The Interim Chief Officer – Finance, Performance and Change presented a report which updated the Committee on the changes to the Corporate Risk Assessment, in accordance with the Council's risk management timeline contained in the Council's Risk Management Policy.

She explained that the Corporate Risk Assessment at Appendix 1 had been reviewed in consultation with CMB, and Cabinet and Corporate Management Board (CCMB). It identified the main risks facing the Council, their link to the corporate well-being objectives under the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015, the likely impact of these risks on Council services and the wider County Borough, identifies what is being done to manage the risks and who is responsible for the Council’s response.

She advised that Table 1 of the report outlined the amendments to the Corporate Risk Assessment which detailed risks 1 through 16. The de-escalated risks will be removed from the Corporate Risk Assessment going forward. 3 of the risks will be de-escalated to the appropriate directorate registers and the proposed merger of the two risks following approval of the Governance and Audit Committee. the Corporate Risk Assessment will then have 11 risks.

She added that 7 of the risks were classified as a high risk, 3 were scored as medium, and 1 was scored as low.

The Lay Member questioned the rationale on moving Risk 3 to directorate level, which was based on compliance with legislation. She believed that this remained a corporate risk, particularly as the new Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021 she believed was a corporate concern.

The Interim Chief Officer – Finance, Performance and Change stated that the rationale behind moving this to directorate risk was that the Council was compliant with the legalisation . She did not believe that the Council was at any risk of non-compliance as there was no evidence to suggest this. With regards to the Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act, this was indeed a corporate issue, but the details on putting plans in place were given to directorates to resolve.

The Chairperson asked in relation to risk 3, had the scoring decreased for it prior to the risk being de-escalated to directorate level. The Deputy Head of Finance explained that in the summer of 2021, an internal audit took place and one of the recommendations was to try and harmonise the directorate risk registers with the corporate risk register. Risk management guidance had been developed to try and make the process of escalation and de-escalation more streamlined.

The Lay Member mentioned in terms of recording the risk management she had observed 3 of the risks having internal audit reviews. She asked that this be specifically referred to when recording the risks and action that had been taken.

The Lay Member asked in relation to risk 12, was there additional funding available for this, and if so, could this be recorded along with the risk.

The Interim Chief Officer – Finance, Performance and Change explained that there was some additional funding available for some of the issues raised in risk 12 and agreed to update this risk to give a fuller picture.

A Member mentioned in terms of struggling to acquire contractors as mentioned in the report on DFGs, this issue did not fit into any of the risks but she believed it was a corporate risk. The Interim Chief Officer – Finance, Performance and Change explained that this was indeed a risk but had recently emerged. Previous struggles had been managed and therefore it was an issue that was being kept an eye on for the time being.

RESOLVED: That the Committee considered the updated Corporate Risk Assessment 2021-22 (Appendix 1) and agreed to receive a further report in January 2022 as part of the review of the 2022-23 Corporate Risk Assessment and the Corporate Risk Management Policy.