Mr David Dobbs, Head of Internal Audit, Anti-Fraud & Risk presented the risk management report which included the Corporate Risk Register and the Communities Risk Register. He said the management of risk was a key Council function, with Internal Audit coordinating the risk registers on behalf of the Council and Directorates.

Mr Dobbs informed the Committee there was also a report from Zurich Municipal, the Council’s liability insurer, detailing the summary results of a Health-Check on the Council’s Enterprise Risk Management arrangements. He said Mr Jesper Glasius Risk Consultant, Zurich Resilience Solutions was at the meeting to provide a summary of their findings.

Mr Glasius referred to his report at appendix 3 and said whilst there was a low level of risk maturity within the organisation, it was clear the Council had the right framework and strategy to make further progress. He referred members to the recommendations within the report and said the Council was on an upward trajectory in improving its risk management function.

Mr Dobbs referred members to paragraph 3.8 and said the Risk Management Team had been shortlisted in the Public Sector category at the annual Continuity, Insurance & Risk Management awards. He said the awards ceremony will be held in London on 27th November 2024.

In response to comments and questions from members the following was noted:

·       Referring to risk CSD0016 on page 157 of the agenda pack and risk ASD0015, page 162 members asked why there was a disparity between the scores for Children and Adults. Mr Dobbs said he did not know the answer to this but would get a written response from the respective Corporate Directors.

o   ACTION: Corporate Directors for Children and Adults to provide an explanation regarding the risk and the scoring.

·       Members said they were pleased to see ‘community cohesion’ LPG0036 page 173 added to the risk register. Mr Dobbs confirmed a fuller narrative would be provided for the December 2024 meeting.

·       Regarding COM0002 ‘Civil Contingencies’, page 168 members asked if the risks of the Best Value Inspection were also included in the risk. Mr Dobbs said this had been discussion about inspections in general but no specific risk relating to the BVI had been included. He said he would take forward the discussion with senior management.

·       Mr Dobbs said when forming his Internal Audit Opinion he takes into account external auditor opinions, inspection outcomes, as well as information from the Internal Audit’s undertaken during the year.

The Audit Committee RESOLVED to note:

1.    The Corporate Risks (refer Appendix A), and where applicable request risk owner(s) with risks requiring further scrutiny to provide a detailed update on the treatment and mitigation of those risks including impact on the corporate objectives.

2.    The Communities Directorate Risks (refer Appendix B) and where applicable request risk owner(s) with risks requiring further scrutiny to provide a detailed update on the treatment and mitigation of their risks including impact on the directorate’s objectives.

3.    The summary Health-Check report from Zurich Municipal (refer Appendix C) and corresponding action plan.