With 17 years of experience in risk management at Hertfordshire County Council, Peter Stanley has gained invaluable insight into both the operational intricacies and broader challenges local authorities face. In this interview, he shares his thoughts on his role, the current difficulties in the sector, and how JCAD CORE is helping to address these issues.
What do you enjoy about your role?
I really appreciate the strategic aspect of my role. Risk management requires me to take a broad view of all the key challenges facing the organisation. I have enjoyed the diversity of people I interact with – from Chief Executives and Executive Directors, to Councillors, Heads of Service, partners, and sometimes frontline staff like social workers and facilities management personnel. It’s fulfilling knowing that my work does add value to key decision-makers across the council, though it’s sometimes hard to recognise this.
What challenges do you face in your business?
One of the main challenges we face is engaging with senior staff. With the increasing number of demands on their time, it can sometimes be difficult to get their attention and input on risk matters. The pressure to prioritise can sometimes mean that risk management takes a backseat, even though it’s an essential part of the decision-making process.
What are the key challenges facing your sector?
The sector is grappling with several challenges at the moment. Devolution and Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) are high on the agenda for many councils, including ours. Alongside this, we are managing pressures related to capacity, funding constraints, increasing demand for services (and complexity of need), the growing impact of demographic changes, the new housing requirements and associated infrastructure developments. On a positive note, these challenges can also open up opportunities, innovation and the use of new technologies will be key.
We also face the urgent need to address climate change and meet net zero carbon targets – these are complex, long-term issues requiring thoughtful planning and resource management.
Do you have any specific risk challenges within your organisation?
As I mentioned, senior staff, who understand and own the key risks, are stretched thin with many competing priorities. The recent organisational review at the council has meant we’ve lost several key risk coordinators, and we’re currently working to fill those gaps. The appointment of a new CEO may also lead to some change in how risk management is approached.
How are you addressing those challenges?
We’re working hard to build new relationships with officers who have a good understanding of risk management and are well placed to support the risk management framework. Where necessary, we provide training to help staff develop their skills. Continuing to have risk conversations with the right people and adding some value to their work will be important in developing the risk culture further.
How long have you used JCAD CORE, and how does it help you?
We’ve been using JCAD since around 2009, and we were early adopters of JCAD CORE. We were also involved in the early releases of CORE 5, providing feedback to help shape its development. The system offers the structure and consistency we need, and once records are in the system, it saves us significant time by reducing manual processes. Through collaboration we’ve found solutions to issues we’ve faced.
What impact has JCAD CORE had on your risk management processes?
I was once told that our risk management framework couldn’t be governed or constrained by our system. With support from JCAD we’ve managed to rise to the challenges that have been presented by successive leadership teams. JCAD CORE has allowed us to provide timely, informed risk management intelligence and reporting, tailored for different audiences across the organisation. The flexibility of the product has been crucial in enabling us to adapt to our evolving needs.
Final thoughts:
Looking ahead, the increasing change both locally, nationally and internationally is creating more uncertainty and Peter sees a strong need and role for risk management specialists; “Change and new challenges will be ongoing, tools like JCAD CORE can help to structure and focus key risk management information, providing key intelligence in the struggle to stay ahead of the game. We will need to continue to adapt, and our improvement journey goes on.”
