Agenda item - Strategic Risk Focus: SR13, SR20, SR32 and SR33

Report of the Executive Lead Officer, Strategy, Governance & Law

27.1    RESOLVED:  That the Committee:

1 Noted (as detailed in paragraph 3.3) the changes to the risk management process as agreed at ELT’s away day in June 2018.

2 Noted (as detailed in paragraph 3.4) the changes to the council’s SRR.

3 Noted Appendix 1 for details of SR13; SR20; SR32; and SR33.

4 Noted Appendix 2 ‘Suggested questions for Members to ask Risk Owners and officers on Strategic Risks’. This provided three generic questions with the intention to support Members to ask the right questions in accordance with their role as a Member of the Audit & Standards Committee.

5 That, having considered Appendix 1 and any clarification and/or comments from the officers, the Committee makes any recommendations it considers appropriate to the relevant council body.

27.1    The Committee considered a report of the Executive Lead Officer, Strategy, Governance & Law that provided detail on the actions taken and future actions to manage each strategic risk.

27.2    The Risk Management Lead introduced the report together with the Executive Director - Health & Adult Social Care and the Head of Commissioning.

27.3    Councillor Sykes asked what preparation had been done around the impact of Brexit for SR13.  The Executive Director Finance & Resources, replied that the Assistant Director - City Development & Regeneration had done some work on the financial implications of this issue in the city. The Executive Director Finance & Resources confirmed that there still remained a great deal of uncertainty but that some people had predicted economic and logistical shocks, citing examples such as the contingency plan regarding Kent County Council and the M20 (along the lines of ‘Operation Stack’) where there was speculation that back up could affect traffic around Brighton.

27.4    Councillor Sykes asked about the existing basket of risks incurred by Brexit and the Executive Director Finance & Resources, confirmed that he needed to bring in other officers to give a fuller answer in the future. He confirmed that he did not know how tax breaks around Brexit would be introduced or what their impact might be. The Chair confirmed that in the Audit & Standards Pre-meeting this issue in addition to the Newhaven Port  impact on the A27 needed to be discussed and he felt this should be added to the Agenda in the future.

SR13

27.5    The Chair asked for specific questions around SR13 and Councillor Sykes queried how it could be ensured that the most vulnerable adults are being helped and how the threshold was interpreted by the Council.

27.6    The Executive Director - Health & Adult Social Care replied that it was his personal responsibility to ensure that vulnerable adults were safe and that safeguarding was not affected by any austerity measures as confirmed in the Safeguarding report that the Board would receive within the next month.  The Executive Director - Health & Adult Social Care also confirmed that there are national standards agreed for these criteria and that the Council operate at a Substantial / Critical framework and therefore the bar does not get lowered.

27.7    In response to Dr Horne’s query on whether the proposed action of training was the only way to alleviate this particular risk, the Executive Director - Health & Adult Social Care replied that training was important as was awareness on how to make a safeguarding referral and that there was a board overseeing all referrals.  The Executive Director - Health & Adult Social Care said he would have to come back after the Committee to confirm on whether this also applied to the whistleblowing aspect that Dr Horne queried.

27.8    In response to Councillor Daniel’s question on when these aspects of SR13 would start to improve, the Executive Director - Health & Adult Social Care stated that although the figure for vulnerable adults would never be zero as there would always be cases of abuse and safeguarding would always be in place, the number of cases in 2017 were reduced by 30 %.

27.9    In response to the Chair’s question about the controls now in place to reduce risks and whether there was more work to be done, the Executive Director - Health & Adult Social Care confirmed that there was currently a good multi agency protocol, training was provided and that there should be no complacency.

27.10  In response to the Chair’s final question on whether these figures would have an impact on the NHS and CCG and other bodies, the Executive Director - Health & Adult Social Care replied that there would definitely be consequences.

SR20

27.11  In response to a question from the Chair about whether there was an equal risk to the Council on the issue of personal injury for poorly managed services, the Executive Director - Health & Adult Social Care stated that services could perform better in terms of being more integrated.

27.12  In response to the Chair’s question about why the dates in this section were in the past, the Risk Management Lead stated that the past dates simply recorded the date that each task had been completed. 

SR 33

27.13  In response to Councillor Sykes question on whether the Council are currently giving less care to clients in Temporary Accommodation than those living on the street, citing the recent Newhaven deaths, the Executive Director - Health & Adult Social Care confirmed that the this issue was taken very seriously and that the Council had a Strategic Accommodation Board, where members of all Directorates united together as one Council in order to meet the demands of different vulnerable groups.  The Executive Director - Health & Adult Social Care also confirmed that they were trying to get a new Pathway properly established for those clients who require support in temporary accommodation.

