Agenda item

[Cllr Alan Butt ,Chair of Audit and Risk Committee, and Peter Farrow

,Head of Audit, to present report]

Peter Farrow, Head of Audit, briefed the panel on the responsibilities of the Audit and Risk Committee and the work undertaken during the year. The Head of Audit advised the panel that a response to questions from the panel are included in the report, in addition a copy of Audit and Risk Committee Annual Report 2018-19 for information.  The Head of Audit briefed the panel on the Risk Management Framework and how it links to the Strategic Risk Register and the Project Risk Register. The Strategic Risk Register lists the top 15 risks and is regularly reviewed by SEB four times a year as part of the assurance framework or where there are concerns about the risk rating. The Audit and Risk Committee is not responsible for managing the risk, the responsibility remains with the named Risk Owner. The role of the Audit and Risk Committee is to assess the judgements about the level of risk and to offer a sense check. The Audit and Risk Committee can invite the Risk Owner to give evidence if there either concerns or further information is needed to assess the level of risk and provide challenge.

Cllr Alan Butt, Chair of Audit and Risk Committee, outlined the work of the committee and listed projects which have been rated as red in the Strategic Risk Register, for example, Civic Halls. The committee will also consider monitor possible reputational risks on major projects as part of future proofing work. This work is supported by lessons learnt exercises to support the work of the committee when undertaking reviews. To Head of Procurement has been invited to a meeting on 20 January 2020 to present evidence to the committee about the tendering process. The Chair advised the panel of the work done with colleagues represented on WMCA to identify risks at the regional level, particular those risks which may impact on Wolverhampton. The WMCA has benefited from the work of the audit team which has provided expertise to improve the identification and assessment of key strategic risks. The Chair briefed the panel on future risks which may impact on the financial position of the Council, such as future decisions to be announced by Government in the budget proposals and the response from the financial markets to ongoing Brexit discussions.

The panel queried who would have the final view on the level of risk where there was disagreement about if the rating should be red or amber. The Head of Audit advised that the Lead Director make the final decision in discussion with the risk owner. The issue would also be discussed with the Cabinet Member and members of SEB. This would provide a good view of the level of risk. The panel suggested it would be helpful to capture this discussion in this situation to provide assurance that there is appropriate level of challenge and to allay any specific concerns about the risk rating. The Director of Finance added that there are also independent members on the Committee who also provide challenge about the appropriateness of the risk rating.

The panel discussed future working arrangements with Audit and Risk and invited Chair to suggest how it could support them to meet their aims. The panel were keen to avoid duplicating the work of committee. The Chair of Audit and Risk Committee welcomed the offer for closer working with panel and suggested the work could feed into the development of the Strategic Assurance Map. The Chair suggested sharing the findings from the lessons learnt with the panel. The panel agreed as a first step to review the annual work programme of the Audit and Risk Committee and then to discuss the Head of Audit possible areas that would scrutiny members could support this work. The panel agreed to invite the Chair of Audit annually to present a briefing at a future meeting.

Resolved:

1.    The panel agreed to endorse the Audit and Risk Committee Annual Report 2018-2019

2.    The Head of Audit to share a copy of the Strategic Assurance Map and also details of the Audit and Risk Committee work programme to help inform the panel work programme.

3.    The Chair of Audit and Risk Committee and Head of Audit to be invited to present the annual report 2019 – 2020 to a future meeting on a date to be agreed with the panel before it is presented for Full Council for approval.