Andrew Adonis is a senior Labour party politician, academic and journalist. He is a Labour member of the House of Lords and a visiting professor at King’s College London.

He began his career as an academic at Oxford University, before becoming a journalist at the Financial Times and then The Observer. He was later appointed as Head of the Number 10 Policy Unit by Prime Minister Tony Blair and in 2005 was made a life peer and became Minister for Schools, forging Teach First, academies and the London Challenge. In 2008 he became Minister then Secretary of State for Transport, pioneering HS2 and Crossrail. He was founding chair of the independent National Infrastructure Commission until he resigned to fight Brexit. He has authored several books such as “Education, Education, Education: Reforming England’s schools” “5 Days in May: The Coalition and Beyond”, and most recently “Saving Britain: How We Must Change to Prosper in Europe” with Will Hutton.

Asif leads KPMG’s Finance Transformation practice. He has a substantive track record of leading large-scale global transformational programmes across a number of industries and functions. He is a finance expert with extensive experience of all aspects of finance transformation and is one of KPMG’s leading authorities on back office transformation and robotics. He has a specific focus on Finance of the Future, and has produced several articles on the impact this will have, especially on talent. Asif qualified as a CIMA member in 2007.

Stephen is Director for Analysis and Data at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. A government economist by background, he was previously Chief Economist and then Director of the Strategy Unit in the Cabinet Office. He has also worked in the Department of Trade and Industry; the Department of the Environment, Transport & the Regions; the Cabinet Secretariats; and Her Majesty’s Treasury. He is a Continuing Policy Fellow at the Centre for Science and Policy at Cambridge and a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences.

Graham Atkins is a senior researcher at the Institute for Government, working on Performance Tracker, the Institute’s annual data-driven assessment of the government’s performance in running public services. Prior to that, he worked on projects about infrastructure policy-making and private finance. Before joining, he worked at a public sector consultancy, DragonGate, on a range of projects for local government and the broader public sector.

Grace Blakeley is an economist at the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) and the New Statesman’s economic commentator. Her book Stolen: How to save the world from financialisation, which analyses the rise and fall of finance-led growth and how we might move towards a new economic model, will be released in September 2019.

Grace is a prominent voice in the UK media, and features frequently on both radio and TV. She has appeared on numerous high-profile political programmes, including Question Time, Politics Live, and BBC This Week.

Hazel was MP for Salford from 1997 before she stood down at the 2015 election. During a distinguished political career she served as Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Public Health Minister and Chair of the Labour party.

Throughout her career, Hazel has played an active role in supporting charities and social enterprises and encouraging local communities to be involved in designing their own services.

As an MP she was a champion of the Social Value Act, which places a duty on public authorities to consider social, economic and environmental factors during procurement.

She is a member of the Big Society Capital Advisory Board and is a determined campaigner for improvements to dementia diagnosis, care and awareness.

As Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government – and having previously held Home Office responsibility for Crime Prevention, Security and Immigration – James Brokenshire MP has a key role to play in tackling many of the big issues facing today’s public sector. From housing and social care to business rate reform, regeneration of high streets and fair funding, he is responsible for – and ideally placed to discuss – the challenges high on the agenda of public finance professionals.

Photography credit: Chris McAndrew

Andrew Burns is Past President of CIPFA having served as President in 2017/18.

Until December 2018 he was Director of Finance and Resources at Staffordshire County Council with strategic responsibility for Finance, IT, Digital, Property, Commercial and Customer Services and was Treasurer of the Staffordshire Pension Fund.

Andrew led the financial transformation programme that delivered £200m savings and significant service improvement in Staffordshire. He has an MBA from Aston Business School and was President of the Society of County Treasurers in 2013/14.

David Caplan is CIPFA’s Head of Analytics and Research. He has over 30 years’ experience of analysis within the public sector working in both central government and the Audit Commission. He also has carried a range of analytical consultancy project for central and local government, national agencies and the third sector. He has a particular interest in local data. David is a chartered statistician and has an MBA specialising in public sector management.

