Report of: The Group Finance Director

Purpose of the report: To update the Audit and Governance Committee on corporate and service risks at 30 June 2025.

Recommendation(s): That the Committee resolves to:

1.    Review the risk management report and note its contents.

The Group Finance Director had submitted a report to update the Audit and Governance Committee on corporate and service risks?at?30 June 2025. 

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Roger Martin, the Insurance, Risk Management and Business Continuity Officer, was present to respond to questions.  

The Insurance, Risk Management and Business Continuity Officer provided a summary of the report.  

The Chair and the Committee noted accessibility issues with the spreadsheet data included within the report. The Committee and Member Services Officer and the Insurance, Risk Management and Business Continuity Officer committed to working together to display this is a clearer manner for the next meeting of the Committee in October.  

Councillor Ottino, in relation to page 192, noted that the Council have only limited ability to mitigate flooding and climate change risks, and therefore commented that there will always be high risks noted. It was asked whether it would be possible to view the data of only the risks which the Council can meaningfully address. The Insurance, Risk Management and Business Continuity Officer agreed that some risks noted within the register are outside the council’s control but explained that scoring risks involves consideration of probability and impact which can be managed differently.  

The Chair requested that members be offered some training on interpreting and assessing risk management and the risk registers. The Insurance, Risk Management and Business Continuity Officer committed to facilitating this before the next meeting of the Committee in October.  

Councillor Munkonge made two suggestions. Firstly, in relation to paragraph 13 on page 199 and risk 0056, it was suggested that this be reclassified as a corporate risk, rather than a finance department risk due to its nature. Secondly, it was also commented that work is undertaken to present Excel spreadsheets in a clearer manner. In response, the Insurance, Risk Management and Business Continuity Officer explained that risk 0056 is classified as specific to the finance department because it has been assessed that there is a high level of pressure present for employees of that specific department. The Committee heard that the finance department requested this be included in the risk register, and that senior managers across the Council review this quarterly. The Group Finance Director provided further context on the risk, noting that classifications are a matter of judgement and can be altered. In response to Councillor Harley, The Director of Law, Governance and Strategy and the Insurance, Risk Management and Business Continuity Officer provided context surrounding the assessment of staff burnout risks across wider Council teams. It was explained that whilst the risk is universally present and assessed across the Council, it can be reflected variably through the risk registers as a result of how each team assesses it against other existing issues.  

Councillor Harley queried whether it could be useful for the Committee to be provided with data comparing vacancy numbers and staffing numbers to support their understanding of recruitment and retention issues across the Council. The Director of Law, Governance and Strategy explained that this data could be made available but that it would be of limited use as there are other influencing factors which would not be highlighted through this, such as the increases in workload.   

The Audit and Governance Committee noted the report and requested the Insurance, Risk Management and Business Continuity Officer offer some training on interpreting and assessing risk management and the risk registers for the next meeting.