Issue - meetings

The annual review of the Risk Management Strategy has been conducted by officers. This version incorporates recommendations from our internal auditors (SIAP), and addresses points raised by council members and officers over the last year.

Following consideration, the Committee unanimously resolved to:

(1)       Approve the revisions to the Risk Management Strategy as attached at Appendix 1 to the report.

(2)       Agree to run a workshop with key councillors and officers to review: a) the council’s risk appetite, and b) risk targets, and how these could be applied in practice.

The committee received a report presenting the annual review of the Risk Management Strategy. This review incorporated recommendations from the council’s internal auditors (SIAP), and addressed points raised by council members and officers over the last year.

The following matters were considered:

a)            Responsibility for Strategy. In response to a question from a councillor, the Business Assurance Manager informed the Committee that the Strategy was owned by the Strategy and Resources Committee, but the application of the Strategy would be reviewed by the Audit and Scrutiny Committee through its consideration of corporate performance reporting.

b)            Alignment of risk appetite. In response to a question from the Vice-Chair regarding the methodology and timing for ensuring that both Member and Corporate risk appetite were aligned, theBusiness Assurance Manager informed the Committee that feedback and recommendations from the workshop sessions would be used to inform the next annual review of the Strategy in September/November 2024.

c)            Risk awareness. In response to a question from the Vice-Chair regarding how risk awareness was embedded within the council, the Business Assurance Manager informed the Committee that there were a number of channels detailed within the Strategy. These included: Committee Risk Registers which were reviewed at each Policy Committee Chair’s meeting, quarterly reviews of corporate risks undertaken by the Audit and Scrutiny Committee and provision within the council’s project management toolkit. In addition, the council’s Internal Auditor undertook periodic reviews of risk management arrangements, and the council’s Local Code of Corporate Governance provided details of its risk management arrangements.

Following consideration, the Committee unanimously resolved to:

(1)      Approve the revisions to the Risk Management Strategy as attached at Appendix 1 to the report.

(2)      Agree to run a workshop with key councillors and officers to review: a) the council’s risk appetite, and b) risk targets, and how these could be applied in practice.