff health and safety.
In response to a suggestion by a member that
departments scored risks very high as a means to attract additional funding to
the Department, it was noted that formal arrangements were in place to review
and challenge each financial bid submitted.
Therefore, even if individual departments did what was suggested, the
comprehensive procedure of reviewing bids would identify this.
RESOLVED
·
To accept the report as
an update on the steps the Council is taking to ensure that a complete risk
register is in place and is being maintained.
·
To accept the highest
risks the Council is facing and recommend reconciling the scoring system within
departments
Supporting documents: