To consider the status of the council’s corporate risk register in order to monitor the effectiveness of risk management within the performance management framework.

The Head of Corporate Performance introduced this item on the status of the council’s corporate risk register and advised that a report was being prepared on strategic risks for consideration at the next committee meeting.

The committee discussed the report, the principal points included:

1.      Responding to an observation that some risks appeared to be relatively static, the Head of Corporate Performance reported that risks rated with a score of 9 or higher would be reviewed by directorate leadership teams before any escalation, and the Corporate Leadership Team had committed to review any risks that were identified for escalation to the corporate risk register.

2.      The Chairperson noted the committee’s interest in ‘identifying 1 or more risks in the directorate risk registers and undertake a deep dive to provide assurance that the risk management framework was being applied appropriately’ (action 99 refers) and said it would be helpful to understand better the risk mitigation being undertaken by the relevant directorate.  Later in the meeting, the Chairperson suggested that this activity should feature in the work programme for the coming municipal year.

3.      The Vice-Chairperson commented on the need to review the risk owner identified for risks CRR.67 to CRR.71 given that there was not an ‘Interim Service Director, Environment, Highways and Waste’ in the current organisational structure.

4.      There was a brief discussion about the movement of risks between service, directorate, and corporate risk registers.

5.      The Vice-Chairperson requested updates to risk EE.06 - Destination Hereford, given a reference to September 2022, and EE.14, given recent recruitment into the ecology team.

6.      It was suggested that consideration be given to the inclusion of the date that each risk was last revised under each reference number.

7.      In response to a question from a committee member about the effectiveness of certain bodies, such as the Health and Wellbeing Board, the Chairperson noted the remit of scrutiny committees and commented that any significant concerns may appear in directorate risks registers.  It was noted that this committee considered the adequacy of the risk management framework.  Later in the meeting, the Vice-Chairperson advised that the relevant risks registers were provided to scrutiny committee members to inform the work programming for the scrutiny committees.

8.      The Chairperson drew attention to paragraph 9 of the report (agenda page 45) and, noting that there were higher numbers of directorate risks and corporate risks in Economy and Environment, questioned whether the level of risk being allocated was perceived in the same way across the directorates.  Following a brief discussion, it was requested that an explanation be provided of how individual directorates identify and score risks in the next report.

RESOLVED:

That the report has been considered and further actions identified.

Action(s):

184   Further to action 99, opportunities for the committee to undertake a ‘deep dive’ into selected risks in the directorate risk registers be identified in the work programme for 2023/24.

185   Consideration be given to the inclusion of the date that each risk was last revised under  ...  view the full minutes text for item 67