Issue - meetings

This report provides an update on the Council’s Strategic Risks as of March 2025. The update has been prepared in consultation with risk leads and Departmental Management Teams and summarises the risks that are considered to be of an impact and/or likelihood of materialising, and which may have an adverse effect on the achievement of the Council’s corporate objectives.

Darren Armstrong (Deputy Director Organisational Assurance & Resilience) introduced a report from the Corporate Director Finance & Resources providing the Committee with an update on the Council’s Strategic Risks as of March 2025.

In considering the report the Committee noted:

·             The Strategic Risk Register had been prepared in consultation with risk leads, Departmental Management Teams and the Council Management Team in accordance with the key elements of the Council’s Risk Management Policy and Strategy. The report summarised the risks that were considered to have an impact and/or likelihood of materialising, and which may have an adverse effect on the achievement of the Council’s corporate objectives.

·             Since the report was last updated in September 2024, the Council had continued to operate in a heightened risk environment due to various external factors with the Council’s overall risk profile therefore continuing to reflect the challenging risk environment the Council was operating within and eight of the fourteen strategic risks currently outside their target risk score.

·             The importance of risk management as a core element of the Council's corporate governance framework with the Strategic Risk Register owned collectively by the Council Management Team (CMT) and each risk being assigned a Corporate Director as risk sponsor and the report provided via the ‘bottom-up’ provision of risks from services and departments, which were deemed to require consideration at the higher level along with direct input via CMT with its purpose to identify, assess, and control risks that could hinder the achievement of Council objectives. The Council's approach, including the Strategic Risk Report, was closely aligned with the Borough Plan priorities and supported decision-making, business planning, and performance management.

·             In terms of key themes identified, members were advised specific attention had been focussed on the following risks:

o      Risk A: Lack of Affordable Accommodation – with the Housing Needs Service having seen a 33% increase in demand from families and single people who are either threatened with homelessness, or homeless from 2021/22 to 2023/24;

o      Risk B: Cost of Living Crisis – with this continuing to be one of the Council’s highest scoring risks reflecting that demand for support from Brent Hubs remained high in relation to Housing, Council Tax Support and RSF applications, food and fuel aid enquiries, housing and homelessness enquiries, Council Tax, welfare benefits and other presented needs such as, housing benefit, debt and money enquiries, employment, general support and immigration and the overall trend remaining upward.

o          Risk C – Increase in Dedicated School Grants High Needs Block Deficit – with this also continuing to be of the highest scoring risks.  The DSG had carried a deficit balance since 2019-20 and the cumulative balance carried forward from 2023/24 being £13.2m.  The current in year DSG forecast deficit of £0.4m would increase the overall deficit to £13.6m.  Work continued to manage pressures against the High Needs Block of the DSG, with the statutory override now extended until 2025/26.  Concerns continued to be raised, however, with the government about the sustainability of the current national SEND system  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12

This report provides an update on the Council’s Strategic Risks as of February 2024. The update has been prepared in consultation with risk leads and Departmental Management Teams and summarises the risks that are considered to be of an impact and/or likelihood of materialising, and which may have an adverse effect on the achievement of the Council’s corporate objectives.

Darren Armstrong, Head of Audit & Investigation, introduced the report providing the Committee with an update on the Council’s Strategic Risks as of February 2024.

In considering the report the Committee noted:

·             The Strategic Risk Register had been prepared in consultation with risk leads, Departmental Management Teams and the Council Management Team in accordance with the key elements of the Council’s Risk Management Policy and Strategy.

·             Since the report was last updated in February 2023, the Council had continued to operate in a heightened risk environment due to several external factors that included the current economic climate and the cost -of-living crisis with the Council’s overall risk profile therefore continuing to reflect the challenging risk environment the Council was operating within.

·             In terms of the main changes since September 2023, 11 of the risks reported were assessed as being on a stable risk trend in terms of scores remaining as previously reported and one risk (Strategic Risk K: non-compliance with statutory housing duties) having shown a small downwards movement in its risk score.

·             The Committee’s attention was drawn to the Strategic Risk Heat Map within the Strategic Risk Report which had shown six of the strategic risks located within the upper quartile with the highest scoring being the risks related to cost-of-living crisis (A); increase in Dedicated Schools Grant High Needs Block deficit (B); lack of supply of Affordable Accommodation(C) and increase in use of emergency temporary accommodation (D).

·             Since the update in September 2023 two new risks had been added to the Strategic Risk Report.  Both related to the climate emergency, with the first focussed around adapting to climate risks and how Brent’s infrastructure, public health and the natural environment may be adversely affected by the physical effects of climate change.  The second related to reaching carbon neutrality, reflecting the risk that the Council may not be able to achieve its ambition of becoming a carbon neutral borough by 2030 due to a lack of funding and the extent to which behavioural change was still required to meet the scale of challenge identified.  Members were advised that both risks had previously formed part of a wider suite of inherent risks held on departmental risk registers, however, following review had now been added as Strategic Risks in their own right.  In this respect they had not been identified as new risks or escalated due to increased risk scores; they had been added to reflect a change in the Council’s risk management approach as part of ongoing efforts to continue to improve and enhance the Council’s risk management framework.

·             The wider improvements made to the Council’s risk management framework, as detailed within section 4.7 of the report along with the additional recommendations which had recently been made by the LGA in relation to risk management following a recent review of governance and financial challenges experienced by a number of other local authorities.  Whilst noting the robust arrangements already established within Brent to satisfy the majority of the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11