National Audit Office – United Kingdom
Sinopse: We have reported regularly through our Value for Money audit programme that more effective risk management would enable departments to be better informed in their decisions, have a greater likelihood of meeting their aims and objectives, and help them to avoid costly mistakes. A common observation arising from our work is that departments are often overly optimistic in their assessment of the risk to projects and programmes, and the effectiveness of the mitigating actions they take to address risk. Management also tends to consider project risk in isolation, without considering how risks in one project can affect other business priorities.
With the requirement for departments to achieve challenging targets for structured cost reduction whilst maintaining high quality services, the need for effective risk management should not be underestimated. Changes to organisational structures and increased delivery at arm’s-length from government adds to the complexity in identifying and managing risks.
