Agenda item

The Corporate Risk Register is reviewed and updated in line with the requirements of the Council’s Risk Management Framework.

Quarterly updates reflecting revisions are reported to the Audit and Governance Committee, this report highlights the changes since the last update.

It is proposed that the Committee considers and notes the revised Corporate Risk Register.

[20 minutes]

Upon the invitation of the Chair, the Finance & Risk Manager introduced the report explaining it provided the quarterly update on the Corporate Risk Register. High risks were reviewed quarterly, and there had also been some updates to the medium risks. Appendix 3 contained the Corporate Risk Register Summary, which highlighted any changes to the scores and any additions to the register. Pages 92 – 112 contained the detailed risk register entries, where updates were also highlighted. At its meeting in November, the Committee requested an enhanced update on 3 of the risks, which was included as Appendix 4.

On behalf of the Group Head of Housing, who was unable to be at the meeting, the Group Head of Finance and Section 151 Officer presented the CRR1-B Balance of Housing Revenue Account (HRA) written update (page 113). He explained that a report to the Housing and Wellbeing Committee in November had forecasted that the HRA reserve balance would fall to under £1million by the end of the financial year, however this situation had now worsened and it was forecast to fall to around £550k. This reserve was expected to build up to around £1million by the end of 2024/25, however there was clearly risk involved with this. Members would receive frequent updates around this, and the risk would remain on the Corporate Risk Register and be discussed by CMT until it was resolved. Several action plans had been put into place including generating more income from service charges; an ongoing review of some of the financing costs charged to the HRAs; looking to improve the procurement processes around housing that would achieve a better value for money service. There was money in the proposed budget for planned and cyclical maintenance which was hoped would offer better value for money for customers and reduce repair costs in the long term.

Members were invited to ask questions and it was asked whether Officers had confidence the reserves would rise up to £1million by the end of the financial year. The Group Head of Finance and Section 151 Officer thought this was achievable and felt it was a robust budget, however acknowledged there were elements of risk, as they were working to financial forecasts which were subject to change. The Group Head of Housing was aware of all issues and was reporting regularly to Housing and Wellbeing Committee and Policy and Finance Committee.

A verbal update on CRR2 - Organisational Capacity to Deliver was deferred to the next Committee meeting. One Member wished it to be recorded that he was awaiting a response from the Group Head of Environment and Climate Change regarding concerns around Business Continuity, and he wished CMT to consider whether Business Continuity failure should be added as an effect of the issue of training, within CRR2.

Another Member highlighted that flexible working (page 94) should be encouraged and it was felt this attract many talented working parents.

The Climate Change and Sustainability Manager went through his enhanced written update on CRR7 – Climate Change, highlighting that Supporting Our Environment to Support Us was one of the four pillars of the Council Vision.

Members were then invited to ask questions and the following points were raised:

• Page 100 mentioned providing support for the Sussex Kelp Project, and an update was requested on this and whether there was opportunity to engage with the development of this. An update would be provided to the Member after the meeting.
• Page 98 talked about development of climate related training for Officers which was mandatory, and one Member felt this should be mandatory for Members as well as Officers.
• Page 100 talked about vehicle charging points and it was noted it was becoming difficult for electricity suppliers to provide power to these, and suggested Officers liaise with these companies regarding the infrastructure. An update would be provided to the Member after the meeting.

The Committee noted the report.