Agenda item
Risk Management in Services
Verbal Presentation by Director Infrastructure & Environment. (Copy attached.)
Minutes:
1.1
A verbal presentation of Risk Management in the
Assets & Infrastructure Service was delivered by the Director
Infrastructure & Environment, Mr John Curry. The Director presented the structure of risks
managed across the teams noting the recent change of directorates
which included Assets and Infrastructure now being called
Infrastructure and Environment, and that included Planning and
Building Standards which would be included in the next
update. Corporate risks managed by the
Director included property, capital projects and climate
change. In response to questions from
Members, Mr Curry explained that some work was being outsourced at
the moment to local specialists. That
would continue but there needed to be consistency of support and
marketing to make the best of the Council’s
assets. While it was noted that house
prices were at a premium in some areas, a balance was needed in
terms of selling of Council property to get the best return, and
linking that to place making and getting the best for
communities. Discussion then centred on
the full use of older buildings and properties that were difficult
to convert, and issues with being factors on tenanted land (Common
Good farms). Mr Curry explained that
this related to the corporate landlord model with a piece of work
to do to recognise land ownership and management. Councillor Anderson suggested that the
ward-by-ward discussions take place with Councillors on property,
given the successful discussions around playparks which had been
held with Members, and Mr Curry advised he would pick up on this
suggestion. With regards to the
relationship with Live Borders, Mr Curry confirmed that both
organisations held large estates with specialisms e.g. schools and
swimming pools and all were visible, public buildings. These suffered to a certain extend with
maintenance and age-related issues.
There was only so much resource available and that needed to be
balanced against priorities. There were
possibly opportunities around the capital investment programme to
address some age-related issues with the estate and the Council
would work with Live Borders to deliver a more sustainable estate
in future. In response to a question
about community centres and their potential loss of business as
previous tenants had found alternative venues due to Covid
closures, this would be picked up with the Live Borders Management
Team as well as their Property Officer.
1.2 The Director continued the presentation covering capital projects. The capital programme was significant, setting out need and addressing the best ways to address these needs. It was noted that due to the pandemic there was a materials shortage in construction including inflated prices which was having an impact on the Scottish Borders Council programme. In terms of climate change, it was hoped to reduce the reliance on fossil fuels, but bio mass heating may not be the way forward in terms of heating buildings. Work was needed on the fabric of buildings to ensure they were as high performing as possible and not so reliant on additional heating. Buildings also needed to be the right size to get the most value and should existing buildings be repurposed, then that needed to be taken into account at the beginning of a project. Capital projects would continue to be monitored in light of climate change mitigations, including whether any planning policies needed to be amended. The Executive Director, Finance & Regulatory, further advised that the new High School building projects had very tight environmental targets linked to project funding from Scottish Government which were extremely onerous, so the design of the buildings, their size and the way they would be used was fundamental. The design team was aware of the Council’s ambitions in this regard.
1.3
Details were also given of the Service risks
associated with facilities, passenger transport, property, roads
& infrastructure and waste.
In terms of facilities management, work was being undertaken on
digitising the mailing system to handle confidential mail and
remove where possible human error risks from the
equation. With regards to passenger
transport, there was a high risk from the impact of the pandemic on
operators with some routes being regarded as less viable and work
had been ongoing with operators to assess the actual
impact. Work had also been undertaken
along with support from Human Resources to ensure operators had
adequately trained escorts in place for vulnerable children and
adults. Mr Curry advised that the Waste
Transfer Station was having a fire suppressant system; health and
safety inspections were being carried out across waste sites
following a couple of incidents involving members of the public;
and the trade waste database was being reviewed with
CGI. In terms of Utility Companies
digging up roads and pavements and then providing shabby
replacement materials, Mr Curry advised work was underway with the
companies to set out expectations, communications to the public,
etc. The Council would need to be very
clear at the start what standard was expected before they could
have any recourse with the Company. The
Executive Director, Finance & Regulatory, added that it may be
possible for officers to provide a briefing note on the legal
position regarding road repairs and the Chief Legal Officer could
be asked to provide a note of the powers of the
Council. Mr Curry confirmed that,
given changes to the skills required of a future workforce, e.g.
changes to heating systems, work was already with the South of
Scotland Agency and Borders College on training. In terms of bus passes for youths, this was funded
but there was a cap in place and work was underway with commercial
services on that. The Waste Manager was
also in conversation with Zero Waste Scotland on the changing rules
on recycling and the types of materials, with an update due to be
provided to Elected Members in due course.
DECISION
NOTED the update.