Issue - meetings

The Head of Strategic Finance and Property introduced the report. He said that there were no significant changes in risk/ the risk register since the last meeting of the Committee.

The Chairman said that it was an excellent report, and asked about the risk of cyber-attacks. The Head of Strategic Finance and Property said that mandatory cyber training had been introduced for all Council staff and Members. He emphasized the importance of this response and encouraged all to complete the training by 8 April 2022.

The Chairman referred to the matrix of risks contained within the report and asked about the certainty of several of the Council’s most significant risks. The Head of Strategic Finance and Property said that the risk of poor performance by a key partner or contractor was a possibility, but that in such a situation rather than issue penalties the Council would use a positive approach by seeking to work with contractors to obtain a resolution. He said that the risk of a judicial review was always a consideration and that the need to deploy business continuity/ emergency plans had a low likelihood. He said that the Covid pandemic was an example of how the Council can deal with major incidents, and added that the Leadership Team worked on call out of hours to respond to emergency situations. He finished by saying that a key priority was to ensure that the Council’s IT systems were secure, and advised the Committee of several completed and planned upgrade and resilience measures.

The Chairman thanked The Head of Strategic Finance and Property for his report and comments. 

It was moved by Councillor Fernando and seconded by Councillor Ward-Booth that the recommendations, as detailed, be approved. After being put to the meeting and a vote taken, the motion was declared CARRIED.

RESOLVED – that (A) the 2021/22 quarter three Strategic Risk Register be received; and

(B) the risks monitored at present be retained for 2022/23; and

(C) the Risk Management Strategy remain unchanged for 2022/23.