- Do you have the framework in place to provide clarity and consensus on the key risks facing the council?
- Is your risk management framework fit for purpose or is it overly complex and theoretical?
- Is the management of enterprise wide risks effectively embedded?
- Is the reporting of risk up and down the council relevant, timely and sufficient to enable effective mitigation?
- Do you consistently avoid ‘surprises’ relating to the materialisation of risks that you had / should have been able to foresee?
- Are your internal audit, business continuity, fraud prevention and other assurance functions efficiently and effectively integrated with your risk management processes?
- If you have answered no to any of the above, how can you be confident that you are meeting good practice risk management and governance standards?
In light of increasing public scrutiny, risk management has assumed significant prominence in councils over recent years. As a result, more and more councils require assurance that extends beyond their financial statements to include their internal controls.
Our capability
PwC has been advising local bodies for many years across the breadth of risk management disciplines, from the establishment of risk management processes and procedures through to the provision of assurance over controls and mitigation strategies.
Complementing these services are specialist investigation and forensic services which implement fraud and information security methodologies. The broad range of services our team can provide include:
- Reviewing and advising on establishment and embedding risk management control frameworks
- Identification and prioritisation of risks relating to key business objectives
- Provision of governance best practice advice for audit committees and boards
- Benchmarking of business and risk processes against international best practice
- Developing proactive strategies to reduce fraud risk
- Assisting in the investigation of fraud including forensic examination of IT assets
- Undertaking reviews of large quantities of data to identify potentially suspicious transactions
- Undertake training in fraud prevention, detection and investigation
- Liaison with law enforcement and civil litigation.
Our track record of delivering value:
- Christchurch City Council, fraud risk review including mitigation programmes
- Wellington City Council, risk management framework development
- Auckland City Council, risk management framework development
- Wellington City Council, business continuity planning
- Annual certification of an SOE’s compliance with the risk management standard AS/NZ 4360
- Whangarei District Council, risk assessment
Each organisation is unique in the risks it faces and the environment in which it operates. For councils, however, the similarities across the country provide greater opportunity for industry specific solutions to be developed, positioning risk management as an essential management discipline within local government.
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