27.14  In response to Dr Horne’s question on whether there was a completed Need Assessment already in place for those with complex needs the Executive Director - Health & Adult Social Care stated that this was still being finished at present and that they were waiting to hear back from the Health and Wellbeing Board shortly on this matter, and that currently the Council were trying to fill the gaps in the right places.

27.15  In response to Dr Horne’s question on whether Councillors were happy that the Needs Assessment was completed over a 12 – 15 month period, the Executive Director - Health & Adult Social Care noted that this was a long period, but that this reflected the way that some clients had to be managed.

27.16  In response to Councillor Robins’ question on the number of deaths in Temporary Accommodation and how this compared with other Councils, the Executive Director- Health & Adult Social Care stated that he did not have exact figures to hand but that there was a report that is being currently finalised with figures over a two year period.  That report is due to be published next month and he confirmed that its findings would be a priority action.  The Executive Director- Health & Adult Social Care also confirmed Councillor Gilbey’s note that there had been a recent improvement from the initial red rating to the current amber rating, due to having a framework to address this issue.

27.17  In response to Councillor Cobb’s question regarding the consequence for clients when emergency accommodation becomes an immediate concern, the Risk Management Lead confirmed that there was not enough appropriate accommodation available for clients.

            SR32

27.18  The Executive Director Finance & Resources, introduced this item confirming that the fire safety aspect had not been covered during the last meeting due to lack of time.  He then introduced Officers from the Health & Safety and Property & Design teams to answer queries.

27.19  In response to the Chair’s query on the current situation on the Government enquiry into fire doors, the Officer stated that they are still waiting for the Government enquiry to be completed in the wake of the Grenfell enquiry. However he assured the Committee that the risk remained low.  In reply to Councillor Robins’ query about upgrading the fire doors’ in order to bring them up to the 30 minute retardant standard that is required, the Officer stated that upgraded MHCLG had currently put a hold on fire door construction until they had further information.

27.20  In reply to Councillor Sykes’ query about modes of communication in the event of a fire, citing a recent local incident in a glass blowing shop, the Officer confirmed that contact could be made through any colleague and that the Fire and Health Safety Board met on a monthly basis which links up officers from different areas and that there was a good relationship across the different sectors.

27.21  In reply to Councillor Cobb’s questions on ways of save money on Health & Safety, the Executive Director Finance & Resources confirmed there were the right number of Health & Safety officers employed but that savings were being made where possible in light of the Council’s financial position. The Head of Housing Strategy, Property & Investment then confirmed that more money had been made available and would be required in future to invest in safety, as the forthcoming report to Housing and New Homes Committee regarding fire safety would be expected to require further work.

27.22  In response to Councillor Lewry’s query about the importance of how a fire door is hung correctly, the Officer confirmed that the installation was vital and that a random quality check had been undertaken to ensure the correct placement of fire doors throughout the Council.  In response to Councillor Gilbey’s query, the Officer also confirmed that all the regulations referred to fire doors in low rise flats as well as high rise blocks and that the regulations applied across all council residential accommodation.  In response to Councillor Robins’ question on the problem with the fire risk caused by the build-up of paint  and how the Council are able to test these levels on walls in public buildings, the Officer confirmed that the Council followed the national guidance around this  which was followed when planning works.

27.23  In response to the Chair’s question on there being no risk actions in relation to this fire risk, the Risk Management Lead stated that if the initial risk rating was the same then there was no rating given at present.

27.24  In response to the Chair’s query on the wider point of potential issues to visitors such as Pride overcrowding, the Officer replied that these were raised at Health & Safety groups where the Council actively  liaised with other services such as Police and Environmental Health.

27.25  Dr Horne asked whether these issues regarding complex needs would be raised in the Health & Wellbeing Board and JSNA in order to speed up the progress of the Needs Assessment.

27.26  The Chair confirmed that the two following extra recommendations should be logged on the Action Log: 

1.    Councillor Sykes requested that a Report on the potential implications of Brexit on the City should be brought to the Committee.

2.    The Committee agreed on informing the Health & Wellbeing Board that the Needs Assessment form should be progressed more quickly as they are concerned about the protracted timescales and their effect on current risks.

27.27  RESOLVED:  That the Committee:

1 Noted (as detailed in paragraph 3.3) the changes to the risk management process as agreed at ELT’s away day in June 2018.

2  Noted (as detailed in paragraph 3.4) the changes to the council’s SRR.

3  Noted Appendix 1 for details of SR13; SR20; SR32; and SR33.

4  Noted Appendix 2 ‘Suggested questions for Members to ask Risk Owners and officers on Strategic Risks’. This provided three generic questions with the intention to support Members to ask the right questions in accordance with their role as a Member of the Audit & Standards Committee.

5 That, having considered Appendix 1 and any clarification and/or comments from the officers, the Committee makes any recommendations it considers appropriate to the relevant council body.