Fife Council faces 17 strategic risks, according to new risk register

The Standards, Audit & Risk Scrutiny Committee approved the latest council risk register on Thursday which named 17 strategic risks that the council is exposed to.

That number has increased from the 13 that were listed in the last risk register from June 2023.

“We now have 17 risks on the Strategic Risk Register covering what we feel are currently all of the strategic level risks to which the council is exposed. If they came to fruition it would impact on the council’s ability to meet its objectives,” said Pamela Redpath, service manager for Fife’s Audit and Risk Management Service

Some of the highest risks include a failure to address climate change; increased inequality; failure to achieve sustainable economic growth; and health deterioration amongst residents.

Each of the 17 risks is given an “inherent” risk rating and “residual” risk rating – which is the real terms risk level when all of the council’s strategies and mitigation measures are considered.

And they are all scored numerically on both the likelihood of the risk and the impact it would have. A score of 1 is the lowest and a score of 25 is the highest.

The risk of failing to address climate change is the highest scoring risk on the register – earning a whopping score of 25 for both its likelihood and impact.

“There is a risk that Fife Council fails to meet its duties under the Climate Change (Scotland) Act,” the risk register stated.

That may result in: asset damage – especially due to flooding; additional health and safety risks from climate related events such as heatwaves, snow, ice, floods and landslips.

Increased inequality scored the second highest on the council’s risk assessment – coming in with a score of 20.

It’s a result of the negative consequences of long-term social and economic change; an inability to address educational inequality; the impact of health and wellbeing challenges on already vulnerable people; the continuing cycle of poverty; the increasing costs of living; homelessness; and more.

And there is a risk that the inequality gap will widen, resulting in increased poverty rates, reduced incomes for people already in poverty, and increasing pressure on services such as housing, social work, and education.

Health deterioration scored a real terms risk score of 15. The likelihood of health deterioration in Fife communities is very high, according to the risk register, but work is ongoing to minimise the impact.

The issue is the result of inequality, poverty, increasing morbidity as a result of obesity, alcohol/drug misuse, ill mental health, poor housing access, an ageing population, and more.

“There is a risk that public health outcomes do not improve and health inequalities increase,” the risk register warned.

The council already has a number of strategies aimed at tackling many of the risks on the register.

Some – such as the Local Housing Strategy – are listed as “fully effective” while others – such as the Fife Economic Strategy, the Local Transport Strategy for Fife and Catchment Flood Management Plans – are only deemed “partially effective.”

“As those controls are strengthened over time the level of residual risk should diminish further,” councillors were told.

The risk register will act as a “new information base-line to build on,” and it will help shape council policy and direction going forward.

Here is the full list of risks on the register. The risks are named as: ICT Failure; Increased Inequality; Health Deterioration; Educational Inequality / Widening Attainment Gap; Roads and Transportation Infrastructure Failure; Loss of Key Buildings; Inclusive and Sustainable Economic Growth in Fife; Failure to Address Climate Change; Poor Corporate Governance and Leadership; Elected Members – Failure to comply with Council Governance and Code of Conduct; Inability to Ensure Public Safety and Protection; Financial Instability; Failure to Effectively Discharge Statutory Health and Safety Obligations; Workforce Challenges; Ineffective Information Governance; Ineffective Transformational Change Agenda / Strategic Planning; Legal and Regulatory Compliance Failure.