Agenda item

This report provides an update on risk management within the Council.

Mike Sloniowski (Risk Manager) introduced the report that updated the Committee on risk management within the Council, and presented the corporate and service risk registers for consideration.

Councillor Mark Loveday noted that the King Street Regeneration item on page 426 of the agenda said the entry was confidential because of commercial negotiations – but the entry in the exempt agenda doesn’t mention commercial processes. Mike Sloniowski said that was a mistake and the item should have been placed on the open agenda.

ACTION 8: David Abbott

Mike Sloniowski noted that at the previous meeting the Committee had asked officers to review and refresh the risk registers. He assured members that there had been a thorough review led by the Chief Executive and the Senior Leadership Team and that work was presented in the appendices to the report.

Councillor Guy Vincent commented that it was good to see how seriously the Chief Executive was taking the issue of risk management and raising its profile within the organisation. Recent events have shown how important it could be. He asked why recruitment and retention had been added to the corporate risk register (page 475 of the agenda). Mark Grimley said the risk related to change management, the Moving On agenda, and uncertainty around pay in the public sector generally. Some key areas of the business had a relatively small talent pool – social work for example. This coupled with the turnover rate and the projected retirement schedule meant there was a significant amount of work to do to ensure the Council had the right staff for its ambitious change programme. Councillor Vincent asked what solutions officers had to those problems. Mark Grimley said workforce planning had already started, recruitment processes would be redesigned, and a new people strategy would be put in place – part of the ‘best employers’ scheme.

Councillor Donald Johnson asked what the current satisfaction level was amongst staff. Mark Grimley said he could provide the figure outside the meeting but the general themes were that staff were satisfied with their managers and teams – but dissatisfied with Managed Services, IT, and buildings.

Councillor PJ Murphy asked if officers had looked at the number of EU citizens employed by the Council and the potential impact of Brexit. There had already been a significant drop in recruitment within the NHS – was the Council expecting the same impact? Mark Grimley said he could share those figures with members outside the meeting – the Council was exposed in some key areas.

ACTION 9: Mark Grimley

Councillor Mark Loveday asked why there were no figures attached to the risk around the King Street regeneration project despite it being scored as a ‘high risk’. Jo Rowlands said figures could be provided outside the meeting. Councillor Loveday asked for the maximum and likely exposure to the Council.

ACTION 10: Jo Rowlands / Maureen McDonald Khan

Councillor Mark Loveday noted that he couldn’t identify the dissolution of the tri-borough arrangements as a risk on the corporate register. Kim Dero explained that it was in the register but was referred to as ‘Moving On’ – the Council’s term for the project. She added that shared services would continue in a number of areas while others would become sovereign again. Councillor Loveday felt, despite the differing terminology used, the risks of disaggregation had still not been clearly identified and asked that more detail be added. Councillor Loveday also asked that the risk register and extract dashboard have consistent numbering for easier cross-reference.

ACTION(S) 11: David Hughes

RESOLVED

That the Committee reviewed and considered the contents of the Corporate and Service Risk Registers.