At this year's CIPFA annual conference, Zurich Municipal highlighted the importance of taking a long-term view when it comes to implementing austerity measures.
Through an interactive survey*, a workshop and the launch of our latest briefing paper – Tough Choices: Different perspectives on long-term risks facing local government - we outlined the key risks facing the sector and how local authorities can manage these risks in light of the changing market dynamics. We also highlighted the importance of understanding and considering the total cost of risk, rather than just considering the upfront costs such as insurance premiums.
Our survey* asked delegates what they felt were the two biggest challenges they faced over the next two years - unsurprisingly financial and policy/regulatory challenges were cited as being their biggest issues at 51% and 29% respectively. Meeting demand for services was also rated highly amongst respondents at 29%.
Interestingly, 43% of survey respondents stated that their organisation views risk on a ‘whole risk’ basis, meaning that they look at all parts of their organisation and network. This is a change that has happened over recent years and something that we are actively encouraging all local authorities to do, particularly with such a huge emphasis being placed on cost savings. Having a ‘whole risk’ approach to risk means that organisations can better understand and manage the risks that they face. The next stage to this is to understand the cost of all of these risks, and not just focus on insurance premiums. This ‘total cost of risk’ approach is one that we will be discussing in more detail throughout the year.
Please contact your usual Risk and Insurance Consultant if you would like to discuss any aspect of your organisation’s risk in more detail or to discuss the findings of our Tough Choices report.
To download a copy of our report, please visit www.NewWorldofRisk.com.
* Survey took place 5th – 7th July 2011 and included 49 respondents from the CIPFA Annual conference.
