Agenda item

The Director of One West presented the report which gave an overview of the strategy and framework.  He stated that governance was one of the key pillars of assurance alongside performance and financial management.  A strategy was in place with a risk register, integrated risk framework and decision-making guidance.  There was formal CMT (Corporate Management Team) oversight quarterly on the Corporate Risk Register and CMT met on a fortnightly basis, so escalation of issues and risks was able to be made at short notice.  Strong levels of assurance were available to the Council with both internal and external audit alongside the role of the Corporate Audit Committee. 

He outlined the key risk framework and governance processes – these included a corporate risk register, a register for all directorates, all major projects, an escalation policy, performance surgeries, a corporate risk management steering group and a risk management Teams site.  He confirmed roles and responsibilities were clear and the Council had key layers of accountability which included statutory officers, such as the Head of Paid Service, Section 151 Officer and Monitoring Officer.  Member roles included the Audit Committee covering strategy and framework, Scrutiny Panels who could look at thematic and focussed issues and Cabinet who had overall accountability.

During Members’ questions the following issues arose:

·  Individual risks (themes) could be reviewed in detail by scrutiny panels and the strategy and framework would come to Corporate Audit Committee for consideration (Councillor Sam Ross);

·  there was no software to help so the register was on Excel and it would outline red risks, new issues and how long items had been there, improvements to metrics and high level reporting was still needed (Councillor Malcolm Treby);

·  previously the risk register had come to Audit Committee but had also been reported to Corporate Scrutiny Panel on which 2 previous members of Corporate Audit Committee sat (Councillor Lucy Hodge);

·  it was agreed there was opportunity to build stronger links between Corporate Audit and Scrutiny in order to provide more integrated assurance over key risks;

·  it was confirmed that any areas of concern or significant concern could be minuted and then raised by the Chair with the Chairs of the appropriate panel, officers would check there was no duplication. Chairs of the scrutiny panels ultimately chose what issues went onto their individual workplan.  It was confirmed that officers were involved with Corporate Audit and scrutiny;

·  there seemed to be a robust system in place and there was both an escalation and de-escalation policy through the corporate management team (John Barker Independent Member).

The meeting went on to discuss the Corporate Risk Register and raised the following issues:

·  The DSG (Direct Schools Grant) and safety valve were highlighted as a red risk and climate change adaptation was challenging as there was so much to do;

·  landlord responsibilities was noted as a previous area the Committee had focussed on following internal audit reviews;

·  the demand for CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services) had increased significantly since COVID and these were acknowledged within the Childrens Services risks (Councillor David Biddleston);

·  Being our Best referred to a range of themes around greater jobs, smarter structures and a culture of excellence, currently significant work on restructuring was ongoing but this was confirmed as a management issue.  Members’ roles were to look at outcomes.

RESOLVED

1)  To note the report; and

2)  to consider and provide any feedback and observations to further develop good practice for our next Strategy Review.