Agenda item

To consider a progress report on individual risks identified in the Council’s Strategic Risk Register.

The Committee considered a progress report in relation to the individual risks identified on the Strategic Risk Register, specifically in relation to risks regarding ‘Sustainability of the Council’. The Committee discussed plans to control and mitigate the risks with the strategic risk owners, Mr Thompson, Director of Resources, Ms Diane Booth, Director of Children’s Services, Ms Karen Smith, Director of Adults Services and Mr Mark Towers, Director of Governance and Partnerships.

Mr Thompson discussed the sub-risk of there being insufficient funding to deliver services, advising Members of the consequences of the sub-risk and the controls and mitigations in place to prevent it. He explained that as at March 2017, there remained over £40 million of reserves, including earmarked reserves and when reserves had been used, they had been used appropriately to mitigate against budget constraints. Mr Thompson reported that a rise in interest rates would pose a significant risk, given that that Council had £185 million worth of debt, a significant proportion of which was in the form of temporary borrowing. However, upon questioning from Members he advised that he did not foresee interest rates rising dramatically in the near future to the extent to which the rise would prove critical for the Council.

Members were advised that a further control was the six year Financial Sustainability Strategy that was in place and that the Council was only one of two local authorities in the country to have in place such a long term financial strategy. Mr Thompson also reported that there was an increased risk inherent with the significant increase to the Business Loans Fund. He explained the controls for the risk that included a Business Loan Fund Panel and a robust due diligence process. Upon further questioning from Members, he explained that a rise in interest rates would not affect existing business loans that had fixed rates, but that there would be an impact on future loans.

Ms Diane Booth, Director of Children’s Services, advised the Committee of the sub-risk of an increasing number of looked after children. She explained that a robust demand management strategy was to be put into place with partners to reduce the demand at the front door. She advised that work would also be undertaken to improve efficiency when dealing with cases to prevent drift and delay.

Upon questioning from Members relating to how demand could be reduced, Ms Booth advised that the Blackpool Safeguarding Children’s Board had recently approved a revised set of Thresholds criteria and more user-friendly documentation for referrals. She advised that further work was required with partners to better understand need and risk.

Members also noted the relatively high net risk score and queried what the impact on the score would be in the long term, following the implementation of the demand management strategy. Ms Booth explained that such an assessment could not currently be made as there were impending national changes to children’s social care, for which the guidance was not yet available. She advised that she hoped to be able to provide an assessment later in the year. Responding to further questions from Members, Ms Booth reported that staff were positive in relation to the changes she was implementing and she also noted the work being done in order to address better levels of staff retention.

Ms Karen Smith, Director of Adult Services, advised the Committee of the sub-risk of insufficient central government funding for new burdens in Adult Social Care in addition to current constraints on cash limited budgets. Ms Smith summarised that the Care Act had placed additional responsibilities on Adult Services that increased the levels of work and required more in depth assessments, which presented a funding challenge. In addition to the Care Act changes, Ms Smith also noted that the impact of the national living wage being increased provided further budgetary pressures on the service.

The Committee was advised of the steps taken to control and mitigate the sub-risk, which included active budget monitoring and exploring all potential funding opportunities available to the service. Upon questioning from Members, Ms Smith provided details of the work being undertaken in system transformation planning with the Health service and noted that there were effective working relationships between service providers across the Fylde coast and a recognition between partners of shared mutual interests.

Mr Mark Towers, Director of Governance and Partnerships, advised the Committee of the sub-risks involved with further devolution of services and increased partnership working, reporting that it was important to ensure that robust governance structures were in place for new working arrangements, which at the same time did not inhibit the delivery of services.

Ms Booth discussed the sub-risk of unmanageable level of insurance claims relating to historic abuse / negligence in children’s social care, advising that the sub-risk arose from inappropriate practice and failures to make a timely intervention. She explained that managing demand in the service should help to mitigate the sub-risk and that every case from when a child was put onto a protection plan would be tracked to ensure appropriate decision-making. Responding to questions from the Committee, Ms Booth advised that she did not have bench making data with other local authorities relating to the claims, but that anecdotally Blackpool compared favourably with Lancashire County Council.