To consider and adopt a new Strategic Risk Register which is aligned with the Council’s priorities as set out in the Strategic Plan 2011-15, to note that the strategic risks in the Register have been allocated to specific senior managers by Management Team and to note the action that the ‘risk owners’ will be taking in order to manage the risks.

1.  That the Strategic Risk Register 2011-15 be adopted.

2.  That the action that the allocated senior managers will be taking to manage the risks to the successful delivery of Maidstone Borough Council’s key strategic outcomes be noted.

Cabinet agreed a new draft Strategic Risk Register at its meeting on 22 December 2010, subject to any changes to the Council’s key objectives that might emerge through the consultation process.

The new Register was developed through a risk workshop process which sought to identify the risks to the successful delivery of the newly developed strategic outcomes. The Risk Register is intended to align as closely as possible with the Strategic Plan 2011-15.

The Strategic Plan 2011-15 has been subject to consultation and has been formally adopted by the Council. The Strategic Risk Register now similarly needs to be formally adopted.

Management Team has allocated the individual strategic risks to specific senior managers so that they can take personal responsibility for managing those risks as follows:

Risk Description and ‘Risk Owner’

Ø  ‘The Borough needs a transport network that supports the local economy’ – Interim Head of Core Strategy (Flo Churchill)

Ø  ‘The Borough needs a growing economy with rising employment, catering for a range of skill sets to meet the demands of the local economy’ – Assistant Director of Development and Community Strategy (Brian Morgan)

Ø  ‘The Borough needs decent affordable housing in the right places across a range of tenures’ – Head of Housing and Community Safety (John Littlemore)

Ø  ‘Maidstone needs a clean and attractive environment for people who live in and visit the borough’ – Assistant Director of Environment and Regulatory Services (Steve Goulette)

Ø  ‘The Council needs to ensure that residents are not disadvantaged because of where they live or who they are; vulnerable people are assisted and the level of deprivation is reduced’ – Head of Housing and Community Safety (John Littlemore)

Ø  The Council needs to deliver value for money council services that residents are satisfied with’ – Head of Change and Scrutiny (Angela Woodhouse)

The ‘risk owners’ have completed Management Action Plans setting out the required management action, the officer responsible for taking the action and the key dates for the action to be taken by. The Management Action Plans are set out at Appendix B to the report of Management Team.

The Action Plans will be entered onto the corporate performance management system, Covalent, so that actions can be monitored and tracked. The actions will be reported as part of the performance monitoring reports that are provided to Management Team and Cabinet on a quarterly basis.

A report, setting out the Strategic Risk Management process and the Risk Register, will be provided to the Audit Committee at its meeting on 19 September 2011 so that the Committee can ‘monitor the effective development and operation of risk management and corporate governance in the Council’ in accordance with its terms of reference.

Having identified the risks to the delivery of the Council’s key strategic outcomes, it is vital that an effective process is put in place to manage the risks. No alternative action could be recommended.