Ian Carruthers became Chair of the International Public Sector Accounting Standards
Board (IPSASB) in 2016, having been a Board Member since 2010. As a Board Member
he led IPSASB’s work on Long Term Financial Sustainability and alignment between
IPSASs and Government Finance Statistics.
After joining HM Treasury from PricewaterhouseCoopers in 1999, Mr. Carruthers played a
key role in the UK Government’s transition from cash to accrual budgeting and reporting,
in particular leading its Whole of Government Accounts programme. He joined CIPFA in
2006. CIPFA promotes and supports improvements in public financial management and
governance across the public services globally. As part-time Chair, CIPFA Standards, has
been involved in all these aspects of the Institute’s activities, including leading its work
on the role of the public services CFO, and the development of the International
Framework for Good Governance in the Public Sector in partnership with IFAC.

Dr Jo Casebourne joined EIF as Chief Executive in August 2017. Previously, Jo served as Director of Development at the Institute for Government, leading the institute’s work on public services and English devolution, after earlier stints as Director of Public and Social Innovation at Nesta and Director of Research at the Centre for Economic & Social Inclusion.

Jo has spent the last 20 years conducting research on public services, social innovation, disadvantaged groups in the labour market, welfare-to-work, employment and skills, work-life balance and childcare. Jo’s PhD examined the impact of welfare reform in the US and the UK on work and poverty for lone-parent families.

Carol currently has the role of Deputy Chief Executive and City Treasurer at Manchester City Council. As well as being the S151 officer, she has responsibility for the Corporate Core as well as driving a number of priorities such as the integration of health and social care and as SRO for the Factory Project.  Her previous experience in Manchester has included her role as Deputy City Treasurer with the responsibilities of Finance and Performance, ICT as well as being a member of the Health & Social Care Devolution Team, Assistant Chief Executive overseeing Finance and Performance and as the Assistant Director of Finance and Commissioning for Social Services.

She is CIPFA qualified and has a diploma in management and is a member of the CIPFA Council and Chair of the CIPFA Local Government Board.

Carol has a wealth of experience in financial management, governance and assurance and fulfilling trustee roles. She is currently a trustee for the We Love Manchester Emergency Fund as well as of joint ventures such as Matrix Homes and Northern Gateway and the Greater Manchester Learning Trust.

In her spare time she is a Southampton Season ticket holder and enjoys running and walking.

Gareth Davies was appointed C&AG on 1 June 2019. Before his appointment as C&AG, he was Head of Public Services at Mazars, a global accountancy firm specialising in audit tax and advisory services. Prior to this, he was managing director of the Audit Commission’s Audit Practice. He’s also a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy and a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.

Tony has over 25 years’ experience of working in social housing as both an Executive Director and Board Member with a number of different organisations.

He is a member of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy’s (CiPFA’s) Housing Panel and Chair of the Gwynedd Pension Board. His main areas of responsibility with Cartrefi Conwy include business planning, financial management, governance, human resources, insurance and information and communication technology.

Nathan is the Chief Executive of West Sussex County Council. He has leadership responsibility for an organisation that spends and invests over £2 billion each year with over 6,500 staff.

He previously held the position of Chief Executive of the London Borough of Croydon.

He has over 30 years public sector experience having held senior positions with, London Borough of Croydon, Westminster City Council, the Greater London Authority (GLA) and Crawley Borough Council.

Nathan is a member of the Association of County Chief Executives (ACCE) and ACCE spokesperson for Communities and Well Being, a member of the LGA Chief Executive Sounding Board, Advisor to the LGA Safer and Stronger Communities Board, LGA Improvement Board, LGA Corporate Peer Lead, a member of the Localis Advisory Panel, Chair of the West Sussex Chief Executives Board.

He was previously the President of the Society of London Treasurers (SLT) and President of the Association of Local Authority Treasurers (ALATs). He has also served on the Board of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance & Accountancy (CIPFA) and Capital Ambition and was the Chairman of the London Authorities’ Mutual Limited (LAML).

His Personal Achievements include:-

• Who’s Who, in recognition of his wider contributions to Society.
• Power 100 List – Britain’s Most Influential Men & Women.

Director of Finance of the Year for the Public & Voluntary Sector.

David Forster is a senior manager at Zurich, the third largest general insurance company in the UK, and one of the largest financial organisations in the world.

