Agenda item

To consider a progress report on individual risks identified in the Council’s Strategic Risk Register and to consider the controls being implemented to manage the strategic risk relating to legal.

The Committee considered a deep dive into the Strategic Risk ‘Legal’ which included the sub-risks (a) ‘Hardening insurance market’, (b) ‘Inadequate safety management of the public realm/communities’ and (c) ‘Unsafe workplace’.

a)     Hardening Insurance Market

Mr Steve Thompson, Director of Resources, provided an update in respect of sub-risk (a). He reported that controls in place to mitigate the risk of a hardening insurance market included a robust Risk Management Framework and dedicated risk register for Council projects, which could be used to demonstrate to insurers how the Council managed risk. The reports Appendix demonstrated how the Council’s approach to risk had resulted in a reduction in Council insurance claims since 2011 and a reduction in the Strategic risk score for this sub-risk from 20 to 16.

Further to this the Risk and Resilience Team was undertaking a procurement exercise for a new claims handling system, which would improve efficiency and the management of information to assist with lessons learned. The team had received a number of demonstrations of potential systems and it was foreseen that the procurement would be complete for the 2023-2024 financial year.

Mr Thompson also reported that a new Risk and Resilience Officer would be appointed to assist with work to undertake a procurement exercise for the Council’s insurance portfolio. This work would ensure that the Council had value for money and that comprehensive insurance was in place. It was expected that this procurement would take place in April 2023 with insurers appointed by April 2024.

The Committee queried if the Risk and Resilience Team undertaking the procurement of an insurer created a conflict of interest. In response Mr Thompson explained that the procurement would be undertaken by the Procurement Team, with advice from Risk and Resilience, and that therefore no conflict existed.

The overall cost of insurance, including self-insurance, for the Council annually was approximately £3m. This presented an ongoing challenge for the team and issues outside of the Council’s control, such as the cost of living crisis and the war in the Ukraine, had meant that costs were expected to increase and insurers becoming more risk averse. These could be partially mitigated through demonstrating the Council’s risk management processes. Mr Thompson added that where an insurer could not be found then the Council would seek to self-insure to ensure coverage was in place.

Mr John Blackledge, Director of Community and Environmental Services, provided an update in respect of Highways insurance claims. He reported that due to the risk management approach taken that claims that had previously cost around £1m had reduced to approximately £100k. This approach had included the establishment of a joint risk management group in the Highways team and a dedicated highways Health and Safety Officer in Audit and Risk.

Members asked if all Council owned vehicles had trackers installed to monitor usage, noting that this would assist in managing risk. Mr Blackledge explained in response that the majority of vehicles had trackers, but some older vehicles did not.

Oversight of the risks undertaken by the Council’s Wholly Owned Companies (WOC) and its impact on Council insurance was discussed. Mr Thompson explained that oversight of WOC was undertaken by the Council’s Shareholder Committee, which considered each company’s Strategic Risk Register. Ms Tracy Greenhalgh, Head of Audit and Risk, added that an exercise had also recently been undertaken to standardise the risk management approach for each WOC, including updating of their Strategic Risk Registers, details of which would be reported to a future Committee meeting.

In respect of private contractors used by the Council the Committee asked how risk they were responsible for was monitored. In these cases, Mr Thompson explained that as part of the due diligence when procuring the services of a private contractor the Council sort to establish their risk management approach and would ensure that responsibility for risk was clearly outlined in any contracts agreed.

b)     Inadequate safety management of the public realm/communities

Mr John Blackledge, Director of Community and Environmental Services, provided an update in respect of sub-risk (b). He informed the Committee that the sub-risk covered diverse range of services and significant risk management work had been undertaken across them to mitigate the risk.

In respect of Tree Management a strategy had been put in place which ensured that inspections of trees was undertaken and that monitoring could take place. In the event that an incident occurred related to trees a log had been created which would assist in ensuring any lessons would be learned. The Tree Management Strategy covered all the trees in Blackpool’s parks and those adjacent to highways. Work to monitor and maintain these trees was undertaken jointly with Blackpool Waste Services.

