BASILDON BOROUGH COUNCIL CORPORATE RISK MANAGEMENT UPDATE. Commissioning Director for Corporate Support

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1 BASILDON BOROUGH COUNCIL Report to: Audit and Risk Committee 14 November 2012 CORPORATE RISK MANAGEMENT UPDATE Report by: Commissioning Director for Corporate Support Enquiries to: Paula Mills, Manager of Audit & Risk, on Enclosures: None EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The purpose of this report is to update the Committee on the progress of work undertaken by the Corporate Risk Management Team and the Audit & Risk Committee s Risk Management Working Group. STRATEGIC IMPROVEMENT PLAN AIMS: Value for Money WARD(S): All Wards RECOMMENDATION: 1. That the progress of the Corporate Risk Management Team be noted; 2. That the progress of the Risk Management Working Group be noted; and 3. That the progress of the operational risk management projects and groups be noted. BACKGROUND The Terms of Reference for the Committee include a number of specific responsibilities in relation to risk including to review arrangements for Strategic Risk Management and monitor the key corporate risks. This report is part of a regular series presented to the Audit & Risk Committee to facilitate Members in fulfilling this aspect of their role, in addition to updating Members on the work of the Corporate Risk Management (CRM) Team, the Risk Management Working Group and the progress of operational risk management initiatives.

2 Risk Management Working Group At the meeting of the last Audit & Risk Committee on 26 July 2012 it was agreed that the Working Group would meet on three occasions over the course of the year to examine and bring challenge to a number of key risk areas. The final programme of risk areas to be reviewed was to be agreed at the first meeting, which would also have included a detailed risk management training session in order to prepare Members for the future challenge sessions. It is unfortunate that the two Working Group meetings planned for September and October were cancelled due to unforeseeable circumstances; however, these meetings will be reconvened in December 2012 and January Meanwhile, the CRM Team will continue to monitor the key risks accordingly and bring to the attention of the Working Group any concerns for further scrutiny when the group reconvenes. Due to the change in programme it will no longer be relevant for the Working Group to review the risks associated with the Pantomime, however, the Audit & Risk Committee can be assured that the CRM Team will work closely with the Manager of Leisure Services to manage the risks and opportunities associated with this event. Project & Partnership Risk Management The CRM Team is currently working closely with Regeneration Services to capture the key risks and opportunities associated with the Pitsea Regeneration Project and these will be added to the corporate risk register and monitored throughout the duration of the project. The CRM Team are also supporting the relevant service areas with the successful implementation and delivery of a new Human Resources IT system. This has been a large scale project involving several Council services and the external system provider Midlands. The CRM Team have been involved from the initial stages of the project and continue to provide support to the project board in managing and monitoring project risks and opportunities, this includes working closely with the provider to establish potential risks in relation to the contract and service provision. The Council s recently established Transformation Team is now fully established and as such, the CRM Team is continually liaising with them to embed risk management effectively within the services provided by the Transformation Team. The Manager of the Transformation Team has given assurance that risk management will be an integral part to all areas of the service and as such, the CRM Team is to be consulted on all proposed projects and initiatives. In addition to this the CRM Team will have full access to Verto, the new performance management system specifically procured for transformation related projects. Single Status has progressed significantly over recent months and the CRM Team has been heavily involved in this project from the initiation stages to date and have been monitoring project risks closely and will continue to work closely with the lead project officers to ensure the appropriate management of any new risks or issues that may arise. The CRM Team have recently developed, with the Community Safety Team, a risk profile which details the risks associated with the Council s involvement within the Community Safety Partnership. This risk profile is wide ranging and relates to many Council services.