In his 30 years with the organisation, David has performed a number of roles, including Head of Marketing for the public sector businesses.

In 1993, he helped to set up Zurich Municipal, the market leader in risk management and insurance provision for ‘not for profit’ organisations.

In 2000, he co-founded a risk consultancy to assist public bodies with the emerging corporate governance agenda. The consultancy has grown to encompass all ‘not for profit’ sectors in the UK, and is now supporting UK private sector and European multi national businesses.

In 2011, he rejoined Zurich Municipal as a member of its leadership team, to bring a ‘risk based’ focus to the organisation’s business strategy.

He has worked with public sector customers across the UK, developing corporate governance structures, strategic planning, programme and project management and the management of business risk.

Pete has over 35 years’ experience in public sector finance and leadership, having held Chief Finance Officer, Resources Director and Head of Paid Service roles. A CIPFA qualified accountant, he has been Chief Finance Officer at three local authorities and two police forces. During this time he has become renowned for both service transformation and for implementing alternative service delivery models, including innovative partnerships with the private sector.

His currently portfolio at Surrey and Sussex  police forces includes Financial Services,  Procurement, Estates/Facilities and Feet Services.  He is also the SRO for the Police National Commercial Board, and chairs the People sub-group of the Achieving Finance Excellence in Policing programme.

Misha Glenny is an author, journalist and specialist on Eastern and Southeastern Europe, organised crime and cybersecurity. He has served as Central Europe correspondent for the Guardian and the BBC. During the late 1980s and 1990s Glenny reported extensively on the Balkan wars of Independence that followed the collapse of Yugoslavia. Since then he has acted as consultant to several European governments and the EU on the Balkans. Glenny has also advised the US departments of State and of Justice on US-European relationships and on organised crime. He speaks regularly at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Misha is the author of several books on Central and Eastern Europe. Away from European politics, he has written the acclaimed book McMafia (which was adapted into a hit BBC drama of the same title), about the problem of international organised crime which, he believes, may now account for more than 20% of global GDP. Alongside this he has been appointed a visiting professor at Columbia University specialising in ‘crime in transition’ looking at the new world of cyber-crime. He also co-wrote DarkMarket: How Hackers Became the New Mafia looking at examples of the new global criminality and the world of cyberattacks.

Matthew Goodwin is an academic, a bestselling writer and speaker known for his work on Britain and Europe, political volatility and risk, populism, Brexit and elections. He is Professor of Politics at Rutherford College, University of Kent, Senior Visiting Fellow at the Royal Institute of International Affairs, Chatham House and also served as Senior Fellow with UK In a Changing Europe. Matthew is the author of six books, including the 2015 Political Book of the Year and the 2018 Sunday Times Bestseller, National Populism, which was also listed among the 2018 Politics Books of the Year. He has published books with Oxford and Cambridge University Press, dozens of peer-reviewed academic studies in top-ranked journals, reports and briefings. Matthew has consulted more than 200 organisations around the globe, from the UK Prime Minister’s Office to the President of Germany, U.S. State Department, European Commission, Council on Foreign Relations, Deutsche Bank, UBS, JP Morgan, Rothschild and Cie, the Trilateral Commission, Goldman Sachs and Clifford Chance. Matthew also regularly interviews politicians, activists and campaigners from across the spectrum and appears regularly in international media himself, including BBC News, Financial Times, New York Times and Politico.

Jane Green is Professor of Political Science and British Politics at the University of Oxford and a Professorial Fellow of Nuffield College. She is a Co-Director of the British Election Study, the longest running social survey in Britain, which has provided data and unparalleled understanding of British elections since 1964.

Jane is also Director of the Gwilym Gibbon Centre for Public Policy at Nuffield College, and an Election Analyst for ITV News, providing analysis in the 2015 British general election, the 2016 EU referendum, the 2016 US Presidential election and the 2017 British general election.

Conrad Hall is the Corporate Director of Resources for the London Borough of Newham, his second s151 role having been the CFO at the London Borough of Brent for six years previously.  Prior to that he has held senior finance roles in London local government, including at the London Borough of Lambeth where he won the Accountancy Age UK Accountant of the Year award for his role in turning around the financial position there.

