Agenda item

The Risk Management Update prepared by the Head of Audit and Risk Management is attached for the Commission’s consideration prior to its submission to the Executive on 16 September 2008.

OVERVIEW & POLICY DEVELOPMENT

The Commission was presented with a report that updated them on Risk Management arrangements prepared by the Head of Audit and Risk Management.

It was reported that the Executive had approved the updated Risk Register attached as appendix 1, on 22 July. The Executive had also agreed that actions to address risks over the tolerance level should be developed by officers who had been identified as risk owners and that these would be monitored by the Executive on a quarterly basis through the Performance Management Reports.

Significant effort had been made to improve the identification of risks and mitigating actions in directorate Service Plans for 2008/09. Members and Senior officers had taken part in workshops to assess the risks, which had been used to update the Strategic Risk Register and to identify how they impacted on Service Plans. There would be further training for officers on risk management, to ensure there was an effective risk management culture across the Council.

In response to members’ queries, the Director of Corporate Services explained that Zurich Municipal had been engaged to assist on risk management pending the recruitment to the post of Head of Audit and Risk Management.

In response to members’ queries around houses being built without accompanying improvements in infrastructure, it was reported that many of these infrastructure improvements were out of the control of the Council and depended on utilities such as water, gas and electricity to ensure improvements were made. Members asked that this be made clear in the report.

In response to members’ queries concerning difficult decisions and budget pressures, the Director of Corporate Services explained the risks surrounding demand led services, particularly young people requiring social services.

In terms of the risk of key people leaving, it was reported that as a small authority, this was a significant risk as a great deal of knowledge and expertise was often vested in a small number of key people. It was crucial that handovers were carried out thoroughly.

It was reported that whilst below tolerance level risks were not assigned with risk owners, they were still regularly monitored and if these risks rose above the tolerance level, they would be assigned with a risk owner.

The Director of Corporate Services advised members that the risks in the register were generic in nature and, notwithstanding the efforts of many people, no organisation could be certain that they had identified every risk affecting them.

It was reported that action plans would be developed for each member of CMT, each CMT member would then need to report on their actions, which had varying timescales, and these would be reported to members through the performance monitoring reports. This would include, for example, the risk surrounding the anchor store for the regeneration of Bracknell town centre. The Strategic Risk Management Group, comprising senior officers from all Council departments, would also monitor the overall action plan. The Director of Corporate Services assured members that although action plans had not been completed for every risk, all risks were being appropriately managed.

The Chairman said that the Commission were very interested in risk management, and acknowledged that a lot of work had been carried out in this area,. He asked the Head of Audit and Risk Management to indicate in the next report to the Commission in four months’ time the designated owners of all risks in the register, and the progress being made in managing all the risks.