The Tower Hamlets Pensions Committee is preparing to review a fully quality-assured risk register, following discussions at their meeting on Thursday, 30 July 2026. The committee had previously noted a draft risk register which identified 32 current risks across six key categories: Funding and employer, Investment and Pooling, Governance and Oversight, Administration and Systems, Engagement and Communications, and Regulatory and Statutory Compliance. A fully quality-assured version is now slated for approval at their next meeting on 1 October 2026.
During the review of the draft Pension Fund Risk Register for June 2026, presented by Paul Audu, Head of Pensions and Treasury, several areas for improvement were highlighted. Councillor Saied Ahmed sought clarification on the risk scoring system, specifically whether a score of 12 would be classified as 'amber' or 'red'. It was confirmed that a score of 12 falls into the 'amber', or medium-risk, category.
Significant concerns were raised regarding the current allocation of all 32 risks to a single officer, the Head of Pensions and Treasury, rather than to appropriate accountable risk owners. Richard Ennis, Interim Corporate Director for Resources, acknowledged this as a risk in its own right
that needs to be put right very quickly.
Furthermore, the draft register was criticised for not clearly setting out completed controls, further mitigation, mitigating actions, action orders, and delivery dates. To address these clarity issues and enhance the quality and efficiency of the risk register's completion, Mr. Ennis stated, It is highly likely, I would suggest, that therefore we will utilise some expertise to help do this.
The anticipated timeline for this engagement is to have the risk register in a pretty much its near final form, frankly, for the committee to have that proper conversation about
by the October meeting.
Colin Robertson, Independent Advisor to the Fund, described the current risk register as very ambitious
and suggested a simpler, broader version would be more effective initially. He elaborated that typical risk registers contain 12 to 20 points, quite broad points,
and that the current version is much more ambitious than was essential.
Mr. Robertson also noted that a broader approach means less chance of missing things because everything's included,
and that the register should explicitly include mitigating actions taken.
The committee agreed to consider adopting a heat map format for future presentations of the risk register, which would better illustrate the distribution and progress of risks. Councillor Saied Ahmed also inquired about the risk register's impact on the audit process and its relevance to the Audit Committee. Richard Ennis confirmed that the risk register would influence the audit process
and that occasional reports to MAB [Audit Committee] would be beneficial.
The draft risk register was presented as part of the public reports pack for the meeting, available at Public reports pack 30th-Jul-2026 18.30 Pensions Committee.