Conrad has chaired CIPFA’s Local Authority Accounting Panel for five years, and regularly contributes to discussions on the interaction between public policy and local authority accounts

Born and raised on a beef farm in Staffordshire, Darren is rooted in the world of food production. He has worked as a trustee of Waste Watch, an environmental charity, and held a series of government advisory roles, covering food safety and other regulatory matters.

Darren joined Borough Market in October 2016; navigating the huge impact of the terrorist attack in June 2017 and leading the market to the next stage in its evolution, focusing on sustainability, seasonality and innovation.

Darren has a wealth of leadership experience. After training as a civil engineer and environmental health officer, he made his name in local government, first with Barking and Dagenham, then Thurrock, and latterly in Ealing. Over the past 20 years, he has built a reputation as a specialist in place-based development programmes, including the delivery of environmental services and affordable housing.

As a long-term resident of southeast London, with a track record in public service across several London boroughs, Darren has an acute understanding of the community that this market is here to serve. It is this, paired with his considerable experience of managing major projects on behalf of multiple stakeholders, which makes him so suited to leading this world renowned food institution.

Malcolm Hewlett is a former CFO, Operations Controller, Accountant and Legal Company Secretary. He has more than 25 years of experience implementing and managing IT solutions, and now is a Senior Account Executive for insightsoftware. He has worked across all industries, including the Public Sector, and has Finance, Procurement, Supply Chain and HR experience. Malcolm is also a father of three and volunteers with MOD and Waterway restoration.

Nigel Hiller joined South Yorkshire Police in December 1995. He has portfolio responsibility for Corporate Finance, Facilities Management, Information Systems, Supply Chain Management and Vehicle Fleet Management. Since joining South Yorkshire Police and in order to gain an understanding of policing issues, Nigel successfully completed the operational commanders programme at the police staff college, Bramshill, together with an advanced diploma in management from the University of Manchester. He is a member of the ACPO Finance Committee and ACPO Procurement Sub-Committee. Nigel is married to Susan and has two children. His outside interests include being proud to serve as a Governor at Netherthorpe School, Staveley, Derbyshire, which was founded in 1572 and which he attended for his secondary education. His other interests include walking by the coast, Formula 1 and anything to do with four wheels! Nigel is a qualified accountant and a member of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy and also a Fellow of the Chartered Association of Certified Accountants. Nigel is the NPCC lead for Vehicles.  In terms of professional commitment outside the force, Nigel is presently a member of the Institute Council of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) and chair of its Police & Fire Panel he is also past chair of the Chartered Association of Certified Accountants Public Sector Committee. He is also the new President of the Yorkshire and Humber region Executive Team.  Nigel is a member of the Association of Chief Police Officers of England and Wales. Prior to joining South Yorkshire Police Nigel worked in local government at the District of Bolsover and in the National Health Service at Rotherham Health Authority, North and South Derbyshire Health Authority and Trent Regional Health Authority. RESPONSIBILITIES: Director of Resources, Nigel Hiller is responsible for: Corporate Finance, Vehicle Fleet Management, IT, Facilities Management, Regional Procurement, HR His thematic responsibilities are: Technology and assets, value for money.

Victoria joined the RTPI in April 2018 and utilises her 20 years’ experience and expertise in the fields of planning, transport and organisational leadership and development to drive forward the vision and strategic priorities for the 25,000 member strong RTPI. At a time when the profile of town planning and placemaking has never been higher, Victoria is looking forward to playing her part in making the case for investing in planning and planners, to deliver quality outcomes for future generations to come, and put planning centre stage.

Victoria is passionate about planning great ‘liveable’ places for people, with an unrivalled insight into London’s governance; having worked for all three Mayors of London. Prior to the RTPI, Victoria was Chief Executive Officer of the Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation, where she established the UK’s second Mayoral development corporation. Prior to this she was Head of Transport for the Greater London Authority, and before that held a variety of roles in Transport Consultancy and Local Government. In 2017 Victoria was made a fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers and in 2018 joined the Council of the National Infrastructure Planning Association. An experienced public speaker, Victoria recently judged the 2018 Construction News Awards, and is delighted to be a judge for the 2019 European Women in Construction and Engineering Awards.