3 Similarly, an additional risk profile will be developed for the Council s involvement within the Basildon Renaissance Partnership (BRP) and the CRM Team will work closely with the lead BRP officers to identify key risks and opportunities. Benchmarking During 2012/13 the Council again participated in the ALARM/CIPFA Risk Management Survey in order to benchmark the current level of service provided against other Local Authorities. In summary, the current year s results showed that for the majority of areas within risk management, Basildon is embedding and integrating risk management at all levels of the organisation and is above average or working at the same level as other Authorities, specifically in relation to leadership and management, policy and strategy, people, processes and outcomes and delivery. The Council are performing at the highest level and well above average in relation to partnerships, the use of joint risk registers with key partners being a major advantage in this area of risk. Scores were only below average with regard to risk handling and assurance; this may be due to the further work required by the CRM Team in ensuring that managers are confident in using risk management to deliver outcomes in an effective and cost effective manner. A detailed action plan will be completed, based on these results, which will address any areas for improvement, assist in driving the service forward and will also inform the 2013/14 Service Business Plan. Further updates on the action plan and outcomes of this year s survey will be brought to the Committee at future meetings. Covalent Covalent, the Council s corporate performance management system has been in place for a year and to date, has proved to be a very successful tool in managing the Council s corporate performance. Risk management is embedded within the quarterly Corporate Performance Reports which are reviewed at Departmental Management Team (DMT) challenge sessions, whereby Heads of Service and the service managers discuss the top level risks for their service area. Subsequent to these sessions a corporate performance report is produced and presented to the Corporate Management Team (CMT) which details the Council s corporate key risks for review and challenge. It is the intention of the CRM Team to attend future DMT meetings to further embed risk management effectively, whilst challenging Heads of Service and service managers on their key service risks. This will certainly assist in addressing the areas for improvement highlighted in the benchmarking exercise. The Council s Corporate Generic risk profile has been reviewed and updated at a recent Senior Management Team meeting which resulted in some minor amendments to the risk profile. These amendments have been reflected on Covalent and will be presented to the Risk Management Working Group in the New Year. To allow the CRM Team to be more sophisticated in the delivery of the service and to be involved in top level corporate projects, Managers have been encouraged through risk workshops and s to take a proactive role in the management of service risk profiles. In addition, the Manager of Audit & Risk discussed the importance of risk management at an Operational Management Team meeting and issued a briefing paper outlining the role of the CRM Team and reaffirm managers responsibilities in terms of risk management.

4 In general, managers are using Covalent successfully to update risk profiles. However, the CRM still have to encourage and support managers in this regard. Therefore, the CRM Team will continue to provide training and encourage managers to use Covalent more effectively. The recent corporate restructure required substantial changes to Covalent to ensure the risk information recorded on Covalent is reflective of the new structure and that each risk is under the ownership of the correct Head of Service and Service Manager. The CRM Team have completed this exercise and all risk information on Covalent is now recorded under the correct ownerships. Operational Risk Management Projects, Initiatives and Groups It was previously reported to the Committee that the Council has an annual Operational Risk Management budget of 50,000, which is used to fund operational projects that will reduce future risk to the Council. Departments are encouraged to bid for funding for such projects whilst identifying the areas of risk that will be reduced. The scheme is currently funding seventeen different initiatives across the Council relating to the prevention of a wide variety of risks, such as reducing the risk of employees injuring themselves to preventing system errors from occurring. Of these seventeen projects, five have been completed, with the remainder expecting to be completed by the end of the financial year. The Insurance and Corporate Risk Management Teams also facilitate officer working groups and specific operational risk projects; currently they are working closely with relevant departments to address the increase in motor vehicle claims. An initiative in relation to establishing improved inspection regimes for all Council owned land is also being undertaken, which will assist with the prevention of incidents occurring in the future and with the defence of any subsequent insurance claims. Further updates on the progress and outcomes of this work will be brought to the Committee at future meetings. LEGISLATION/POLICY There is an implicit statutory requirement for risk management and this is supported by the CIPFA/SOLACE Guidance on Corporate Governance upon which the Council s Member approved Code of Governance and Risk Management Policy & Strategy are based. GENERAL INFORMATION Financial Implications There are no financial implications arising from this report. The cost of funding operational risk management projects is covered by existing budgets. Risk Management Implications Relevant risks and opportunities in connection with this matter have been considered and are referred to in the body of the report, as appropriate.

5 Inclusion, Diversity and Community Cohesion Implications The Risk Management Policy & Strategy have been subject to a Service Impact Assessment. The concept of Risk Management and the implementation of robust Risk Management procedures serve to assist in the provision of positive outcomes to all sections of the community. Other Relevant Considerations All considerations are covered in the report. Background Papers None