Agenda item

Report of the Director of Finance and Resources

The Audit and Procurement Committee considered a report of the Director of Finance and Resources, the purpose of which was to provide the Committee with the outcome of the review of the Corporate Risk Register 2024-25.  This provided the Committee with an overview of the Council’s corporate risk profile and the controls in place to address these risks.

The Audit and Procurement Committee’s Terms of Reference required the Committee to monitor the effective development and operation of risk management within the Council.  The Council’s Risk Management Policy identified that the Committee would receive an annual risk management report.

The Corporate Risk Register should identify the risk that threaten the successful implementation of the Corporate Risk Register 204-25.

The Grant Thornton value for money report recommended that the Corporate Risk Register be reviewed by the Audit and Procurement Committee on a more regular basis and this had now been reviewed in consultation with the Leadership Team and the allocated Risk Owner.  It identified the main risks facing the Council, the impact of the risk, the inherent risk score before risk mitigation, the risk mitigations, the risk score after the mitigations were applied and where responsibility lay for the Council’s response.  In addition, a further column had been added identifying what the risk score was when the Committee last received a report in March 2023.

There were some changes to the Corporate Risk Register from the previous report to Members.

Risks added:

·  Risk 33 – Equal pay claims and the impact on budgets and the delivery of services

·  Risk 34 – Successful investments in companies

·  Risk 35 – The threat of Cyber-attack to the delivery of One Coventry priorities (previously covered under Risk 3, but of sufficient threat to warrant its own risk)

·  Risk 36 – Managing any loss of reputation and public trust

The following residual risk score had remained the same however, the inherent risk score had changed:

·  Risk 1 – inability to deliver a balanced budget in the medium term.  The inherent risk score had increased from 20 to 25.

·  Risk 25 – education and the link to inequalities.  The inherent risk score had increased from 12 to 16.

The following risks had decreased residual risk scores:

·  Risk 21 – Business growth and investment.  The inherent risk score had reduced from 16 to 9 and the residual risk score from 9 to 4.

·  Risk 22 – Children’s Services. Workforce Stability.  The residual risk score had reduced from 20 to 16.

·  Risk 28 – A deterioration in industrial/employee relations affects Council’s ability to deliver vital services.  The inherent risk score had reduced from 25 to 16 and the residual risk score from 16 to 12.

·  Risk 29 – The continued implementation of the Elections Act 2022.  The residual risk score had reduced from 20 to 15.

For the following risks, the residual risk scores had increased:

·  Risk 26 – increases in demand for specialist school placements for children with an Education Health and Care Plan.  The residual risk score had increased from 9 to 16.

·  Risk 31 – A Council that made thoughtful, well researched and robust business case backed commercial investments to derive additional sustainable income streams to the Council, so that it had additional funds to provide services to residents, deliver policy priorities, and achieve its One Coventry Plan through being more financially robust.  The residual risk score increased from 6 to 9.

It was proposed that the Corporate Risk Register was reviewed by the Audit and Procurement Committee next in September 2024.

Members asked questions and received assurances at the meeting from officers on matters that included: equal pay claims, reasons for high risk scores and the process of risks onto the Corporate Risk Register.

RESOLVED that the Audit and Procurement Committee:

1. Note the current Corporate Risk Register, indicating that they had satisfied themselves that corporate risks were being identified and managed.
2. Approve the bringing of a further risk management report to the Audit and Procurement Committee in September 2024.