Risk Awards

Babergh and Mid Suffolk District Councils

Over the last two years Babergh and Mid Suffolk District Council has greatly improved risk management. The Council has embedded a new risk management framework and onboarded cloud-based risk management and performance software. This has integrated risks with performance and organisational outcomes and allowed strategic and operational risks to be managed proactively. It has hugely benefitted the organisation, for example, identifying and mitigating risks with the highest impact score of disaster, allowing for targeted prevention and intervention action. Collectively, the organisation is demonstrating active risk management to drive strategic and operational decision-making.

Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board

Dr. Nesta Collingridge has demonstrated exceptional enthusiasm and innovation in embedding risk management practices within a complex healthcare organisation, impacting the whole of the North Wales Health Board. Nesta led the risk management team to develop live risk dashboards, reducing overdue risks from 53% to 19%, and achieving a 95% quality assurance rate. She has transformed governance processes, improved patient safety, and has built a resilient risk management culture. Her work has been recognised by the Senedd and she has set new benchmarks for risk governance. 

Bristol City Council

Bristol City Council identified an emerging risk from a growth in the number of citizens waiting for Deprivation of Liberty Safeguarding authorisations under the Mental Capacity Act. During 2024, the Council performed a risk assessment on the impact of a growing waiting list. New risk controls were created to drive down the waiting list and improve the care of citizens waiting for a decision. The initiative is also helping maintain public trust in the Council’s ability to perform this vital safeguarding duty. 

City of Edinburgh Council

The City of Edinburgh Council reviewed its approach to risk appetite and tolerance in relation to decision-making and the management of the organisation's objectives. Revised guidance was issued through engagement with the Council leadership team and elected members. The benefits have included: telling the risk story to colleagues and elected members, clarity on Council risk appetite and tolerance, improved decision-making and robust decision-making governance, potential future defensibility, enhanced risk tolerance skills and risk escalation, organisational agreement and consistency, growing risk maturity and an annual review of risk appetite. 

University of Cambridge

In 2021 the primary insurer for the University of Cambridge withdrew from the higher education property insurance market. Unable to demonstrate an understanding of its business interruption (BI) values at risk, the University could not secure insurance for its £7.5billion operational property portfolio. Insurers required vastly improved risk transparency. Three years later, transformed risk and data management has resulted in a £400k rebate from insurers, lifting of restrictive clauses and extended BI cover. The learning and methodology have been cascaded to the UK and USA, through webinars and technical papers. Improved risk transparency is supporting the University to progress towards a self-insurance model. 

Bristol City Council

The popularity of open water swimming in Bristol Harbour and Bristol City Council waterways has grown in recent years, however, this increases drowning risk. Rather than attempting to prohibit and prevent open water swimming, in 2023 and 2024 Bristol City Council used risk management to promote and control swimming activities in Bristol Harbour. This new service improved health, safety, and lifestyle opportunities for citizens, and has reduced the risk of drowning. 

Building Digital UK

Building Digital UK (a UK Government executive agency) delivers gigabit capable broadband to homes and communities across the UK. It works with the commercial market, offering subsidy to intervene and fund connections where the commercial market may not choose to go. BDUK carries out an open market review to understand where interventions can mitigate against the risk of a growing digital divide. The intelligence is used to contract out subsidised build, but it’s a dynamic market. In response to this key risk, BDUK carries out a national rolling open market review three times a year to support project delivery and contract management with the insights to make agile changes to project scope and contracts. This has ensured BDUK risk mitigations of interventions use public money to target the right places.

Epping Forest District Council

During the financial year 2023-2024, Epping Forest District Council experienced an unprecedented level of complaints from residents for missed bin collections from an outsourced provider. The customer satisfaction level was at an all-time low in 2023. Following the decision to bring the service back in house, adopting a risk-based approach at both strategic and operational level, the Council significantly improved the service, with 99.92% of collections completed successfully in the first week. The indirect benefits are reduced pressure on the Council complaints team, more control over the service delivery, and financial costs for the Council with the potential opportunity to expand our offering to neighbouring councils in the future. 

