Risk Awards

Durham University

Durham University embraced the functionality of Office 365 (including SharePoint, Power BI, and Power Automate) to revolutionise their approach to the management of organisational risk and opportunity across the institution. This has not only enhanced engagement in the overall risk management process but has facilitated enhanced efficiency, reporting and understanding of key risks that could impact on the delivery of Durham’s university strategy and departmental plans.  

Sunderland City Council

Five years ago, Sunderland City Council’s (SCC) Health and Safety Team set out on an ambitious mission: ‘to infuse health and safety into every fibre of our organisation, making it the heartbeat of our culture, our goals, and our triumphs’. Subsequent achievements have delivered empowered leaders, a driven workforce, and a significantly safer workplace.

Durham University

Universities face increased demands to support students and ensure a successful learning and development experience. Durham University has invested an additional £1.3m per annum in this area, making significant changes to enable the institution to meet increased levels of demand and complexity in student support work. This has improved individual resilience across the student population and organisational resilience around workload, consistency, and resource application. 

London Borough of Hounslow

Sustainability and resilience are key to the future of the Borough. Hounslow’s low carbon and net zero ambitions are central to its core values and future planning. ‘These ambitions have been embedded into our corporate plans, policies and frameworks, reflecting our values as an organisation’. Hounslow has engaged residents by launching green schemes within the Borough, including green corridors, allotments and cleaner air directives.

Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council and APCOA

Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council’s Blue Badge Misuse Initiative Team is a joint initiative with the Counter Fraud Unit, APCOA Parking Enforcement and Legal Services. It successfully implemented a renewed scheme to target blue badge misuse. The Team’s actions have resulted in increased prosecutions and community awareness, protecting vulnerable residents. 

Staffordshire Police

Staffordshire Police seek to learn new practices or adopt learnings from colleagues in other organisations. Over 18 months they worked closely with a chief inspector on the Royal Military External Placement Programme. Royal military personnel joined on short term placements to gain experience and for continued professional development. Their work alongside response officers was recognised as one of the best placement schemes, which was shared with the Home Office.

Saskia Richardson, Risk & Business Continuity Officer, Shropshire Council

After completing her MSc in Emergency Management, Resilience & Response and working on the COVID-19 vaccination programme, Saskia joined Shropshire Council in July 2022. Arriving at the beginning of a transformation programme she immediately showed exceptional enthusiasm. Among her many achievements, Saskia has developed a risk environment system to allow projects and programmes to capture opportunities. She has also facilitated risk workshops for new projects, supported the development of service business continuity plans in a self-service electronic environment, and created two online training modules for risk management and business continuity. 

Sunderland City Council's Health & Safety Team

Five years ago, Sunderland City Council’s (SCC) Health and Safety Team set out on an ambitious mission: ‘to infuse health and safety into every fibre of our organisation, making it the heartbeat of our culture, our goals, and our triumphs’. The achievements have delivered empowered leaders, a driven workforce, and a significantly safer workplace.  

Ray Chitty, Head of Tri-Borough Insurance Service, Tri-Borough Insurance Service

Ray is the Insurance Manager for three London boroughs, The City of Westminster, Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea and the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. Since joining the Tri-Borough, Ray has faced numerous challenges, including moving claims handling in-house, and a large multi-party litigation and alternative dispute resolution process. He has managed an extensive insurance programme, including placing insurance for a high valued redevelopment. All on behalf of three councils. 

An experienced practitioner always available to share his expertise, he is also an ALARM South East committee member, and a valued and longstanding supporter of ALARM.  

Chris Walker, Head of Risk Management at Durham University

Chris is an active member of regional and sector groups. He has been passionate about development the housing and higher education involvement within ALARM and currently leads the Board in these areas. He is an ambassador for ALARM and during his time on the Board has streamlined and improved many processes and reporting methods, driven forward business plans, and assisted in developing ALARM’s branding.