Simone Hines became Executive Director (Resources) at Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council (NBBC) in June 2018; she shares responsibility for the strategic direction and work of the Council with the Executive Director (Operations).

Previously she was Director of Finance and Procurement with the same authority, having taken on the role in 2010. Prior to that Simone worked for Coventry City Council where she undertook her CIPFA qualification. She holds a degree in International Studies and Political Science from Birmingham University.

Simone is a founding director of NBBC’s highly successful commercial operation, NABCEL, which is amongst the most innovative public sector enterprises in the country and considered to be a national model of good practice. Simone is President of the Society of District Council Treasurers, representing district councils on the MHCLG working groups on the Fair Funding Review and Universal Credit.

Beyond her professional role, Simone is Treasurer for a local homeless charity, working in a voluntary capacity.

Gaby Hinsliff is a Guardian columnist, political columnist and interviewer for Grazia magazine, writer, blogger and former political editor of The Observer. For over 12 years she covered politics for The Daily Mail and then for The Observer, developing an astute inside track on the exercise of power and the development of policy.

Leaving Cambridge University in 1990 with a first class degree in English, Gaby worked first for the Grimsby Evening Telegraph before joining The Daily Mail in 1996. She worked as a news reporter and health reporter before becoming political reporter in 1997.

She was headhunted by The Observer in 2000 as chief political correspondent and, in 2004, became the youngest then political editor of a national newspaper. She has closely followed both the rise – and otherwise – of New Labour, and the remaking of the Conservative party.

Gaby specialised in the point at which politics, social affairs and policy meets. As one of very few women to have worked at this level in political journalism she has an intriguing take on working motherhood and the challenges facing women in public and corporate life.

Gaby left The Observer in November 2009 to concentrate on a broader portfolio of writing, policy and new media projects. She is interested in making politics accessible and entertaining, tackling it with a wry sense of humour. She is currently political editor of Grazia Magazine.

Her broadcast work has included appearing as a commentator and newspaper reviewer for Radio 4’s Today programme, Sky News, ITV, BBC and Radio 2’s Michael Ball Show. Gaby is a regular freelance writer for clients such as the Guardian, Grazia magazine and Red magazine. Her book Half a Wife: The Working Family’s Guide to Getting a Life Back was published in 2012. She is a prolific blogger and tweets about politics, family life and everything in between via @gabyhinsliff.

Gaby is an experienced chair of public conferences and debates for a range of voluntary and public organisations. Her particular interests include health policy, employment policy, issues affecting women, social affairs, new media and equality issues.

Laura Hough is the Head of Research and Development for Counter Fraud at CIPFA and is currently leading a review for MHCLG on the risks of fraud and corruption in local government procurement. She was formerly the Deputy Head of Counter Fraud Management at the British Council, leading on the prevention and detection strands of the Counter Fraud Strategy. She is a Chartered Accountant (ACA) and has over 10-years experience working as a forensic accountant and on financial and fraud investigations. This experience spans a range of different sectors: private practice in a specialised forensic accountancy firm covering a range of different matters; working for the Financial Services Regulator (FSA/FCA) on often high-profile regulatory and criminal investigations; and more recently in the not-for-profit sector as the Counter Fraud Specialist for the West and Central Africa Region at Save the Children. Laura has led investigations in sometimes challenging locations, as well as managing staff in overseas locations to carry out investigations.

Caroline joined the Foundation in January 2015 to support development of the Foundation’s policy work and national programmes. Built on the experiences of the 700+ charities the Foundation funds across England and Wales, she looks for opportunities to champion small and local charities, push for change on issues that affect the sector and support small and local charities to influence change. She has developed national programmes in the domestic abuse, sexual violence and criminal justice sectors and works with Lloyds Banking Group to explore how their services can best support people facing complex social issues.

Adrian Johnson is the Managing Director – Commercial Services for the Cartrefi Conwy Group. He is responsible for the commercial growth and diversification of activities in order to bring more income into Cartrefi Conwy through growing the business and creating new opportunities. He is a member of the Chartered Institute of Housing and has worked in the affordable housing sector for 17 years.