Mencap

Service delivery outcomes depend on risk being accessible to all, but some colleagues can be excluded because the process, approach, concepts, and language are inaccessible. Mencap has reviewed, developed, and rolled out a new risk management policy, ensuring all colleagues - including those with a learning disability - can understand and engage with risk management. This has resulted in better uptake, buy-in and adherence to the risk management policy, and colleagues are more knowledgeable about their responsibilities, with more informed risk conversations and greater collaboration. Importantly, no-one in Mencap is excluded. 

Dorset Council

Across Dorset Council there are fifty service level business continuity action cards that set out how each service will respond to resilience risks. An internal audit recognised services were not routinely reviewing or testing their resilience plans. We improved awareness within services and mechanisms for local level testing with Exercise on a Page. It provides a simple description of an incident with prompts for discussion. The aim is for engagement across the whole team and for learnings to be reflected in business continuity action cards. Every employee can inform the response, and plans are regularly reviewed and updated, improving whole Council resilience. 

London Borough of Sutton

The Sutton insurance team prides itself on its resilience in managing property loss claims. Their contract with AJ Oakes & Partners for loss adjustment services has greatly improved their ability to swiftly address and recover from large incidents. This collaboration ensures efficient loss management, quick turnaround times, and minimal disruption to insured properties. It has also strengthened the team’s ability to recover from major losses, ensuring seamless operations and a smooth process from start to finish. 

Steven Watson, NCFE

NCFE is an awarding organisation and registered educational charity, providing qualifications in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. NCFE’s incident management initiative, led by Steven Watson, Risk and Assurance Manager, represents a transformative approach to resilience. It has addressed siloed processes, embedding a culture of collaboration and continuous improvement. The initiative ensures proactive incident management, robust root cause analysis, and improved organisational response and recovery. The framework has successfully managed nine high-impact incidents, delivering improved governance, streamlined collaboration, and preventative measures. Lessons learned have informed enhanced contingency planning and risk management. 

North Ayrshire Council

North Ayrshire Council developed a comprehensive national power outage planning initiative to enhance community resilience against extended power disruptions. The approach included risk assessment, community engagement, implementation of a hub model, and investment in resilience infrastructure. Stakeholder collaboration validated the plan and ensured efficient resource distribution. The initiative's effectiveness was demonstrated during the Storm Eowyn response, showcasing improved ability to maintain essential services and community wellbeing during outages. This proactive approach was informed by COVID-19 lessons and major weather events.  

Beyond Housing and ID-live

Beyond Housing and ID-live, which provides intranet solutions to boost efficiency and productivity, have supported one another with technical skills and risk management expertise to build a risk management system. Beyond Housing wanted to explore moving risk management software into Office 365, while their existing contractors ID-live wanted to strengthen their risk management tools to support other ICT projects. This collaboration has strengthened the risk management culture at both organisations, while sharing key knowledge and upskilling both partners. The benefit of this partnership includes influencing other areas of the business to assess existing partnerships and contracts for opportunities to share resource and learning. 

Devon & Somerset Fire & Rescue Service

Learn2Live partnership

Learn2Live is a partnership community intervention, organised and led by Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service Road Safety team. It delivers road safety risk reduction interventions throughout the Service area to young people in years 12 and 13, targeted at the highest risk group to help shape better driving habits early on. Learn2Live has been delivered to over 150,000 young people since 2008. From the academic year 2023-4, a new externally created design of Learn2Live has helped students understand hazard perception, inexperience, decision- making and fitness to drive. Data from the Department for Transport shows a reduction in serious and slight injury collisions for the Devon and Somerset Service area. 

