The Interim Insurance and Risk Manager introduced the report which provided the Committee with the key risks and opportunities identified by the review and updated information in relation to the Strategic / Corporate Risk and Opportunity Register.  The report also gave assurances that the Council’s risk and opportunity management arrangements were effective.

Councillor Collins noted that the sickness and absence remained above average for the sector and questioned the main causes.  The Director of Finance and IT advised that the three main issues were stress / anxiety, musculoskeletal and surgery.  There were a number of surgery related absences at present which impacted the long-term sickness figures.

Councillor Collins continued to ask whether this was envisaged to be a temporary situation, referring to P71, action 10 and the sickness action plan.  The Director of Finance and IT outlined that star chambers had involved the Director of HR and OD and HR officers attending Director’s Management Team meetings, for each department, with key officers to ensure the rules and challenges around long-term sickness were understood such as use of Occupational Health and Return to Work interviews.  Within his own directorate short term sickness was down however overall figure had risen as there were 3-4 members of staff with long-term conditions and it did not take much to seriously impact upon the figures.

The Vice-Chair queried how a scheme such as Universal Credit, with an in-built 4-6 week delay which could lead to unintended consequences such as rent arrears, would be picked up within the risk register.  The Interim Insurance and Risk Manager informed the Committee that Universal Credit formed part of the welfare reform risk which was included within the wider register however had not be mentioned within the report as it did not obtain a high enough rating.

Councillor Collins noted that the advice for residents within tower blocks remained unchanged since the Grenfell tragedy.  The Council had worked with the fire service and their advice remained the same at present, though it could change as a result of the Grenfell enquiry. The advice was to remain within the abode unless you were directly affected by the fire.  The matter would be discussed in greater detail at Overview and Scrutiny Committee, but the report aimed to provide assurance that the risk was being considered.

Jason Oliver questioned comments around business continuity as little seemed to have changed over 2½ years.  The Director of Finance and IT felt there was a wording issue within this section of the report as the situation was definitely improving and there had been a push from Performance Board challenging directorates.  The choice of working did not fully convey this.

Councillor Spillman noted that the Council was facing the worst housing crisis in years, and before the Government’s budget announcement had had no means to deal with the issues regarding supply.  More and more residents were facing poverty due to rising rents however the report only rated the risk around housing as a 9, which he found surprising.  The Director of Finance and IT accepted that the challenge was well-founded and the matter would be taken back to the service responsible for the assessment to provide their rationale.

Councillor Maney queried whether it was anticipated that staff sickness levels would fall to in line with the national average or just back to their previous level.  The Director of Finance and IT admitted that they were not falling enough and it was unlikely to meet the national average soon however the systems in place were stronger than they had been in all the time he had worked for Thurrock Council.  He was confident levels would reduce, but how quickly they would fall to the national average was another question.

The Chair questioned whether there was any differentiation between sickness as a result of surgery complications and those who had to attend surgery, and whether there was a level acceptability for of unintended but unavoidable cases such as those resulting from a car crash rather than a mountaineering accident per se.  Anyone who had time off relating to surgery was categorised in the same way and it was not within the policy to differentiate.  As part of the wider process sometimes it reached the point that the period became detrimental to the service and a sickness stage three could be triggered.  This stage could lead to dismissal.  The process was not pleasant however the Council had a responsibility as staff wages were funded through tax payers’ money and there was a duty to provide services.  There was a finite amount of flexibility however increased ability for staff to work from home helped avoid this situation.

RESOLVED:

1.    That Standards and Audit Committee noted the items and details contained in the Dashboard (Appendix 1).

2.    That Standards and Audit Committee noted the ‘In Focus’ report (Appendix 2), which included the key items identified by the review.