Adrian has been with Cartrefi Conwy since its creation in September 2008. He managed the Welsh Housing Quality Standard programme, looking after more than £50 million worth of housing investment to bring Cartrefi Conwy properties up to standard. He made sure we successfully achieved this milestone in December 2012, with fantastic value for money and quality delivery. Since 2013, Adrian has also directed Cartrefi Conwy’s day to day repairs and empty properties programme, creating an efficient and effective Building Maintenance Unit which delivers value for money, substantial savings and a quality service for our tenants.

Since 2016, Adrian has been leading on the growth strategy and services for Creating Enterprise (a wholly owned subsidiary of Cartrefi Conwy). Creating Enterprise’s mission is to be the “social contractor of choice” delivering property maintenance, facility management and new build services including modular build to private and public sector clients. At the same time, Creating Enterprise offers employment and training opportunities to out of work Cartrefi Conwy tenants. Creating Enterprise is growing from strength to strength with a secured order book of £50 million over the next 5 years.

Suzanne has worked for a range of public service organisations including a housing association, the Environment Agency and local authorities. Suzanne also has a number of years as a consultant focussing on organisational development, business improvement and performance improvement working with NHS organisations, local authorities, not for profit organisations, charities and government departments. Suzanne is a member of  the Students and Members Board and a past President of the Institute of Revenues Rating and Valuation. Suzanne served as Treasurer and Board Member on Peterborough Environment City Trust which is a charity committed to environmental sustainability.  Suzanne has experience of commissioning and procuring services for local authorities from a range of providers as well as having been a provider of such services in the past.

Sony Kapoor is an economist whose experience stretches from central banking and highfinance to charities and policy makers. His focus and that of his think-tank Re-Define is to find a solution to the global economic crisis and define the reforms needed to avoid a recurrence.

Having trained as a chemical engineer, Sony moved into business and started his career in commercial banking at the International Credit and Investment Corporation, one of India’s top banks before working in leveraged finance at Lehman Brothers in London and Aquila Energy. He then left the financial sector to work on reforming the financial system and improving public policy-making.

Sony has since been a strategy adviser to the ministry of foreign affairs in Norway, and to Oxfam, and has headed Development Economics at Christian Aid. He has been a member of the board of various international NGOs including Eurodad (European Debt & Development), the international Tax Justice Network and Stamp out Poverty. He has been a consultant on international finance and development at the World Bank, the United Nations and several governments in the developed and developing worlds, He has also helped set up the intergovernmental task force on illicit financial movements.

Although an expert on a wide range of global economic and developing world issues, Sony is particularly informed about the euro and Europe. He is Chairman of the Banking Stakeholder Group of the European Banking Authority, has served as a Visiting Fellow at the European Commission dealing with economic governance, financial reform and the euro crisis, and was a member of the panel advising the European Parliament’s special committee on the crisis.

Sony continues to advise parliaments, government bodies and social organisations around the world and is frequently featured in international media including the FT, Le Monde, Bloomberg, BBC, Sky and Handelsblatt.

Nick Kibel is an experienced Networker and a highly skilled tender writer and bid winner, with over 60 public and private sector wins to his name. He started working on RFQs in 2007, and went on to be awarded scores of tender wins within the Private sector, Local Authorities, Universities and NHS trusts. Punching well above his weight, he’s won RFQs against household names including BMW, PayPoint, NCP and Volkswagen. Nick has a track-record of increasing the overall scores of responses and improving win-ratios many times over!

He is available to advise on – and win – Public & Private sector Procurement exercises.

Through his business Cleartone.net, Nick also works in Company Formations with Accountants, offering a new revenue stream for those who form companies on behalf of their clients.

Ian is the Executive Director for Resources and Head of Paid Service for West Lindsey District Council. Ian started his career in the private sector and whilst working in the public sector has experience of all levels of local government, non-departmental pubic bodies and charitable trusts. Ian is also a Further Education College governor and a trustee of a personal support and housing charity.

The first person to coin the expression ‘food-miles’, Tim Lang has been Professor of Food Policy at City University London’s Centre for Food Policy since 2002. He was directly responsible for founding Sustain, the highly influential network of non-governmental organisations concerned with the health of our food supply. After a PhD in social psychology at Leeds University, he became a hill farmer in the 1970s in the Forest of Bowland, Lancashire which shifted his attention to food policy, where it has been ever since, advising government and global bodies on sustainability and food security.

