Agenda item

To note the report by the Internal Audit Manager and recommend the Corporate Risk Register to Cabinet for approval.

The Internal Audit Manager introduced the report and appendices and explained that the Corporate Risk Register had been developed with the aim to produce more concise reporting highlighting key areas of development and change. A summary of corporate risk management policy had been provided to make it easier for people to understand and the detailed risk register was now more digestible than the previous version.

The Internal Audit Manager advised that the risk action plan detailed the lead officers responsible for pursuing SMART actions which helped enable the Council to monitor progress on actions. In response to members’ questions the Internal Audit Manager agreed that she could include a column to show when the Risk Action Plan had last been reviewed and by whom. In response to further questions she also confirmed that this column could also be added to the Corporate Risk Register.

In response to questions about the possible risks associated with the Council’s commercial properties the Internal Audit Manager advised that this was something the internal audit team were mindful of and the Council had in place weekly rent collection review meetings. The Deputy Chief Executive added that the meetings were attended by the Leader, the Deputy Leader, and the Portfolio Holder for Finance and that both the worst case and expected case sinking fund scenarios for the next 10 years were reviewed and that for the most recent quarter the rent collection rate was 99.3%. 

In response to further questions the Deputy Chief Executive explained that software to manage the Council’s investment portfolio had considerable functionality and had gone live but that not all aspects were up and running yet.

The Committee queried how the outcomes from the Corporate Risk Management Group meetings were shared. The Deputy Chief Executive explained the group was made up of officers and union representatives to encourage feedback on issues from across all service areas and that issues were escalated via reports to the Council’s Management Team.

The Chairman stated that he was pleased with the Corporate Risk Management Policy Quick Guide but felt that it was a bit dull and asked if it could be made more appealing. In response the Group Head of Corporate Governance advised that she would ask the Communications team if they could help her to do this.

In response to questions from the Committee, the Group Head of Corporate Governance and Deputy Chief Executive agreed that they were happy to receive positive dialogue from the Committee should they have any suggestions for improvements to the Corporate Risk Register and advised the Chairman that he was entitled to have sessions with the Internal Audit Manager to feed back any suggestions for further refinement.

The Committee expressed concern that the Housing section of the Corporate Risk Register was somewhat confusing and didn’t reflect the wide area of work that could be covered under the Housing heading. The Deputy Chief Executive agreed that he would be happy to receive feedback from the Committee that he could then discuss with the Corporate Risk Management Group.

The Committee noted that a significant amount of work had been undertaken to make the Corporate Risk Register more user friendly and thanked officers for their work.

Resolved to note the report and recommend the Corporate Risk Register to Cabinet for approval.