Policy & Resources Committee

26 April 2017

Is the final decision on the recommendations in this report to be made at this meeting?

Yes

 

Risk Management Update

 

Final Decision-Maker

Policy & Resources Committee

Lead Head of Service

Russell Heppleston – Deputy Head of Audit Partnership

Lead Officer and Report Author

Russell Heppleston – Deputy Head of Audit Partnership

Classification

Public

Wards affected

All

 

 

This report makes the following recommendations to this Committee:

1.   We ask the Committee to note and provide comments on the corporate risks facing the Council and the measures in place for their management.

 

 

This report relates to the following corporate priorities:

 

·         Keeping Maidstone Borough an attractive place for all

·         Securing a successful economy for Maidstone Borough

 

The risk register spans all issues facing the Council that may impede or delay achievement of its corporate priorities.

 

 

Timetable

Meeting

Date

Corporate Leadership Team

04 April 2017

Policy & Resources Committee

26 April 2017



Risk Management Update

 

 

1.        PURPOSE OF REPORT AND EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

 

1.1      The purpose of this report is to inform the Committee on the work conducted to update the corporate level risks for Maidstone, and to present further plans to develop the risk management processes for the Council as we move into 2017/18.

 

 

2.        INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND

 

2.1     In July 2015 the Policy and Resource Committee approved the revised risk management framework, and agreed to the creation of a comprehensive risk register.

 

2.2     The risk management framework includes the principle that the key risks will be reported to Corporate Leadership Team quarterly for review and consideration, and bi-annually to Committee. Our last update to this committee was in October 2016.

 

2.3     Since our last update, we have met with risk owners to update and refresh the corporate risks to reflect changes as they have occurred over the year. We have also updated the existing controls and captured key planned controls. This has enabled most of the risks to be re-assessed to now include a residual risk score. These planned controls show the mitigations to manage the impact and likelihood of the risks.

 

2.4     The attached report – appendix A – provides the detailed extract from the risk register and highlights changes to risks scores.

 

2.5     In addition, in recognition that risk management is a continuous process, we set out in the report our key actions for 2017/18 to further enhance and embed the risk management arrangements for the Council. This includes a refresh of the corporate level risks with Members and Officers to ensure alignment of risks with the updated Strategic Plan 2015-2020

 

 

 

 

3.        AVAILABLE OPTIONS

 

3.1     The purpose of this report is to inform Members of the key risks arising from the risk management process, and the measures being taken by the Council to manage the risk impact and likelihood. As this report is not seeking a decision, and is for comment, there are no alternative options suggested.

 

 

 

4.        PREFERRED OPTION AND REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS

 

4.1     As this report is not seeking a decision, there are no preferred options / recommendations suggested.

 

 

5.       CONSULTATION RESULTS AND PREVIOUS COMMITTEE FEEDBACK

 

5.1     This report has been through Corporate Leadership Team, and the risks and responses detailed were compiled following consultation with risk owners.

 

 

6.       NEXT STEPS: COMMUNICATION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE DECISION

 

6.1     The next steps for the continued embedding of the risk management process are set out in Appendix A.

 

6.2    In accordance with the previous recommendation, risk update reports will come to this Committee every 6 months (twice a year).

 

 

 

7.       CROSS-CUTTING ISSUES AND IMPLICATIONS

 

Issue

Implications

Sign-off

Impact on Corporate Priorities

Good governance underpins everything the Council does. Risk management is a vital component to the governance framework.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Russell Heppleston

 

Deputy Head of Audit Partnership

 

Risk Management

Risk management is the focus of this paper

Financial

There are no direct financial implications to this report.

Staffing

There are no staffing implications to this report.

Legal

There are no legal implications associated with this report.

Equality Impact Needs Assessment

Not applicable

Environmental/Sustainable Development

Not applicable

Community Safety

Not applicable

Human Rights Act

Not applicable

Procurement

Not applicable

Asset Management

Not applicable

8.        REPORT APPENDICES

 

The following documents are to be published with this report and form part of the report:

·         Appendix A: Risk Management Update

 

 

9.        BACKGROUND PAPERS

 

The previous update was reported to Policy and Resources Committee in October 2016 and is publically available on the Council’s website.

 

The risk management framework (detailed guidance) was reported to Policy and Resources Committee in February 2016 and is publically available on the Council’s website.