Agenda item

(A report by John Medler, Assistant Director – Governance & Monitoring Officer)

The Committee received the Quarter 1 Risk Report, presented by the Group Manager – Insights & Transformation. The report provided an update on the Council’s strategic and partnership risk registers as at the end of June 2025 and formed part of the Committee’s regular oversight of the Council’s risk management arrangements.

The Committee was advised that the civil contingency risk had been updated following the appointment of a new Partnership Resilience Manager. A new emerging risk relating to battery storage developments was being considered for inclusion in the register and would be raised with the Lincolnshire Resilience Forum. Officers also confirmed that the business continuity risk was to be merged with the civil contingency risk due to overlapping themes.

The health and safety risk score had increased due to a number of overdue audit actions. In response, health and safety clinics had been established to address the concerns and improve compliance. A new risk had been added regarding the IT server room infrastructure, with a mitigation project already underway. The Environment Act risk had also been updated to reflect the extension of the depot lease and the wider waste improvement programme.

The partnership risk register had been updated to reflect workforce development concerns linked to Local Government Reorganisation (LGR). A Member queried a partnership risk relating to trust. Officers confirmed that the risk was linked to LGR and was currently being tolerated, with no changes proposed by the Senior Leadership Team.

Members discussed the report and commented as follows:

·         A query was raised regarding whether financial penalties were applicable for missing government targets or bin collection failures. Officers advised that no penalties were currently in place but undertook to confirm whether this may change under the Environment Act.

·         A Member asked whether the Council monitored emergency planning coverage across parish councils. Officers undertook to liaise with the Partnership Resilience Manager and report back to the Committee.

·         Clarification was sought on the term “GIS”, which was confirmed to mean Geographical Information System.

·         A Member asked how mitigations for high residual risks were tested for effectiveness. Officers confirmed that this was an area identified in a recent audit and that further work was planned to strengthen assurance.

·         A Member asked how risk appetite was defined and communicated. Officers advised that a review was planned in partnership with Lincolnshire County Council, with outcomes to be reported in a future quarterly update.

·         A Member queried whether the risk register had been independently reviewed. Officers confirmed that internal audit had recently undertaken a more detailed review and had made recommendations regarding layout and mitigation clarity.

·         A Member queried the definition of the local economy risk and its scoring. Officers confirmed that the risk related to the impact of economic conditions on the Council’s ability to deliver services and that further detail would be provided in the upcoming training session.

·         A Member asked whether the Council’s net zero targets were based on national or local benchmarks. Officers confirmed that the targets were locally set but aligned with national policy.

·         A Member raised questions about safeguarding risk categorisation and inter-agency coordination. Officers confirmed that both adult and child safeguarding were covered and undertook to provide further detail on the structure and designated leads.

The recommendation was moved by Councillor Anton Dani and seconded by Councillor David Scoot.

Resolved:

That the report be noted.