The establishment of a robust risk management framework is a long-standing requirement within the CIPFA SOLACE guidance, not only is it a consistent feature of delivery of expectations within the seven pillars of governance but it must be seen as an essential component regarding the transparent management and delivery of the Council’s objectives, given world events and the impact of Local Government Reorganisation which sees significant change in 2027 and 2028 as many two tier authorities move to a Unitary Authority position..

Councils and/or Arms-Length bodies established to enable delivery of core services are complex organisations with a wide-span of operational activity under the constant eye of Council Tax payers, Businesses, the Community, the Media and partner organisations.

Recent headlines regarding fly-tipping, refuse collection, SEND and the refusal of planning applications all demonstrate the need to enhance risk management through introducing risk management software that supports timely identification, evaluation and treatment of risks in a transparent manner.

Accordingly, maintaining a watch on matters which threaten delivery of objectives at a strategic and operational level is pre-requisite to both demonstrating success and delivery of an effective governance statement in the Annual Report & Accounts.

Integral to this is also being mindful of the statutory responsibilities that Councils have to provide, amongst which are a range of services that may result in litigation, intervention and even charges relating to corporate manslaughter:

  • Safeguarding
  • Tree safety
  • Waste collection and recycling
  • Food Safety
  • Taxi licencing, and
  • Housing standards, particularly regarding compliance with Awaab’s Law.

and whilst others are Discretionary, the manner of delivery comprises a plethora of potentially critical risks relating to costs, health and safety and cyber security amongst others.

Managing this complexity on a spreadsheet-based system is a nightmare, not only does the burden often fall on a single member of staff, leading to a lack of ownership by managers and out of date information being reported throughout the management hierarchy, but the challenge of ensuring that a universal approach to enforcing the Authority’s risk appetite through consistent local analysis and evaluation becomes unwieldy.  Moreso, tracking of further mitigating actions can become lost within the other priorities faced by managers, Senior Leadership and Members.

Risk Management software resolves all of these issues and with annual costs representing less than 10% of a Risk Managers salary, there should be no hesitation in at least exploring the benefits that a cloud-based risk management software solution which offers enterprise wide benefits, particularly in relation to:

  • Real time review of exposure to business-critical risks,
  • Dashboard based reporting to provide oversight of the risk delta,
  • Automation of appropriate formal review,
  • Tracking of completion of required further mitigating actions, and
  • All driven by established reminders through email connectivity to ensure effective implementation.

To be accepted the platform must be ‘User-friendly’ both in terms of its set-up and to align with the structure and reporting needs of each Authority and in terms of its use by:

  • Risk Owners – to take responsibility for identification, review and mitigation of risks in their area,
  • Risk Managers – to oversee risk profile of their department, risk owners, the risk environment they are responsible for and the monitoring of actions relating to further mitigation in a timely manner,
  • Leadership Team – oversight of corporate risk and those operational risks currently attracting risk scores above the risk appetite of the Council, Risk Champions – routine transparency of risk movement and profile enabling direct intervention regarding use of the system in accordance with policy.
  • Council, Cabinet and Audit and Risk Committees – full transparency regarding risks faced by the Council and the mitigating actions being proposed through the assurance provided by the use of its risk management software.

Change is constant in local authorities, the structural challenges proposed by the English Devolution paper of December 2024 provide a significant threat to the status quo. There is not only the potential for major shifts in strategic direction, objectives and plans but at an operational level control failure as new bodies manage dual operation or integration of technology. Of course, this will also occur at a time where political composition of Councils will change along with staff changes through retirement, promotion and career moves is likely to lead to loss of skills, systems familiarity and potentially control.

RiskMate risk management software will also allow a Council to allocate risks to dedicated projects or initiatives as result incorporating a straight-forward project management tool which tracks project risk and prompts completion of allocated project tasks.

There are wins here though for internal audit, with the emphasis now firmly upon focus of significance following the introduction of the Global Internal Audit Standards, selection of risk management software that identifies what is significant in terms of risk appetite within the system allows a basis for assurance using a enterprise-wide appreciation of what matters most. Choosing software built on three lines of defence theory will also support identification of policies, along with key controls, sources of assurance, which will support responsibilities regarding assurance mapping and allow recording of those third line sources of assurance that are available in addition to the internal audit plan.

Better still integration of actions arising from internal audit and other assurance reviews can be set as actions within the software and tracked along with other risk mitigation.

There is clearly potential for the merger of internal audit teams within new Authorities and consequently being able to track the identified inherent risks across boundaries along with existing pressures in the form of residual risk and associated further mitigating actions will be fundamental to continuity of good governance.

The essence of good risk management software is to keep it simple, take your managers with you and ensure that your investment in appropriate software improves governance, delivers effective and timely reports on significant risks and reduces the administrative burden on staff already challenged by the pressures faced in a changing public sector environment. Take a look at the free 30-day trial of RiskMate, discuss your needs during the trial period with one of our experienced professionals and if you wish to proceed benefit from the two free days of consultancy which we offer to get the system functional within your organisation.