Agenda item

To consider a report on the Corporate Risk Register: February 2024 Review from the Head of Corporate Support Service: Performance, Digital and Assets (copy attached).

The Lead Member for Corporate Strategy, Policy and Equalities introduced the Corporate Risk Register: February 2024 Review report to the Committee.

The Corporate Risk Register was developed and owned by the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) alongside Cabinet. It was reviewed twice yearly by Cabinet at Cabinet Briefing. Following each review, the revised register was then shared with Performance Scrutiny Committee and the Governance and Audit Committee. The previous review was undertaken in September 2023. Papers last submitted to Performance Scrutiny Committee (30 November 2023) were available online.

The Council’s Risk Appetite Statement had been applied to the discussions that had taken place with risk owners, and the Council’s risk exposure was analysed within the Corporate Risk Register.

The Council currently had 13 Corporate Risks on the Register. Summaries of the review were provided in Appendix 2. No risks had been de-escalated during the review and neither had any new risks been added. Whilst all risks had been reviewed, no significant changes had been made during the February 2024 review, and residual risk scores remained unchanged for all 13 Corporate Risks.

The Strategic Planning and Performance Team Leader explained that the 13 risks noted within the report had remained static with no change. There was a pilot process for the review approach of the Corporate Risk Register which would see the register reviewed 4 times a year and quarterly updates given to Performance Scrutiny Committee.

The Chair thanked officers for their report and questions were welcomed from the Committee.

Members welcomed the more frequent approach of reviewing the Corporate Risk Register.

Members referred to risk 01 which was based heavily on Social Services and questioned if there should be more of a focus on the HR Service and the vetting process of people joining the Council. The Head Of Corporate Support Service: Performance, Digital Assets stated that this would be something that could be brought back to a future meeting once the details had been obtained.  The Monitoring Officer reassured members that there was a process in place for safeguarding checks which was extended to any agencies the Council used. Mandatory checks were completed upon the appointment of new recruits and safeguarding training was mandatory for all Council employees regardless of their roles, with more intensive training provided to those who delivered frontline care services.

Members sought clarity on risk 21, referring to any improvements in connectivity/communication between the Health Board and the Council since the Board was placed back under Special Measures. The Corporate Director: Communities, Modernisation and Well-being explained that the relationships between the Council and the Health Bord were continuing to improve. A new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) had recently been appointed in the Health Board and a meeting with the Chair and CEO of the Health Board had taken place which was very positive.

Members referred to risk 45, Climate Change and Ecological Emergency and questioned if the Council had fully impact assessed the risk to the Council of not meeting the carbon reduction target and the potential knock-on effect of increasing energy prices on the Council’s financial stability. The Head of Corporate Support Service: Performance, Digital Assets stated that the risk was continually assessed, not reaching the carbon target would ultimately mean spending more on energy.                                                                                                                                               

Members discussed risks 51 and 52- Economic Climate and referred to the scaling back of services. They questioned if the Council were in danger of neglecting other services while focusing on others. The Monitoring Officer stated that broadly this was why risks 51 and 52 were noted on the Corporate Risk Register. The Council did not have enough money to provide the level of services they previously had done. Cuts needed to be made to services however, the level of services the Council were legally obliged to provide would continue. It had been made clear that with the reductions in services, remaining staff would not be expected to carry out the workload of others.  Service transformation would form a key part of the work to develop the Council’s budget for 2025/26, Scrutiny would have a role in examining any service transformation proposals.

The Chair thanked the officers and Lead Member for their detailed report and for attending the meeting.

At the conclusion of an in-depth discussion the Committee:

Resolved:  subject to the above comments and observations to –

(i)              acknowledge the latest review of the Corporate Risk Register and receive the February 2024 version of the Corporate Risk Register;

(ii)            endorse the amendments to the Council’s Risk Appetite Statement, as detailed in paragraphs 4.7 to 4.8 and Appendix 3 to the report; and

(iii)          approve the proposed revised approach to Corporate Risk reporting as outlined in Appendix 4 to the report.