Joint working with Blackpool Waste Services also had taken place to maintain Blackpool’s play areas to ensure that they were of a high standard and safe for public use. The record of work need and issues logged had been digitalised to allow more effective monitoring and recording of work undertaken and Blackpool Waste Services had a set of key performance indicators to performance against.

Mr Blackledge also reported on work with Lancashire Constabulary and the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) to ensure public safety. This included funding for community schemes from the PCC, for which the Council ensured ongoing support to maintain. Joint working with the police included the sharing of powers to ensure that there was an effective joint response to public safety issues. This had led to a Home Office representative being include on Blackpool’s Community Safety Partnership (CSP) to observe the multi-agency working taking place.

Blackpool’s development of CCTV infrastructure was discussed, with Mr Blackledge explaining that a new control room had been established at Starr Gate for the new system. It was expected that this would be operational by the end of November 2022 and the new CCTV infrastructure and technology in the town centre would be complete by March 2023. This investment by the Council with support from the PCC allowed the Council and partner agencies to use the infrastructure to ensure safety and reduce risk to the public.

In response to a query Mr Blackledge added that the Police did not contribute financially to CCTV, and had no capital budget that would allow them to do so. However there access and use of the system was vital to ensuring public safety and was therefore funded by the Council and PCC. It was also noted that Wyre Borough Council contributed to CCTV as the network covered part of their area.

Trauma Kits provided across Blackpool was raised by the Committee, who queried there spread and use. Mr Blackledge explained that the kits had been provided through the CSP and 45 were in place. As well as assisting in isolated incidents, these would assist the emergency services in any major incident that occurred in Blackpool. Training had been provided to the staff of venues where kits were located for use on their premises and to support the response to major incidents nearby. This approach had been adopted based on the recommendations made by the review into the response of the Manchester Arena Bombing.

The Committee noted the broad and varied range of risks for which the Community and Environmental Services Directorate covered and asked if adequate resources were in place to manage all of them. In response Mr Blackledge informed the Committee that although the diverse range of risk created a challenge, this was mitigated through joint working with the Council’s partners and the sharing of resources, highlighting the examples of Blackpool Waste Services and the CSP.

Members considered if in respect of Council provided public Defibrillators an audit of devices should be undertaken, noting that none had taken place and recognising the need to ensure that all devices were functioning correctly. Mr Blackledge agreed that this was a good and idea and agreed to consider if such an audit could be undertaken and report back to a future meeting of the Committee.

c)     Unsafe workplace

Mr Steve Thompson, Director of Resources, provided an update in respect of sub-risk (c). He informed members that robust arrangements were in place to ensure safety in the workplace. This included an annual Health and Safety Report, which provided assurance to staff on issues and the Council’s response to them. This also promoted a “no blame culture” to promote the reporting and addressing of safety issues.

The annual Health and Safety report was considered by the Council’s Corporate Leadership Team to ensure issues were highlighted to all Directors. The Committee asked that a copy of the report also be provided to members, for information, to ensure that potential health and safety risk was highlighted to them.

The work undertaken during the Covid pandemic was highlighted, where work had been undertaken to make workplaces Covid-secure for staff. Mr Thompson also reported that the Health and Safety team consisted of nine officers, who in addition to work to ensure staff safety also worked with the Council’s Wholly Owned Companies. The Council’s Health and Safety arrangements were also available via the Sharepoint site for members of staff to access.

A new Human Resources IT system, iTrent, had been procured to allow a more joined up approach to staff training and support.

The Committee discussed staff safety training and the number of those who had received it. Mr Thompson explained that all staff were encouraged to attend safety training, with a focus on those where it was important for their role. He also noted that such training offered an opportunity for personal development for staff.

Resolved:

1.     That the updates be noted;

2.     That Mr Blackledge consider and report back to a future meeting on the possibility of undertaking an audit of Council provided Defibrillators in Blackpool; and

3.     That the annual Health and Safety report be shared with members of the Committee for information.