Issue - meetings

Report of the Head of Audit and Risk Management to 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.

Anne Woods, Head of Audit and Risk Management, presented a report on the current position on risk management. Ms Woods advised the Committee of progress in inputting risk registers onto the new performance management system, and reported that risk registers from Corporate Resources, PPP&C and ACCS had been uploaded in the first quarter and officers trained in the use of the system. By the end of quarter 2, the risk registers for all departments would be uploaded onto the new system and officers would have received training. Ms Woods noted that as a result of structural changes within the Council, the risk register for the Enforcement business unit was now contained within Frontline Services, and the risk register for Neighbourhood Management was now incorporated into Safer Communities. In response to a question from the Chair, it was confirmed that these structural changes were the reason for the total number of risk registers having reduced from 34 to 32.

The Chair noted that, in the audit report for Area Based Grants, it was reported that there was no risk register for the HSP and asked for further details regarding this. Ms Woods responded that it had been found that, while a risk register was in place for each of the underlying HSP Thematic Boards, there had been no risk register for the HSP Board as a whole. Ms Woods reported that an overall HSP Board risk register had now been produced and approved by the Performance Management Group, and would be ratified by the HSP Board at its next meeting.

Referring to the annual Audit and Inspection letter, the Chair asked for a response on the comment that the Council’s corporate risk register did not include the risk of fraud occurring. Ms Woods responded that the risk of fraud had been formally included on the Council’s corporate risk register since January 2009.

The Chair urged that it was essential for the Chief Financial Officer’s comments on the report to confirm that Risk Management was being adequately managed in the Council, and it was agreed that this would be reflected more explicitly in future reports. 

RESOLVED

That the implementation of the risk management strategy across the Council be noted.