Issue - meetings

Report of the Head of Audit and Risk Management to:

a)     Inform the Audit Committee of the current position on risk management implementation across the Council and provide a revised risk management strategy for consideration and approval;

b)     Provide a revised register of corporate business risks for review and approval.

The Head of Audit and Risk Management, Anne Woods, presented the report on the current position on risk management implementation across the Council, the revised risk management strategy and a revised register of corporate business risks. The revised risk management strategy incorporated all the various processes involving risk and showed how these fit into the Council’s business planning cycle. This new, broader, approach would fit in with the key lines of enquiry. A further update to the corporate risk register was in progress, this would be considered by the Chief Executive’s Management Board and would be presented to the Audit Committee later in the year.

The Chair asked for confirmation that every Council service was covered by risk registers. Ms Woods confirmed that this was the case in that every Business Unit and Department had its own risk register in addition to the corporate risk register. Homes for Haringey was covered by a separate risk management strategy and risk register, but issues relating to housing in terms of the client relationship were covered by the Council’s risk registers under Strategic and Community Housing.

Ms Woods provided the Committee with an update on the mutual insurance situation, and reported that the Council was seeking clarification of the judgement that had been handed down. Ms Woods confirmed that insurance cover was in place, and that terms had been accepted early.

The Chair asked whether the list of risks over which the Council had no control at paragraph 4.2 of the Risk Management Strategy was exhaustive. Ms Woods confirmed that it would not be possible to compile an exhaustive list, and that the wording of the paragraph would be amended to make explicit that it was not an exhaustive list. Ms Woods also confirmed that the points covered in 3.4 of the completion of risk registers document had been complied with. The Chair asked who was responsible for monitoring that all the designated officers complied with the controls in place. Ms Woods responded that each business unit was responsible for its own risk register, and that these were regularly reviewed by the departmental management teams. The corporate risk register is reviewed by the Council’s management board. A management process was incorporated into the internal audit plan, so that there was also an independent check that controls were being complied with. Ultimate responsibility for the risk registers lay with the Directors, and dates when each register had last been reviewed were included within the report. Overall responsibility for the monitoring of the risk registers lay with the Director of Corporate Resources.

There being no further comments, it was:

RESOLVED

i.                    That the current position on risk management implementation across the Council be noted and the revised risk management strategy approved.

ii.               That the revised register of corporate business risks be noted and approved.