East Ayrshire Council and Scottish Fire and Rescue Service

East Ayrshire Council’s Health and Safety Team worked collaboratively with internal colleagues and partners in Scottish Fire and Rescue Service to develop and implement a public focused, battery safety campaign. The Council had two relatively minor fires within their waste recycling facility in 2024 due to lithium-ion batteries and equipment run by these batteries. To tackle this problem, the team developed a warning sticker and bin lorry banner campaign. The aim has been to raise public awareness of the risks of these batteries when they get into the waste stream and to promote safe disposal routes. It is too early to determine success but there has not been a battery fire in the recycling plant since campaign launch in October 2024.  

Scottish Borders Council

The Scottish Borders Council developed a standalone risk management policy and strategy for the Scottish Borders Council Pension Fund, providing multiple benefits to stakeholders by drawing lessons from a successful partnership approach. They streamlined the pension fund risk register, reducing the risks from 51 to 17. Bespoke risk management training was delivered to clarify roles and responsibilities. Additionally, one national and one local risk forum were established to share best practice. The risk management content in the annual accounts was enhanced to demonstrate good governance and provide assurance to stakeholders.  

Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service

Safe + Sound Programme

The Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service's Safe + Sound Programme is a free-to-attend event held across Staffordshire for primary-age children (years 5 and 6), covering a range of safety topics. It employs a multifaceted approach to risk management. This strategy uses interactive mobile pods that create immersive learning environments, allowing children to engage with safety scenarios in a controlled, realistic setting. By collaborating with partners such as Staffordshire Police, HSBC, and the RNLI, the programme integrates diverse expertise and resources, enhancing its effectiveness and reach. This collaborative model not only educates but also empowers the community to proactively manage and mitigate their own risks. 

Devon & Somerset Fire & Rescue Service

The Road Safety Intervention Toolkit was designed by Devon & Somerset Fire & Rescue Service to standardise delivery of road safety education for young road users across the country. This national Toolkit provides blue light services, road safety partnerships, and local authorities with free and diverse options for interventions aimed at young drivers and passengers. Each intervention in the Toolkit has undergone a quality evaluation to demonstrate its efficacy. 

Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service

Staffordshire Police and Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service shared services initiative is a collaboration from that has optimised resource use by sharing services and estates since April 2024. Collaborative work has brought real benefits to how the Fire and Rescue and Police work together to keep communities safe and has delivered significant financial benefits. A joint estates plan has seen Fire and Rescue and Police teams brought together in six modern facilities and the two Staffordshire services now share vital support services. The money saved is redirected to frontline services. The partnership has also delivered efficiencies and benefits such as joined-up approaches to protecting vulnerable people, and joint missing persons searches.  

Staffordshire Police

The number of police motor vehicle accidents and associated costs has been rising. To effectively manage officers and staff, and to implement necessary control measures, a new Driver’s Standards Review group was established in 2023 by Staffordshire Police. Sgt Harris has played a crucial role in the success of the monthly Driver’s Standards Panel by reviewing accidents and providing feedback. 

Dave Young

Sunderland City Council

Dave has quickly established himself as a rising star in his role as a Risk and Assurance Specialist at Sunderland City Council, building on a foundational understanding of risk management from his 30-year career. In just months he implemented transformative changes, including a new risk policy, structured frameworks, and tools like a risk appetite matrix aligned with government standards. His use of technology to streamline processes, enhance communication and gather feedback is revolutionising the Council’s risk management practices. Dave's proactive engagement with stakeholders and commitment to innovation has exceeded expectations, highlighting his exceptional ability to learn, lead, and advance risk management.  

James Donoghue

NCFE

As Risk and Assurance Business Partner at NCFE (an awarding organisation and educational charity) James Donoghue has successfully embraced and transformed the organisation's risk management approach. Tasked with integrating risk management into his assurance remit, he has tackled this challenge with determination and innovation. By establishing risk tolerance indicators and securing executive and board agreements, James has improved decision-making and strengthened governance. His enhancements to risk reporting and its alignment with the assurance map, have delivered clarity and accountability across all levels. James drives innovation, fosters collaboration, and embeds risk as a strategic enabler within the organisation.  

