Issue - meetings

The committee is requested to note a) the current strategic risk register and the internal controls in place plus any associated action plans to manage those risks and b) the high scoring organisational risks and the mitigation actions in place, and to raise any issues or concerns.

The Committee considered the report circulated with the agenda, together with the revised Appendix 2 circulated at the meeting (copies attached to the official minutes, except confidential Appendix 1). Mrs Belenger introduced the report.

She explained that the Corporate Management Team reviewed risks quarterly and individual managers reviewed risks they were responsible for monthly. The Strategic Risk Group, comprising three members each from the Committee and from the Cabinet with the Strategic Leadership Team, had reviewed the Strategic Risk Register, the Programme Board Risks and the high-scoring organisational risks on 15 March 2016.

Mrs Belenger corrected the  previous quarterly review score for risk CRR01 in Appendix 1, which should read 3, not 6. She drew attention to the revised Appendix 2 and to Appendix 3.

Mr Barrett asked whether there was a clear mitigation plan for each risk. Mrs Belenger confirmed that there was a detailed control plan for all strategic risks. These sought to manage rather than eliminate risks, and were reviewed quarterly.

The Committee resolved to exclude the public, including the press, from the meeting for discussion of the Strategic Risk  register (Appendix 1) on the grounds that it was likely that there would be a disclosure to the public of ‘exempt information’ of the description specified in Paragraph 3 (information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information)) of Part I of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 and because, in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption of that information outweighed the public interest in disclosing the information.

In respect of CRR68, the Committee acknowledged that, because the risk score consisted of impact and likelihood, the impact of this risk would always be high. It was difficult to tell from the quarterly report what progress had been made in reducing likelihood and there needed to be a means of measuring improvement over time. This illustrated a general problem with the risk report and Mrs Belenger undertook to find a better way of summarising information in future reports.

In respect of CRR88 (re Recycling Target), the Committee wished for some indication of current performance.

RESOLVED

(1)  That the current strategic risk register and the internal controls in place, plus any associated action plans to manage those risks, be noted and that officers’ attention be drawn to the concerns raised.

(2)  That the current high scoring organisational risks and the mitigation actions in place be noted.