Scout groups are charities, and the Charity Commission expects them to maintain a register of the strategic risks facing the organisation — things like changes in leader numbers, funding uncertainty, or data protection obligations. The Strategic Risk Register in Scoutworks gives trustees and group admins one place to record, rate, and track those risks, with a visual matrix that makes it easy to see at a glance where attention is needed.
This is separate from event-level risk assessments. Those cover specific activities (camp fire safety, trip transport). The risk register covers the group as a whole.
Where to find it
Go to Group Insights in the sidebar, then click the Risk Register tab across the top.
The 5×5 risk matrix
The tab opens with a heatmap showing all active risks plotted by Likelihood (1–5, left to right) and Impact (1–5, bottom to top). Each cell is colour-coded:
| Colour | Tier | Score range |
|---|---|---|
| Green | Low | 1–4 |
| Amber | Medium | 5–9 |
| Orange | High | 10–16 |
| Red | Critical | 17–25 |
Click any cell to filter the list below to just the risks sitting in that position. Click it again to clear the filter.
A badge in the top-right of the matrix shows the total number of Critical and High risks, so they are always visible even before anyone scrolls down.
Adding a risk entry
Click Add Risk in the top-right of the page — or click Add First Risk if the register is empty.
| Field | What to enter |
|---|---|
| Category | Choose the area the risk falls into: External, Operational, Financial, Legal & Regulatory, Governance, or Data Protection |
| Title | A short, clear name for the risk (e.g. "Succession gap — treasurer role") |
| Description | A fuller explanation of what the risk is and why it matters |
| Likelihood | Score from 1 (very unlikely) to 5 (almost certain) |
| Impact | Score from 1 (minor) to 5 (severe) |
| Mitigation plan | What the group is doing to reduce or manage the risk |
| Owner | The trustee or leader responsible for this risk |
| Next review due | When this entry should be revisited |
| Status | Active, Mitigated, Accepted, or Closed |
As you set the Likelihood and Impact scores, the Risk Score and Tier update live so you can see the rating before saving.
Reviewing and editing entries
Click any row in the list to open that entry and edit it. When you save an edit you will see an optional Reason for change field — filling this in builds an audit trail, which is useful for the annual trustee report.
The list can be filtered by Category, Tier, or Status, and sorted by Risk Score, Title, Next Review date, Tier, or Category.
If any active risk entries are past their review date, an amber banner appears at the top of the tab listing how many are overdue.
Removing an entry
To remove a risk entry, open its row menu (the three-dot icon on the right) and choose Delete. You will be asked to confirm before anything is removed. Deletion is permanent.
If the risk has been managed rather than removed, consider marking it Closed or Mitigated instead — that keeps the history visible without cluttering the active list.
The risk register in the board pack
When you export a Board Pack PDF from the Actions menu on Group Insights, the current risk register is included automatically — tier counts, a summary of each active entry, and the names of any overdue reviews. No extra steps needed.
What's next
- Getting Started as a Trustee — how trustees sign in and find Group Insights.
- Managing Trustee Duties and Calendar — tracking annual statutory duties alongside the risk register.
- Risk Assessments for Events — separate from the strategic register, these cover per-activity safety checks.
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What's next?
Related guidesGetting Started as a Trustee
How trustees sign in to Scoutworks, find the Group Insights dashboard, and export a board pack for their next trustee meeting.
Read articleManaging Trustee Duties and Calendar
How to track the six standard trustee duties, mark them complete, and subscribe to the duties calendar feed in an external app.
Read articleRisk Assessments for Events
Three ways to record a risk assessment on any event — build one in Scoutworks, upload an existing document, or confirm it's held elsewhere.
Read article