Agenda item

To consider a report by the Strategic Planning Team Manager and Strategic Planning Officer (copy enclosed) which provides an update on the Council’s Corporate Risk Register.

10.15am – 10.45am

Introducing the report (previously circulated), which sought the Committee’s observations on the deletions, additions and amendments to the Corporate Risk Register, the Lead Member for Finance, Corporate Plan and Performance detailed the main amendments to the Register following the recent review.  He advised members that the Register was a ‘fluid’ document and officers were keeping a watching brief on the risks and on potential new risks.  Potential new risks on the horizon included Brexit, Funding of specific anti-poverty and reducing deprivation programmes, and public sector reform.  Not enough information was available on these areas as yet to enable the Council to determine the risks they posed and any measures that could be implemented to mitigate any risks.

In response to members’ questions the Lead Member and officers advised that:

·         the Corporate Governance Committee, which had examined the Risk Register process at its meeting the previous day had been satisfied that the process was a thorough one;

·         the Future of Adult In-house Social Care Task and Finish Group would continue to meet once the new Council was formed, as the work involved with transforming the delivery of in-house care service would take some considerable time to be delivered in their entirety;

·         risk number DCC014 relating to Health and Safety matters would always be classed as ‘high impact’ despite all necessary measures being put in place, due to the life threatening consequences posed by inadequate health and safety measures;

·         the risk identified in respect of Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (BCUHB) (DCC021) related to the interfaces between the Council and the Health Board.  Now that a Regional Partnership Board had been established the risk of poor communication and interaction, which could lead to a misalignment of priorities, had been reduced, hence the decision to reduce the risk score;

·         a decision on a potential ‘new approach’ for administering the current ‘Communities First’ fund was expected from the Cabinet Secretary for Communities and Children on 14 February 2017.  The Council was in the process of making representations to the WG on the importance of this source of funding for Denbighshire’s most deprived wards, emphasising that the Authority could utilise the funding and maximise its use for the benefit of vulnerable residents in those deprived communities, ensuring that it was used to empower them to improve their resilience and become sustainable.

Committee members highlighted a number of areas which in their view could pose some considerable risk to the Council in future.  These included:

·         the digital era – this would had the potential to transform the way the Council transacted all its business.  The Authority would need to be ready for this change and ambitious in the way it approached it to ensure that it was not left behind;

·         the cost of social care in future was expected to ‘outstrip’ the available resources.  The Council would therefore need to manage this risk closely.  Central Government should also be making a concerted effort to try and address resource shortages in this area; and

·         risks relating to post-surgical care of patients once it was determined that they would not require care in an acute hospital setting.

At the conclusion of the discussion the Committee:

Resolved: - subject to the above observations to note the deletions, additions and amendments to the Corporate Risk Register.