Issue - meetings

To receive a report from the Corporate Performance and Improvement Manager and Head of People, Performance & Waste providing a quarterly update on the Corporate Risk Register.

The Committee had before it, and NOTED, a report * from the Corporate Performance and Improvement Manager and the Head of People, Performance & Waste reviewing the Corporate Risk Register.

The following was highlighted within the report:

·       The report presented the Council's current corporate risks with their updated position as of May this year. These were the risks which were most likely to impact the Council meeting its objectives.

·       At paragraph 2.1 of the report, there was a summary table of the 16 corporate risks that the Council was currently managing. The risk matrix or heat map showed the relative position of the corporate risks. Appendix 2 of the report provided further details for each risk in a standard template.

·       Any significant changes to the risk register since it was last reported to the Committee were listed in the covering report at paragraph 2.3.

·       An audit conducted by Devon Assurance Partnership had reached the opinion of ‘Reasonable Assurance’ when considering the Council's approach to risk management.

·       Risk reference CR9A: ‘The reputational impact of Three Rivers’, had been removed in May 2025. The company undertook no operational activities in 2024/25 and was formally dissolved on the 26th of November 2024. All asset liabilities were transferred to the Council during the 2024 financial year. As such, it has been decided that this corporate risk could now be removed. Any updates on the assets transferred to the Council would be made in the standard financial performance reports that were received by the Cabinet.

Discussion took place regarding:

·       The appendices detailed the mitigating actions in relation to each risk. The Committee was encouraged to add to the Risk Register if they considered it necessary.

·       The risk rating in relation to Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) was currently quite high at 20. It was explained that this was due to the fact that LGR was not in the Council’s control to determine. A number of proposals were emerging and these would be evaluated by the Government. The Council was blind to what the final outcome would be. Consequently there was a risk to ongoing service delivery.

·       The importance of engaging with town and parish council’s at every step of the LGR journey.

·       Cyber Security was perhaps the most significant risk the Council faced. The Council had recently received a national Government Cyber Security Audit which had resulted in a detailed action plan in terms of what the Council needed to do. The Deputy Chief Executive (S151 Officer) stated that he would be happy to share the details of this action plan with the Committee but it would need to be under Part II arrangements due to the obvious nature of the subject matter. The Council was also networking with national and local partners regarding this issue to ensure best practice.

·       Whether it had been too premature to remove the ‘Reputational Risk of 3 Rivers’ from the Risk Register? It was explained that the company was now dissolved and now presented the Council with a property risk  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9