Agenda item

The Head of Internal Audit, Anti-Fraud and Assurance submitted a report that introduced the next scheduled strategic risks for the Audit and Governance Committee meeting.

It was noted that the Strategic Risk Register was recently reviewed by the Senior Management Team (SMT) and continued to contain 15 risks.  6 risks were classified as high (red response rating), 9 risks were classified as medium (amber rating).  No risks were classified as low (green rating).

The Executive Director – Public Health and Communities attended the meeting to provide the Committee with a review of the Health Protection Emergency strategic risk.

The Executive Director – Public Health and Communities made particular reference to the following:

·            Action 1 – Health Protection Plans (RAG rating Green) – it was confirmed that Health Protection Plans are reviewed and tested yearly by the Health Protection Board to reflect health protection issues. 

·            Action 2 (RAG rating Green) – it was confirmed that Health Protection Plans are reviewed and agreed by the multiagency Health Protection Board which includes partners from the UK Health Security Agency and the NHS.  It is chaired by the Executive Director of Public Health and Communities.  Multi agency exercises are arranged on a regular basis; the most recent one being held in November 2022 on avian flu.

·            Action 3 (RAG rating Amber) – it was confirmed that debriefs took place after every event to develop lessons learnt.

·            Action 4 (RAG rating Amber) – This was a new action in relation to the UK COVID-19 National Inquiry.  Evidence would be submitted by the Council. 

The Executive Director – Core Services then discussed two strategic risks in relation to Partnership and Collaboration Governance and Emergency Resilience. 

In relation to Partnership and Collaboration Governance, it was noted that work was underway to collect data on the public services which are delivered through partnerships or collaboration.  A report would be presented in February/March 2023 to Cabinet and to the Audit and Governance Committee to set out details of the work undertaken to develop a new corporate framework and guidance to support partnership and collaborative working. 

In the ensuing discussion particular reference was made to the following points:

·            The new corporate framework would ensure that there was a consistent approach with partnerships and collaborations.

·            It was noted that an element of financial monitoring would be included in the framework, potentially at the start and end of the contract to ensure that there were no significant or financial risks to the Council when entering into partnerships and collaborations. 

With regards to Emergency Resilience, the Council would continue to monitor closely its readiness and preparedness for emergency events and review lessons learnt from recent events.  Refresher training had been limited due to the pandemic; however, Heads of Service were skilled-up and were undertaking work around assurance resilience.  Work also continued with the South Yorkshire Emergency Resilience Forum. 

In relation to cyber security, the Council continued to learn lessons from other Councils who had been victims of cyber-attacks. 

The following discussion ensued:

·            The Committee questioned if the Council had commissioned an independent review of its emergency resilience procedures to gain the necessary assurances. 

·            In response, the Head of Internal Audit, Anti-Fraud and Assurance said that Internal Audit could schedule an independent review to be undertaken in future years.  In addition, the Executive Director – Core Services said that he would welcome and support a check and challenge Peer Review from the LGA. 

RESOLVED that Strategic Risk Register report be noted.