Increased pressure on children's services and falling trees some of 'red risks' identified by Plymouth City Council
The number of red risks - which could cause serious problems in the near future - have increased
Plymouth City Council has identified over 120 risk factors that could make it difficult, or even impossible, for it to operate effectively and the number of so-called ‘red risks’ – or factors which are urgent or could cause serious problems in the near future – has increased.
Members of the council’s audit and governance committee on Monday heard there are now 126 risks on the operational risk register.
The number of red risks increased from three in October 2021 to four by February 2022 because of concerns about the loss of confidential or sensitive data due to a cyber attack.
A report said the risk was because existing plans to deal with a data security breach were inadequate and would fail to protect the council’s assets.
It was proposed that staff should receive training to minimise the risk and contingency plans should be updated.
But some red risks have been in place for much longer.
Children’s services have come under increased pressure since the start of the pandemic.
The report said there was a risk that the council may fail to meet its statutory duties due to growing volume and complexity of demand for children’s social care services.
It added that there was a risk of continued rising demand for children to come into care since the pandemic began in March 2020.
Officers say they are making progress to mitigate delays caused by covid. It was recommended that the capacity of social work should be increased to support the casework, more fostering plans should be in place and that there should be more regular monitoring.
A life-threatening risk at Mount Edgcumbe and within the city because of falling trees means this also appears on the red list.
Ash dieback is now present in the city and at Mount Edgcumbe and is affecting large numbers of ash trees, meaning they are more susceptible to shedding limbs.
Ash is the third most common species of tree in Devon and represents 1000s of the trees on land in the city.
The disease is expected to infect over 90 per cent of ash trees in the city in the coming years and therefore increases the risk to public safety and damage to infrastructure, as well as having a significant impact on biodiversity and decreasing the city’s canopy cover.
The council will assess the extent of ash dieback and assess the overall risk but the higher risk rating relates to Mount Edgcumbe and the need for capital funding to deliver a tree management plan there.
Although Mount Edgcumbe House is in Cornwall, Plymouth City Council and Cornwall Council have joint responsibility for its strategic management and control of its country park.
Concerns about inadequate asbestos management puts this issue on the red list.
The problem can result in the closure of buildings or services and possible legal action for health claims, failure of duty of care or poor corporate governance.
The council aims to reduce the risk by rolling out an initiative which outlines the maximum acceptable concentration of asbestos in a building.
Although not on the red list, financial challenges facing the council were also highlighted.
The Council’s expenditure currently exceeds the resources available to meet that expenditure within the medium term financial plan period (2022/23 – 2025/26).
The following steps have been taken:
- To adopt a five-year medium term financial plan moving forward rather than a one year or three-year model
- To adopt a system of monthly financial reporting to Departmental Management Teams, the Corporate Management Team (CMT) and Cabinet and quarterly to full council.
In addition, the council has introduced a system of detailed monitoring of the delivery of savings targets so that a view is published monthly in cabinet reports.
The council also holds an annual review of fees and charges and has annual and ongoing programmes of work to identify and understand potential savings opportunities.
A budget consultation has also been launched to help deal with difficult budget issues in the future.