Agenda item

Joint Report of the Chamberlain and the Chief Operating Officer.

The Committee received a joint Report of the Chamberlain and the Chief Operating Officer which provided updates regarding the top risks within the Departmental Risk Register.

The Chamberlain advised Members that, at this point, it would not add value to establish inflationary pressures as a standalone Corporate Risk. She assured Members that the level of inflation is kept closely monitored and is considered one of the key triggers when it came to financial planning over the medium-term. She informed Members that there was a general inflation contingency fund in place as part of the corporate budget, and that there were additional contingencies within the main capital buildings budgets which took account of inflationary pressures.

In response to a query about whether the Audit & Risk Management (A&RM) Committee took a view on this, the Chamberlain confirmed that A&RM’s steer was to establish a standalone Corporate Risk for inflationary pressure in the Register. The Chairman added that the A&RM discussion had only recently take place and that officers would need some time to consider the ramifications of establishing a new Corporate Risk on these lines. He asked the Chamberlain to bring a discussion paper back to the next meeting of the Finance Committee in May. In addition, the former Chairman of A&RM (who attended the meeting as a guest of the Chairman) urged caution about the risk of a proliferation of Corporate Risks as it risked devaluing the process as a whole. 

A Member queried whether, given its reduction in value due to the increases in inflation, the City Corporation should be looking to lower its holding of cash; the Chairman welcomed this point and suggested that it was something which the Financial Investment Board should consider in due course.

RESOLVED – That the Committee noted the Report.