Agenda item

The Head of Internal Audit, Anti-Fraud and Assurance submitted a report providing a summary of the risk management activity over the last 12 months which contributed to the assurances the Committee required as part of the Annual Governance Statement process.  The report also took a forward look at the work planned for the current financial year.

The new risk management system went “live” on 7th May 2021 and had now been operational for 2 years. Throughout the last year further support had been given by the Corporate Governance and Assurance Manager and Officer to colleagues across the Council.

The following key points were discussed:

·        The new risk management system was designed and operated by Service areas which has created less dependency on a central team.

·        All BUs have added their risk registers onto the Risk Management System and were encouraged to review and proactively update these in their management teams on a quarterly basis.

·        Strategic Risks were reviewed on a quarterly basis by SMT. SMT also determined whether there are any other issues, concerns or areas of focus that need to be added or removed from the register.

·        Strategic risks would continue to be reported via the Audit and Governance Committee.

·        Revised risk management training materials would be developed on the POD system. This training would include information about the Council’s approach to risk management and the Risk Management System.

·        A corporate assessment of the Council’s risk maturity would be undertaken in the next year. This would provide another level of assurance on the Council’s risk management approach.

RESOLVED that the Committee considered the report as a contribution to the Committee’s assurances regarding the Council’s governance arrangements.