Local authorities and finance directors recognise the importance of risk management in order to manage their resources well. Lambeth, which won a national risk-management award last year, has established a robust risk-management culture within the organisation. This means that understanding, managing and mitigating our risks is part of our core business. While our services are in high demand against a background of scarce resources, we have addressed these issued honestly and frankly. We understand that from the top level down, we are all accountable for risk. The risk register, through being reported to corporate committee, is a public document. We feel it is best practice to make the register public. We have carried out a common sense test of asking our councillors and managers to start with a blank sheet of paper, and list their top risks and making sure these are reflected on the risk registers. Having done this, and having addressed some painful truths, we now know our business better, and are able to use risk management to maximise opportunities. This allows us to take on ambitious projects and work to improve our services to residents, safe in the knowledge that we have anticipated and mitigated factors which could affect services and resources. Local government should be able to make the most of an ever-changing environment by taking controlled risks. The best way to do this is by empowering staff with a support framework for both their day-to-day business and larger development projects, and by empowering key stakeholders through strong and transparent governance. This places us in an environment which fosters and realises ideas to meet the needs of both the council and its customers. n Mike Suarez is director of finance at Lambeth LBC
