By Judy Hirst | 2 July 2014
Local government staff need to engage in more ‘measured risk taking’, London Borough of Lewisham chief executive Barry Quirk has told today's CIPFA conference.
In a wide-ranging session, he and Zurich’s chief risk officer, John Scott, discussed the ways that heightened global risks impact on councils and other public bodies.
Scott said that the UK economic recovery was ‘fragile, and not necessarily sustainable’, and that local authorities concerned about their budgets ‘can’t relax anytime soon.’
Macroeconomic risks, along with climate change, cyber risks and societal challenges meant the public sector ‘had to learn to do things in a totally different way’, he said.
Quirk warned that that many authorities and agencies ‘are more concerned about reputation and future professional embarrassment’ than about the very real risks to the public.
This can make staff very risk-averse, and unable to respond to new challenges.
Citing the London riots as an example, he said: ‘We need a much more sophisticated understanding of the services we’re managing.'
