Risk is something that dominates our lives but is sometimes hard to define and quantify – not least because it can mean anything from an injury resulting from a fall, going bankrupt the possibility of mass flooding caused by global warming, child sexual exploitation or a terrorist attack.

Devolution is also gathering pace, whether country or regional based and is another area that we in local government, including health and blue light services, are having to come to terms with. A whole plethora of questions arise from devolution, including what it means for local democracy, given the emergence of super combined authorities; where final responsibility/liability lies when things go wrong; how we combine completely different cultures – such as health and local government – in terms of fiscal, non-fiscal and risk attitude. It also begs the question of shared services and innovation in delivery methods leading to transference of risk. And with the combined authorities, where do legacy risks lie? Are insurers ready for the beasts that the super combined authorities will become and the totally different risk profiles they will have compared to an average local authority?

With such a breadth of risks present, Alarm has populated its annual National Conference with educational sessions focusing on these subjects, helping to future proof children’s services, support business continuity planning and mitigate the risk of terrorism, as well as balancing the opportunities and risks presented by devolution.

This year Alarm is also providing intelligence on issues associated with technology that many of us currently face or are likely to in the future, including social media and driverless vehicles.

With this varied and packed agenda, the association is holding its conference in Manchester from 26-28th June 2016, and looks forward to welcoming all professionals managing risk and insurance for public service and community organisations.

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