Agenda item

Ann Wolstencroft, Head of Corporate Service

In the absence of the Head of Corporate Services, the Deputy Chief Executive presented the report, highlighting the new corporate risks added since the last review, and noting that one - Marketing Cheltenham - had been removed and was now regarded as an operational risk.

The Chair suggested that Members work through the register and raise issues on any concerns, starting with new strategic risks:

-       Risk 385, Leisure and Culture Venues – this risk has increased due to the ageing stock and the number of listed buildings.  The Deputy Chief Executive said a structured feasibility study is needed to consider whether the venues are fit for purpose and which direction the council should take, and to work out a coordinated approach.  Members felt that this process should be monitored, and agreed that Overview and Scrutiny was best placed to do this; 

-       Risk 405, Household Recycling Centre – a Member asked why this is on the register as the council has positively decided it cannot spend £1m on the upgrade.  The Deputy Chief Executive said this is currently deemed to be a prolonged closure, the impact of which will be evaluated; it is not a closed risk at the moment, though he agreed that will not move forward for some months;

-       Members accepted three new strategic risks – 404, 406 and 407 - which will be reviewed in February;

-       Risk CH7, void properties – a Member said management of this risk was not only about reducing costs but critically about reducing the list of people waiting for empty properties to become available.  The Deputy Chief Executive said this is a top priority, and housing officers are confident that progress is being made, especially on the longer-term void properties and the need to regularly review and mitigate;

-       Members considered the need to isolate financial risks from human cost – the fact that the council’s purpose is to provide social housing amplifies the risk and added weight should be given accordingly.  The Governance, Risk and Assurance Manager said this will be up for review at the end of the month and can be reassessed, taking Members’ comments into account.  The Deputy Chief Executive said this also links back to procurement, getting contracts in place and quicker turn-round of properties – he will feed this back;

-       Risk 408 Local Government Reorganisation and Risk 410, Devolution: a Member suggested that the score of 16 for Risk 408 felt more appropriate, and the Deputy Chief Executive confirmed that 410 relates to the combined authorities. 

A Member asked whether there could be another filter to differentiate risks over which the council has no or little control, such as the cost of living crisis and devolution.  The Deputy Chief Executive confirmed that this will be a work stream for the Governance, Risk and Assurance Manager in the near future, but said that the council has a proactive role to play in mitigating the effects of the cost of living crisis for its residents, and the risk around devolution would arise from sitting back and waiting for it to happen. The Governance, Risk and Assurance Manager said officers are looking to review how the risk register is put together, trying to maintain a balance between the bigger picture, issues that do not yet specially impact Cheltenham, and the corporate strategy.  She said any suggestions or input will be welcome. She added that accepting a risk, undertaking to reduce it and considering where it should sit on the risk register, will all be built into the process. 

A Member asked if more detail and understanding could be provided on the potential disruption that devolution will cause in certain areas, such as recruitment and retention of staff, saying these matters could need to be addressed individually if they become real problems.  The Deputy Chief Executive agreed, saying staffing was a good example of the need to get the balance right, with some of the workforce wanting to get devolution to be completed as quickly as possible while others prefer to compartmentalise.  He said that from a CBC perspective it is all about the narrative:  the council is considering what devolution actually means and will bring forward a lot more detail about the impact on the organisation and communities in the coming months.