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Agenda Item No. 7

 

THE VALE OF GLAMORGAN COUNCIL

 

CABINET: 6TH JUNE, 2018

 

REFERENCE FROM AUDIT COMMITTEE: 1ST MAY, 2018

 

 

“           CORPORATE RISK REGISTER QUARTER 3 UPDATE (MD) –

 

The report noted that there were currently 15 Corporate Risks on the Register as outlined within Annex A of the Register. 

 

Since the last update, one risk had been removed from the Register (Local Development Plan) and two new risks had been added (CR10: Public Buildings Compliance and CR15: Welsh Community Care Information System).

 

Of the 15 Corporate Risks, in terms of risk status, one risk was scored high, one risk was scored medium / high, 11 risks scored medium and two risks scored medium / low in terms of their risk status.

 

In terms of the exceptions the report referred to the following :

 

Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards, with this being reported as high status.  The Risk Summary Report (within Annex A) provided further detail.  

 

Public Buildings Compliance, the risk was scored as 8, giving it a Medium / High status.  This was a newly adopted Corporate Risk that had been added to the Risk Register at the request of the Director of Environment and Housing which was endorsed by Audit Committee on 31st January, 2018.  Good progress had been made during the quarter by putting in place robust controls to further mitigate the risk.

 

These controls included the:

 

  • Successful appointment of a Compliance Officer and two trainees to oversee Corporate Building Compliance across the Council and with Third Sector commissioned providers.
  • Development of an E-form for the collection of compliance data from schools.
  • Development of a spreadsheet of schools that had signed up to an SLA with the Council to manage building compliance on their behalf.
  • Inspection of over 10 school sites to establish their compliance position with appointments made with the majority of the other schools.
  • Production of an inventory for Social Services premises (including those used by commissioned Third Party providers) to identify a clear compliance position was now 90% complete.

 

Safeguarding and Contract Management.  Both the safeguarding risk and the contract management risk remained medium / low (3) in terms of their risk score.

 

The safeguarding risk had a robust set of controls in place that were effectively mitigating against this risk.  The establishment of a corporate-wide policy on safeguarding covering all Council services had provided strategic direction and clearer lines of accountability in terms of its safeguarding practice.  The establishment of the safeguarding hotline had further reinforced the Council’s safeguarding responsibilities by providing staff with a single point of contact to report any safeguarding concerns.  Safeguarding was of the utmost importance and the Council’s approach to safeguarding needed to be regularly reviewed and updated to ensure it could effectively manage the risk. 

 

In relation to contract management risk, the existing controls were proving to be particularly effective.  There had been cross-directorate training on procurement and contract management as part of the Management Competency Framework that to date over 300 staff had attended.  There was regular review of the completion of contractual paperwork and a system had been established for monitoring non-compliance against agreed service targets.  

 

Annex A contained the full Risk Register along with a Risk Summary Report outlining the position of all Corporate Risks.

 

Reputational risks continued to score more highly across the spectrum of corporate risks because they were governed more by the perceptions of the Council’s performance by customers / residents and regulators.  This highlighted how there needed to be a greater focus on controls that could further address the reputational aspects of corporate risks.

 

During the quarter, strong progress had been made in relation to the Risk Management Plans across all aspects of the Register.  In total there were 117 actions currently being monitored via the Register that were linked to a corporate risk.  The majority of these were also actions that were aligned to the delivery of our Corporate Plan priorities.  During Quarter 3 the Council had been able to assign a RAG status to 112 of these mitigating actions.

 

In referring to emerging risks no further risks in this category had been identified during the quarter.  Any emerging risks that had been identified via the Council's Corporate Self-Assessment process would be considered by the Insight Board, CMT and Audit Committee during the next cycle of quarterly reporting (Quarter 4).

 

It was noted that some of the risk assessments in the report were also slightly out of date as the Council was currently working on its Quarter 4 reports.

 

Members referred again to the high risk afforded to the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards, acknowledging that the report advised that although good progress had been made in relation to procurement of independent professional advocacy, alongside the other existing controls they had a limited effect on controlling the demand.

 

Following a query regarding Reshaping Services and its progress, the Head of Performance and Development stated that the Reshaping Services programme was directly related to challenging savings targets which currently clearly remained a risk, but the risk was manageable.  Following a further query as to whether Brexit would have an effect, the Head of Service stated that the current lack of clarity about the Government’s proposals made it difficult to assess.  The Corporate Risk Register would pick up any changes through the Legislative Changes risk already featuring in the Register.

 

The Chairman referred to his concern in relation to the Waste Management service advising that he had received a number of complaints regarding collection of waste and the risk, in his view, was increasing at a considerable rate.  He suggested a review on the risk of waste be presented to the Committee in due course.  The Head of Service, in response, advised that the Council had no option but to comply with Welsh Government Standards as the risks associated with the penalty for failure were considerable.

 

Having fully considered the report it was subsequently

 

RESOLVED –

 

(1)       T H A T the current position of corporate risks, the emerging risk themes and the associated recommendations made by the Corporate Management Team as contained within the report be noted and endorsed.

 

(2)       T H A T the report be referred to Cabinet for consideration and  endorsement.

 

Reasons for decisions

 

(1)       To identify the current position of corporate risks across the Council and highlight any emerging risk themes and issues.

 

(2)       To ensure Cabinet receives an up to date position on the Corporate Risk Register and endorses the recommendations contained within this report.”

 

 

 

Attached as Appendix - Report to Audit Committee: 1st May, 2018