Agenda item

(Director of Resources) To consider the attached report (AGC-019-2017/18).

The Assistant Director of Resources (Accountancy) presented a report on the effectiveness of the arrangements for Risk Management within the Council.

The Assistant Director reminded the Committee that its terms of reference included the consideration of the effectiveness of the Council’s Risk Management arrangements. This contrasted with the role of the Finance & Performance Management Cabinet Committee, which was to advise and make recommendations to the Cabinet on Risk Management and Insurance issues. The internal arrangements for Risk Management had not changed during the year. Each Directorate had a nominated ‘Champion’ for Risk Management who represented their Directorate at meetings of the Risk Management Group. All Directorates were required to have a section on Risk Management in their Business Plans and have a standing item regarding Risk Management on the agenda of their management team meetings. This was to ensure that Directorate Risk Registers and Action Plans were regularly monitored.

The Director stated that, at the corporate level, the Risk Management Group met quarterly to discuss issues and recommend alterations for the Corporate Risk Register to the Corporate Governance Group. The Corporate Governance Group considered the proposed changes from the Risk Management Group and undertook a separate review of the Corporate Risk Register to ensure that there were not any further risks for inclusion. Recommendations for updating the Corporate Risk Register were then considered by the Finance & Performance Management Cabinet Committee before being recommended for approval by the Cabinet. The key updates to the Corporate Risk Register during 2017/18 were outlined for the benefit of the Committee.

The Director advised the Committee that the internal audit of Risk Management in 2015/16 had been given a rating of substantial assurance. There was just one recommendation that was scored as a priority 2 and this had now been actioned. In addition, there would be an amendment to the Risk Register for Risk 1, Local Plan, to incorporate the Judicial Review and the subsequent revision of dates, plus the risk in relation to the Waste Management Contract would also be reviewed in light of the recent decision by the Chinese Government to increase the quality of imported recycled materials.

In respect of the Transformation Programme, the Chairman felt that a report should be submitted to the Committee on the risks to the Council from the ongoing changes at the top tiers of management and reassuring the Committee that Epping Forest was still a strong Council with strong leadership. Cllr Jennings also wanted reassurance that the newly appointed staff to the statutory positions were appropriately qualified and skilled.

The Assistant Director of Governance responded that the Council was still in a state of flux regarding the senior management restructure, and there would be a further report at the next meeting of the Cabinet. D Macnab was now in post as Acting Chief Executive, and the Heads of Service would replace the current Assistant Directors; it was always envisaged that the Section 151 Officer and Monitoring Officer would be at this (Head of Service) level. The new Section 151 and Monitoring Officers had both been properly appointed and were attending meetings of both the Management Board and Corporate Governance Group: P Maddock was a qualified Accountant and S Hill had previously been the Deputy Monitoring Officer. The Council was now considering the delegated authorities within the Constitution for the two Directors who had left the Council, and there would be further reports on this matter to subsequent Cabinet meetings in 2018. The Chairman commented that it was rare for the Monitoring Officer to not have a Legal qualification; but the Assistant Director of Governance reassured the Committee that he had access to internal and external advice, and the Council was liable for any costs incurred to support the Monitoring Officer in the discharge of their duties.

The Vice-Chairman was disappointed that certain high profile, recent events at other Councils, such as the failure to deal with an emergency incident and an increase in thefts, had not been referred to and considered when the Council’s Risk Register was reviewed. The Assistant Director of Resources reassured the Committee that these type of risks would normally appear in the individual Directorate Risk Registers, and the Council was aware of these category of incidents. The Committee queried whether it was appropriate to have all of the risks in relation to the Transformation Programme under a single umbrella, or whether there should be separate risks for some of the higher profile projects. The Assistant Director of Resources explained that there was a separate Risk Register for each individual project in the Transformation Programme, but this arrangement could be reviewed as part of the regular monitoring of the risks facing the Council and perhaps consideration could be given to the People Strategy and Accommodation Review being listed separately within the Risk Register.

Resolved:

(1)        That the arrangements for Risk Management within the Council be considered effective; and

(2)        That the following items be considered and reviewed by Officers to provide the Committee with further reassurance concerning the effectiveness of the arrangements for Risk Management within the Council:

            (a)        the continued strong leadership of the Council following the recent Senior             Management changes;

            (b)        support for the Monitoring Officer; and

            (c)        the treatment of the risks associated with the wider Transformation Programme.