Agenda item

To provide the Executive with a status report of the revised Strategic Risk Register as at the end of the first quarter 2020/21.

Decision

That the Council’s strategic risks as at the end of the first quarter 2020/21 be noted by Executive.

None.

An interim report on the status of the strategic risks that the Council faces was presented to the Executive in July 2020. At that time, and as a result of the COVID pandemic, rather than provide the full strategic risk register the report only set out the current thirteen strategic risks.

Since reporting in July 2020 officers had now undertaken a full assessment of those risks in terms of the level of assessed risk (likelihood and impact), target risk scores, control measures in place and mitigating actions required in order to; avoid, seek, modify, transfer or retain the risks.

The outcome of this work had resulted in a refreshed Strategic Risk Register for 2020/21, which reflected the significant change in circumstances in which the Council was now operating and the different challenges and opportunities it faced. This refreshed register, contained in Part B of the agenda, would be performance monitored on a quarterly basis, reported to both the Performance Scrutiny Committee and the Executive.

The Strategic Risk Register currently contained thirteen risk, as follows:

1.    Failure to engage & influence effectively the Council’s strategic partners, council staff and all stakeholders to deliver against e.g. Council’s Vision 2025

2.    Failure to deliver a sustainable Medium Term Financial Strategy (that supports delivery of Vision 2025).

3.    Failure to deliver the Towards Financial Sustainability Programme whilst ensuring the resilience of the Council.

4.    Failure to ensure compliance with statutory duties/functions and appropriate governance arrangements are in place.

5.    Failure to protect the local authority's Vision 2025 due to changing structures and relationships in local government and impact on size, scale and scope of the Council.

6.    Unable to meet the emerging changes required in the Council’s culture, behaviour and skills to support the delivery of the council’s Vision 2020/2025 and the transformational journey to one Council approach.

7.    Insufficient levels of resilience and capacity exist in order to deliver key strategic projects & services within the Council.

8.    Decline in the economic prosperity within the City Centre.

9.    Failure to mitigate against the implications for the Council following the outcome of Brexit.

10.   Failure to deliver key strategic projects.

11.   Failure of the Council’s key contractors and partners to remain sustainable and continue to deliver value for money

12.   Failure to work in partnership to sustain support to vulnerable residents post COVID19.

13.   Failure to put in place safe working practices and social distancing measures to protect officers and service users.

The assessed level of each of these thirteen risks was as follows:

Sound risk management was one way in which the Council ensured that it discharged its functions in accordance with its expressed priorities, as set out in the Vision 2025, and that it did so in accordance with statutory requirements and within a balanced and sustainable budget and MTFS.