Agenda item

The presentations update the Audit & Governance Committee Members on progress against selected entries from the corporate risk register (the register).

The Committee is asked to:

Note the contents of the risk presentations attached in Appendix 1.

Gas Safety & Heating Contractor Risk Presentation to follow.

Malcolm Davies, Head of Risk, Anti Fraud and Insurance introduced the Risk Register Deep Dive item for the Committee. Huw Rhys-Lewis, Interim Director Commercial Investment & Property and Scott Funnell, Head of Strategic Procurement & Governance then gave a presentation providing an update on the procurement risk register entries and improvement plans.

The Committee queried whether the council’s governance arrangements and constitution could be perceived as a risk in relation to procurement and should be captured in the report. Officers advised the proposed improvements to the systems under the mayoral model would support further efficiencies. The annual procurement plan overseen by the Mayor and Cabinet was reviewed quarterly and had improved the process and provided greater transparency on the letting of contracts.

The Committee noted the improvement plan’s alignment with the council’s IAP Exit Strategy and asked if there had been consultation with other teams within the council and/or other local authorities’ or organisation’s best practice. Officers advised consultation had taken place with teams across the council and benchmarking had been undertaken against other local authorities to ensure the proposals aligned with best practice elsewhere. The changes to procurement regulations due in October 2024 had also been considered, which were expected to impact lower value contracts. A flexible approach was being taken to help ensure these regulatory changes would be incorporated into the improvement plans once formalised.  A council wide contract management community had launched in Summer 2023, this supported the development of the improvement strategy and ongoing improvement plans. The complex processes in place due to the historical governance issues within the Council were noted. Member’s had oversight and input into the improvement plans via the Constitution Working Group which had considered normal practices in other council’s and agreed the remodelling of procurement processes in Croydon.

The Committee asked how the improvement plan’s actions and success would be measured. Officers advised high level programme dates had been agreed and the next phase would be to set milestones for implementation of actions within the different workstreams. Progress reporting would be taken to the Corporate Management Team (CMT) and Mayors Advisory Board (MAB) meetings for monitoring. The expected output and timescales for the project were being developed in consultation with cabinet members and officers.

Niall O’Rourke Interim Head of Building Safety & Compliance,gave a presentation on the Gas Safety and Heating Contractor risk register entry to the Committee.

The Committee requested the current gas safety compliance data and was advised beginning November 2023 this was at 95.15% (currently at 96%) due to the legacy issues inherited following mobilisation of the new contract. The Committee raised concerns and stated every property should be compliant regardless of a change of contractor.

In response to questions officers advised the challenge regarding 38% of annual safety checks being due in Q1 2023 had been greater due to the previous contractor’s exit. The new contractor had started on 1 August 2023 and these checks were prioritised with additional resources deployed to rectify these as soon as possible. 

Satisfaction surveys were currently undertaken in house by the council and based upon approximately 300 telephone calls per month to residents.

The issue of residential property access in achieving 100% compliance was noted, the Compliance Team were receiving support from Social Services colleagues for several cases where access to properties was difficult. The Committee heard that the current 95.1% compliance had dropped from 99% in August 2023 due to the contract mobilisation issues, however those residents with overdue inspections were overdue by a short period of months. The target was set at 100% compliance by Christmas 2023 and 98% achievement was anticipated.

The Committee queried the lessons learned from the handling of the mobilisation and subsequent issues. Officers noted the importance and sensitivity of the gas safety contract and advised the need for additional resourcing to rectify issues had been subject to the council’s financial constraints. There had been a withdrawal of resources at the end of a previous contract combined with a peak in servicing due. The situation had been challenging and additional resources had been implemented to rectify the issues as soon as possible.

In response to questions officers advised that all customers had been sent a copy of their gas safety check report in June/July 2023, however the KPI was based on the resident survey response and their knowledge of receipt. 

The Committee requested a detailed update on compliance to be included in the risk register entry due to the March meeting. 

The Committee RESOLVED, to:

Note the contents of the risk presentations attached in Appendix 1.