Agenda item

Context:

To provide an overview of the current strategic risks facing the authority.

Key Issues:

The risk assessment ensures that:

·                Strategic risks are identified and monitored by the authority.

·                Risk controls are appropriate and proportionate.

·                Senior managers and elected Members systematically review the strategic risks facing the authority.

The existing risks on the Strategic Risk Assessment have been updated based on evidence available in 2016.   Changes to the Council’s risk management policy were approved by Cabinet in March 2015 and continue to be applied to the strategic risk register.  These are:

·                Including pre-mitigation and post-mitigation risk scores, this was also a key recommendation from scrutiny of the 2014 risk assessment.

·                Ensuring greater clarity to the phrasing of risk so that each statement includes an event, cause and effect.

 The risk assessment only covers high and medium level risks.  Lower level operational risks are not registered unless they are projected to escalate within the three years covered.  These need to be managed and monitored through teams’ service plans. The pre and post mitigation risk levels are presented separately. In most cases mitigating actions result in a change to the likelihood of the risk rather than the consequences as our actions are generally aimed at reducing the chance of a negative event occurring rather than lessening it’s impact.  Clearly, there will be exceptions.

Following presentation to select committees, the risk assessment will be presented to Cabinet to be signed off. The risk assessment is a living document and will evolve over the course of the year as new information comes to light. An up-to-date risk log is accessible to Members via the Council’s intranet - The Hub.  This will ensure, as well as the ongoing specific scrutiny of the risk assessment annually, that select committees are able to re-visit the information at any point in the year to re-prioritise their work plan as appropriate.

Member Scrutiny:

·         In response to a Select Committee Member’s question regarding recent revelations regarding certain sports coaches across the UK, it was noted that this matter would sit with the Whole Authority Safeguarding Group.

·         Teacher sickness and absences data would be made available to the Select Committee.  Teacher sickness levels are better than compared to the broader sickness levels of Council staff. Also, teacher sickness levels in comparison to pupil sickness levels could also be brought back to the Select Committee.

·         In response to a Select Committee Member’s question regarding whether a risk assessment has been undertaken with regard to a potential change in administration of the Authority in May 2017 due to the upcoming local elections, it was noted that delivery of political priorities is broadly covered via one of the risks identified in the report, i.e., political priorities being delivered.  However, there has not been a specific risk identified with regard to a potential change in administration of the Authority