Risk management policy

Risk management forms part of the system of internal controls for Leamington and Warwick Musical Society (LWMS) and should be read in conjunction with our Financial Controls policy. That document sets out in detail operational limits within which individuals may act in particular circumstances in order to minimise the risk of fraud or error. Those limits cover amongst other things – control over bank payments and receipts, authorisation and processing of expenditure and approval required at particular levels of decision making.

In addition, the charity expects to meet minimum standards required by legislation and best practice in operational areas covering the following:

IT and data protection
Governance
Health & safety
Management of volunteers

The risk of falling short of these standards is mitigated as far as possible by ensuring that appropriate policies and working practices are adopted in each of these key areas and that members are adequately experienced and trained to manage this. Where necessary, external advice is sought to supplement internal expertise.

Organisational roles

Trustees

To ensure that a culture of risk management is embedded throughout LWMS;
To set the level of risk appetite and risk tolerance for LWMS as a whole and in specific circumstances;
To communicate our approach to risk and set standards of conduct expected of our members;
To ensure risk management is included in the development of business plans, budgets and when considering strategic decisions;
To approve major decisions affecting our risk profile or exposure;
To satisfy ourselves that less fundamental risks are being actively managed and controlled;
To regularly review our approach to risk management and approve any changes;
To receive reports from any relevant parties and to make recommendations arising.

Management Committee

To ensure that risk management policy is implemented throughout LWMS;
To anticipate and consider emerging risks and to keep under review the assessed level of likelihood and impact of existing key risks;
Provide regular and timely information to the Trustees on the status of the risks and their mitigation;
To implement adequate corrective action in responding to significant risks;
To learn from previous mistakes and to ensure that crisis management plans are sufficiently robust to cope with high level risk.

Production team members and project managers

To manage production- and project-specific operational risks and for ensuring that risks are reported upon in a timely fashion to the Management Committee;
To prepare risk assessments as required for specific productions and projects.

This policy was reviewed by the LWMS committee on 4 November 2024, and will be further reviewed at least every 2 years.