Agenda item

Report of the Executive Director of Corporate Resources and Customer Services

The Committee considered the report of the Executive Director of Corporate Resources and Customer Services which provided an update on the Corporate Risk Register as detailed in Appendix A to the report.

The Chief Internal Auditor (CIA) presented the report indicating that the ownership of the content of the Corporate Risk Register lay with the Strategic Leadership Board.

The CIA indicated that since the last meeting held on 19 July 2023 the following changes had been made to the Corporate Risk Register:

·       The addition of four new risks, namely:

o   Failure to comply with sections 1 and 10 of the Freedom of Information Act

o   Education service not being able to meet statutory compliance at an acceptable level

o   Failure to ensure readiness for the planned National Assurance framework for Adult Social Care (due 2023/24)

o   Adult Social Care contracted rates are no longer sufficient to secure placements

·       Two risks were identified for de-escalation, namely:

o   Data breach resulting in the wrongful release of personal and/or sensitive information

o   Failure to mitigate impact of COVID-19 on recovery and impact of the cost-of-living crisis for the Sefton economy

The CIA indicated that following the approval of the Council Risk Appetite Framework in March 2023, training had been designed for the Departmental Management Team members, in each Service Area, who normally submitted Committee papers. The training had been rolled out over summer 2023 and was likely to conclude in September 2023. The CIA informed the Committee that the Committee Paper header template was in the process of being revised to include risk appetite before being launched formally across the organisation.

The CIA informed the Committee that there were on-going initiatives to embed risk management within the Council including Assurance Mapping and implementing the three lines model.

Following consideration of the report, the Committee received a verbal update by the Service Manager – Finance on Financial Sustainability within the Council.

Members of the Committee asked questions/commented on the following issues arising from the report and verbal update:

·       Which services had not yet provided an updated Service Risk Register and was there a timescale for completion?

o   The CIA indicated the Children’s Services had not yet provided an updated Service Risk Register. The Committee requested that Children’s Services update their Service Risk Register and for the Chief Internal Auditor to provide an update at next meeting in December 2023.

·       Had any buildings in Sefton been affected by the recent Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) crisis and was this included in the risk register?

o   Following external commissioned investigation, initiated by Property Services, had not identified been affected by the use of RAAC in the construction of the buildings. Work was ongoing to establish if any other buildings in Sefton were built using RAAC. The CIA stated that in terms of timing, this would not appear on the risk register as of yet, but they would bring a further update to Committee in December.

RESOLVED: That