Issue - meetings

Report by the Chief Operating Officer.

9.1       The Chief Operating Officer introduced the report. He explained that the Strategic Risk Monitoring is included in the Council monitoring report which is presented to Cabinet on quarterly basis. The 2017/18 quarter 4 report was presented to Cabinet on 26 June 2018 and included any items that have been changed or escalated from departmental risk registers. The Chief Operating Officer added that a report will be presented at the September Audit Committee meeting to explain the risk assessment process and a how departments assess and escalate risks.

9.2       The Committee reviewed the items on the strategic risk register in appendix 1 of the report, and discussed the following risks in more detail.

School Places and Changes to the Funding Formula

9.3       Councillor Fox raised the risk to school place delivery posed by the increase in the number of schools that were now Academies, and therefore outside of local authority control. He asked whether it might be worth adding this to the monitoring of risk by the Committee and whether it is in the departmental risk register.

9.4       Councillor Barnes outlined that he was still worried about strategic risk 13 Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG). He asked how many schools would be below the block grant threshold (e.g. a threshold of around 120 pupils) and whether this will lead to school closures. Councillor Barnes added that he would have expected that the budget pressures and risk from the block funding formula (DSG) would have been modelled. He outlined that a number for small rural schools could be under threat of closure, and that East Sussex was not alone in this respect.

9.5       The Chief Operating Officer responded that Risk 13 is departmental risk and would be within remit of People Scrutiny Committee to examine. He added that the Council does a huge amount of modelling for school place provision and the need for capital funding. There is a level of oversight of these issues and they are included in the Reconciling Policy, Performance and Resources (RPPR) financial planning process. This includes the potential changes to the DSG and any further investment that may be required as part of the integrated planning process for school places.

Cyber Attack

9.6       The Committee sought further assurance about the robustness of the arrangements for protecting the Council’s data from the risk of Cyber Attack (Risk 12). Khy Perryman, Information Security and Governance Manager, joined meeting and gave a presentation on the measures ESCC is taking on Cyber Security. The presentation covered the following topics:

·              Definition of Cyber Security issues, including the threat from organised crime which is something the Council takes seriously as local government is one of the top targets for organised crime due to the amount of personal information that is held.

·              A description of targets which includes individuals in managerial and professional occupations due to their likely access to systems and data.

·              Third party security, including data breaches (e.g. where other organisations are hacked in order to obtain people’s personal information). There  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9

Report by the Chief Operating Officer.

50.1     The Committee considered a report by the Chief Operating Officer, introduced by the Chief Finance Officer.    

50.2     The Committee requested clarification of the Cyber Attack risk, which the Chief Finance Officer agreed to provide. 

50.3     The Committee welcomed the removal of the Apprenticeship Levy from the Register. 

50.4     The Committee suggested the removal of the Roads risk and the addition of  a Schools Funding risk, with particular reference to small rural schools and the impact on the skills agenda and the economy.  The Committee remarked on the limited powers available to the Council to provide new school places and the need to encourage and assist other providers, including providing support to the academisation programme.  The Chief Executive set out the difficulties facing the Regional Schools Commissioner in attracting sponsors to act as partners to schools looking to convert to academy status. She also highlighted the ongoing lobbying work that the Council was involved in directly, and by headteachers which the Council was supporting.  

50.5     The Chief Executive set out that the Roads were considered a Strategic risk as it was the aspect of the County Council’s duties that was most visible to residents, and the subject of most of the correspondence.   

50.6     The Committee RESOLVED to note the current strategic risks and the risk controls and responses being proposed and implemented by Chief Officers. 

Report by the Chief Operating Officer.

22.1     The Chief Operating Officer introduced report which updates the Committee on the current strategic risks faced by the Council.

22.2     The Committee discussed the two areas of government policy which will have an impact on the financial sustainability of small rural schools namely, the draft schools funding formula (e.g. any school under 216 pupils) and the Apprenticeship Levy. East Sussex has a lot of schools which may be adversely affected, and if a school should fail then ESCC will have additional costs. Depending on the scale of the potential adverse impact this could represent a strategic risk to the Council and should be monitored.

22.3     The Chief Operating Officer responded that strategic risks are dynamic. Dealing with these risks is inherent in RPPR process, which considers risks and how we currently deal with them. The risk to smaller schools will be managed within the Medium Term Financial Plan process. ESCC has also reviewed what other similar local authorities have on their strategic risk registers, and ESCC is covering all the main strategic risks.

22.4     The Committee observed that there is an increase in the number of children moving through primary schools, and in the next 5-7 years East Sussex will need more secondary school places. The Chief Operating Officer outlined that the school places planning team are looking at this, and school place planning feeds into capital programme as a core need. The school place planning process is very robust, and together with the capital programme, addresses this risk.

22.5     The Committee RESOLVED to note:

1) the current strategic risks and the risk controls / responses being proposed and implemented by Chief Officers; and

2) the potential financial risks for small schools raised by the Committee in minute 22.2 above.