Lorna Whinyates

Avon Fire & Rescue Service

Since joining Avon Fire & Rescue Service in July 2023, Lorna Whinyates has quickly become a significant driver for change and improvement to corporate risk management. Following a successful teaching career, Lorna applies her scientific background and academic experience to acquire knowledge and skills to improve the management and oversight of strategic risk. She has been the force behind progress against our risk management strategy, ensuring correct application of risk appetite and tolerance. Lorna also manages the risk register and meets with risk owners, acting as a critical friend to ensure reports facilitate management awareness, oversight and decision-making. Throughout the risk management process, Lorna continuously demonstrates high levels of engagement and a dedication to achieving the best outcomes for the Service and local communities. 

Oliver Ledger

Department for Transport

Over a year Oliver has driven risk management improvements at the Department for Transport, embedding the new risk policy and strengthening governance. He has built strong senior relationships, established the Risk Leads Forum, and has delivered training to over 350 staff. Now, Oliver is advancing the department's risk maturity model and exploring AI to enhance risk insights. His work has laid the foundation for long-term improvements, fostering a proactive risk culture. 

Corporate Risk Team

Scottish Borders Council

Scottish Borders Council’s Corporate Risk Team conducted a risk management maturity assessment in 2024. The team provided risk management services to three separate legal entities. They streamlined the Council’s Pension Fund Risk Register, reducing the number of risks from 51 to 17. Additionally, they developed a new risk management policy and strategy for the pension fund to help achieve its objectives. The team also delivered customised risk management development and awareness sessions to various stakeholders. To promote best practice, they established a national risk forum and a local integrated risk forum. 

Inspection and Strategic Planning Team

North Yorkshire Police

In North Yorkshire and the City of York, a Mayoral Combined Authority came into existence on 6 May 2024. At this time the risk, business continuity, and inspection services for North Yorkshire Police and North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Services were segregated, and the Inspection and Strategic Planning Team for North Yorkshire Police was created. The team is driving forward an integrated approach to risk management, assurance, innovation, and inspection, providing managers with a superior service to drive performance and governance in a risk-focused manner to achieve the Chief Constable’s vision. 

Legal & Insurance Team

Transport for Wales

In 2020 Transport for Wales Rail took over the Core Valley Lines infrastructure assets, along with the operation of the Wales and Borders train services in 2021. The legal and insurance team transformed their claims defensibility by improving evidence gathering and incident reporting, and by introducing a zero tolerance for spurious and fraudulent claims. Through reviewing daily incidents and working with customer relations, they have reduced claims and improved defensibility: saving public money in the process. 

Risk Management Team

Places for People

The Risk Management Team has led significant transformation at Places for People. Changes have encompassed cultural, technical, and methodological shifts throughout the Group; all achieved without additional resource and without sacrificing service quality. The Team provides risk and resilience services across an unusually diverse group of businesses. By developing a comprehensive strategy; fostering a risk-aware culture; redesigning the framework and standards; implementing a cutting-edge system; and investing in training, the Team has strengthened risk management. They have embedded risk management, driving better decision-making and achieving strategic goals.  

Strategy, Planning, and Insight Office

Durham University

The Strategic Planning and Insight Office supports Durham University to shape its strategic goals, plan how it is going to achieve them, manage risks, and measure success. It does this by providing analysis, insight and advice that informs effective decision-making, ensuring that department, college and divisional plans are evidence-based, effective, and aligned with the University strategy. In addition the Team works with colleagues to ensure decisions about critical actions and investments are joined up and prioritised appropriately. 

Tri-Borough Insurance Service Team

Tri-Borough Insurance Service

Since 2017, the Tri-Borough Insurance Team has self-handled more than 1300 claims arising out of the Grenfell Tower tragedy. Activity has included administering contents schemes, rehabilitation offerings, and navigating complex legal questions in collaboration with solicitors and counsel, as well as reviewing a large amount of data and processing it into easy-to-use formats. All of this has been achieved while ensuring their response has reflected assurances given at the Public Inquiry, and being cognisant of community concerns, while ensuring business as usual services continue for two other London boroughs.