Agenda item

Consider presentation by Director – Resilient Communities.

3.1       The Chair introduced the Director – Resilient Communities to give a presentation on corporate risks in the Resilient Communities service.  The Director – Resilient Communities provided an overview of the various services for which she was responsible. Copies of the presentation had been circulated by email to the Committee.  Economic Development was led by Sam Smith and focused on economic improvement and regeneration.  Work relating to the two growth deals that the Council was signed up to was ongoing and considerable.  Customer Advice & Support Services were focused on front facing customer service arrangements across a range of communication channels.   The Business Administration and Support team were engaged with work across the Council supporting its effective operation.  Communities and Partnerships were involved with work related to the Community Empowerment Act as well as supporting communities achieve their aspirations and ambitions. Accessing appropriate grant funding and supporting placemaking were other important elements of that team’s work.  Mrs Craig highlighted that sport, leisure, and cultural facilities across the region were delivered through the strategic partnership with LiveBorders. 

3.2       The Director – Resilient Communities explained that she was responsible for two corporate risks managed on behalf of the Council Management Team.  The first risk was Community Planning Partnership, particularly that if there was not effective partnership working then it would not be possible to deliver on agreed strategies or realise objectives and outcomes.  The risk was longstanding, and considerable work had gone into delivering improvements through internal controls and improving partnership work.  A new Community Planning Partnership had been developed following the fundamental changes brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic.  Mrs Craig presented the range of internal controls which were in place and highlighted that they ranged from fully effective to not effective.  The implementation of the long-term Plan was the sole item listed as not effective, however that would be updated as a clearer picture became apparent over time. Two linked actions remained outstanding; however, progress was being made to ensure that they were completed.  The second risk managed on behalf of the CMT Risk Register was Stakeholder Engagement, and how the Council engaged with its primary stakeholders.  Mrs Craig highlighted that the risk had been managed for a considerable period of time, and provided assurance that work was ongoing to reduce risk.  A Community Engagement strategy was being developed and was expected to be presented to Council for adoption prior to the end of the year.  Work on the development of the Locality Model had been paused whilst the Chief Executive pursued work related to the proposed Future Operating Model.  The range of internal controls ranged from fully effective to not effective. 

3.3       The Director presented the Service Risk Registers and explained that her presentation would focus primarily on the risks which had been scored as red on the red, amber, green rating.  The majority of risks had been scored as amber.  Mrs Craig highlighted that the risk level of path inspections and countryside bridge inspections had increased and confirmed that an assessment was being undertaken to assess whether the Council had sufficient staffing capacity to undertake the required work.  External options would also be explored.  Two risks under Customer Advice & Support Services had been scored as red: insufficient resources and online services.  Mrs Craig explained that there had been significant turnover in staff within this service, particularly in those managing the telephony channels. There had been a negative impact on performance as a result of the staff turnover, however weekly meetings regarding the issue had taken place and a newly recruited cohort of staff were in the process of undergoing training.  The delivery of online services had also been affected by capacity and staffing issues.  The Council was in the process of developing a proactive plan to accelerate the work to deliver an improvement in its online services and it was anticipated that progress would be made over time.  Mrs Craig confirmed that in line with the agreed Joint Strategic Review between SBC and Live Borders that was underway, officers were identifying and discussing related threats and opportunities and were establishing the best ways in which to capture those as part of the Council’s Risk Management process. 

3.4       In response to a question regarding how risk management arrangements operated associated with services delivered in partnership with third parties, Mrs Craig explained that as part of the procurement process regular meetings were held to assess risk and where significant issues were identified they would be brought into the risk register.  Regarding training for managers on how to manage risk, it was highlighted that significant training was offered to all managers, in particular new managers.  All Directors within the Council had the capability to check whether managers in their service had completed the appropriate level of training.  The Corporate Risk Officer, Ms Emily Elder, confirmed that there was a risk management process guide which would be signposted to new managers.  Quarterly risk management reports were also being cascaded to risk owners across the Council.  In response to a question regarding the effectiveness of controls in the context of stakeholder engagement, Mrs Craig acknowledged that a lot of the controls were listed as partially effective and confirmed that it remained a priority to deliver effective engagement which the communities of the Scottish Borders felt invested in.  Mrs Craig confirmed that a report on the outcome of the Community Conversation sessions would be produced, and the feedback presented to Council.  In response to a question regarding work to improve the strategic relationship with LiveBorders, Mrs Craig provided assurance that part of the ongoing review concerned governance arrangements and refreshing the partnership agreement in place.  The Chief Officer – Audit and Risk confirmed that as part of the wider service provision agreements in place that risk management services were also provided to Live Borders, the IJB and Pension Fund.  In response to a question regarding the Regional Development Strategy being categorised as amber, Mrs Craig undertook to assess whether the register needed to be updated to properly reflect current risk.  Regarding the ability of the public to contact Council officers via telephone, Mrs Craig acknowledged that due to staffing issues there had been performance problems and highlighted that through the effective use of technology it would be possible to deliver improvements in the area. 

DECISION

NOTED the presentation.