Agenda item

To receive the Corporate Risk Register.

The Committee considered the Corporate Risk Register.  In addition the Deputy Chief Executive took Members through risks that related to his Directorate.

During the discussion of this item the following points were made:

·       There were no new risks. 

·       The Assistant Director highlighted follow up actions taken with regards to three areas previously raised. 

·       More detail had been provided about the Climate Emergency risk.  Members were advised that the internal audit of Climate Emergency was underway, and the Internal Audit team were working in collaboration with Price Waterhouse Cooper.  It was expected that the findings of the audit would be reported to the next Committee meeting.  A query had been raised around carbon accounting, which was a very new area for local authorities.  Options were being looked at around the 2022/23 internal audit plan to provide assurance around that particular specialist area.  Climate Emergency UK, another independent source of assurance, had rated the Council’s Climate Emergency Action Plan as 8^th in the country amongst single tier authorities.  The Deputy Chief Executive added that it had been rated 1^st for governance and development.

·       With regards to the Adult Social Care supplier risk a more detailed description had been provided around the mitigations.

·       With regards to the High Needs Block risk and the delay around the opening of the Winnersh Farm School, which was now due to open in 2023, the impact was being quantified and would continue to be monitored.

·       A correction to the summary matrix was noted.

·       The Deputy Chief Executive provided an update on the financial risks.  The nature of local government finance meant that work was undertaken to mitigate the risks, but additional risks and challenges continued to arise.  The Chief Finance Officer’s report highlighted many of these risks.  There was a significant number of unknowns in terms of impact.  Monitoring and mitigations would continue to be carried out.

·       The level of inflation over the course of the next year and beyond was unknown.  The Council would try to provide for the impact of inflation, in the context of individual schemes and a corporate contingency.  The Deputy Chief Executive emphasised the need for a sufficiency of safeguard but not an over sufficiency.

·       The Adult Social Care reform did not start until October 2023 although onboarding staff to deal with its implications would begin prior to this, so costs would be felt earlier.  The reforms could potentially have an impact on the Council of over £20million a year, although the full impact was not likely to be felt until year 5, suggesting a graduated impact. 

·       The Local Government Finance settlement was another area of uncertainty, which had been received for 2022/23 only.  A longer-term settlement had been expected and would have provided more financial security, which helped the Council’s financial planning.  A strong levelling up agenda was not likely to be favourable to Wokingham, which was the lowest funded unitary.  The Council would continue to make the case for funding.

·       The outcome of the MRP consultation was awaited.  The outcome could mean that the Council could be required to pay back debt, or provide for the repayment of debt, quicker.

·       The Council was in strong financial position, particularly in comparison to some other authorities.  The General Fund indicators were moving in a positive direction.  The only less positive indicator was HRA reserves which were reducing, but were still at a reasonable level.

·       With regards to monitoring performance against the budget, Councillors received the Capital Monitoring reports and Treasury Management reports.  Councillor Sargeant asked what additional monitoring processes were in place.  The Deputy Chief Executive explained that the publicly reported figures were high level.  More frequent and detailed monitoring was carried out, some of which was on a daily basis.

·       Councillor Younis referred to the workforce risk and questioned how confident Officers were that the Council could appoint the right people.  He emphasised the importance of the Council’s workforce to its success.  The Deputy Chief Executive commented that there would always be some challenges around recruitment and a level of interims and agency staff.  It was about managing this to an acceptable level.  Paying at the right level to attract and retain, was important.  Other factors such as the Council being considered a good place to work, were also important.  These factors were part of the work being undertaken as part of the Workplace Imagined Project.

·       Councillor Shepherd-DuBey asked about the likely cost of the delay of the opening of the Winnersh Farm School and was informed that negotiations with the Department of Education were in progress.

·       Councillor Shenton commented that one of the actions required regarding the Climate Emergency risk was a behaviour change leading to increased public transport usage.  Public transport usage was down on pre pandemic levels and working from home had increased.  Bus operators could potentially say that existing services or routes could not be maintained without further financial contribution from the Council.  He questioned whether this had been taken into consideration for the risk level for Climate Emergency.  The Deputy Chief Executive stated that this was a big emerging issue.  There was likely to be Government consideration as to how public transport would be supported going forwards.  The Council would need to keep this issue under review and work with the Government and partners. 

·       Councillor Shepherd-DuBey questioned whether increased construction costs and the impact of this on capital projects had been considered under the financial risks and was informed that this was part of the considerations around inflation.

·       In response to a question from Councillor Ross, the Deputy Chief Executive commented that many local authorities were far less financially resilient, and problems would reveal themselves elsewhere, earlier.

RESOLVED:  That the risks and mitigating actions of the Corporate Risk register be noted.