Jonathan Last has worked for CIPFA since November 2016, first as Web Editor before being promoted to Content Manager. He is part of the Content and Communications team, with duties that include managing the Institute’s TISonline subscription service and editing publications.

Jonathan is an editorial professional with a range of experience across various sectors. Most recently he worked for top-ten professional services firm Smith & Williamson and before that RIBA, the Royal Institute of British Architects.

Michaela Lavender is an experienced journals publisher having worked as a managing editor for Taylor & Francis and then for Public Money & Management (www.tandfonline.com/toc/rpmm20/current). She has taken PMM from an unranked minor quarterly to a major international periodical publishing eight issues per year.

Emma is a member of the Executive Committee, sits on the NewRiver REIT (UK) Limited Board and is principally responsible for NewRiver’s Scotland and Northern Ireland Portfolio which includes acquisition, asset management, development and disposal. Emma’s responsibilities also include oversight of NewRiver’s property management, rent collection and the Environmental, Social and Governance programme. Emma is a qualified chartered surveyor with over 20 years of experience in the retail property market. Emma also sits on the Commercial Committee of the BPF.

Prior to joining NewRiver in 2012, Emma was an asset manager and retail agent for national and Scottish practices.

Chris Mason is a Political Correspondent, reporting on all events from Westminster on radio, TV and online. He’s reported from all over the world, and on all types of stories, but has come to particular prominence covering Brexit.

Having wanted to report on the news since he was a boy, Chris joined ITN as a trainee. He’s gone on to cover stories ranging from football matches in Kazakhstan, an earthquake in Italy, and scandals in Formula 1, to the Brevik attacks in Norway, the birth of Kosovo, the trial of Radovan Karadzic in The Hague, the World Santa Congress in Copenhagen and many other events and incidents besides, from over 20 countries around the world.

Since the UK/EU referendum, Chris has been on the frontline of covering the intense, unpredictable political fallout for all of the BBC’s channels with a digestible and entertaining style of delivery. He regularly appears on BBC Breakfast, Radio 4’s Today programme, the Jeremy Vine Show and the news bulletins on BBC One. As well as regular updates for TV and radio he fronts the BBC’s Brexitcast podcast, alongside Adam Fleming, Political Editor Laura Kuenssberg and Europe Editor Katya Adler.

Chris has also served as Radio 5’s political reporter, as the BBC’s Europe Correspondent which saw him based in Brussels for two years, and is also a regular on Radio 5’s Question Time Extra Time.

Rebecca is Associate Technical Director, Research and Development at CIMA, specialising in the public sector.

Her recent publications focus on public sector talent management, NHS costing and local government transformation programmes.

Rebecca is a Fellow of CIMA, a member of Accountancy Europe’s public sector expert group and a visiting lecturer at the University of Greenwich.

Sophie is an Executive within Grant Thornton’s audit department. Sophie began her career in the Bristol office where she performed the In-Charge Auditor role on a number of NHS and Local Government clients. She is currently on secondment to the Grant Thornton office in Vancouver, Canada where she leads on not-for-profit and pension audits. Sophie has been a member of the CIPFA Student Network Executive throughout her audit career and is the Network President for 2018/19.

Nicholas (Nik) is Chief Executive of the Bridge Group, a charitable association based at King’s College that advises Government on education policy. He is also Partner at More Partnership, Europe’s leading consultancy supporting universities and charties on major gift fundraising, and corporate relations.

Prior to these appointments, he worked in the USA, at the University of Warwick, and was most recently Director of Corporate Relations at the University of York. He is an established expert in diversity and inclusion, having been a researcher and advisor to many of the UK’s leading organisations, including EY, the BBC, the University of Oxford, the Cabinet Office, the Wellcome Trust and Linklaters.

Nik is a Fellow and Associate at the University of York , and a regular speaker at international conferences. He holds an MBA (London) with distinction, is on the KPMG Inclusive Leadership Board, and a trustee of the Unite Foundation (disbursing over £8.5m to support disadvantaged young people access university).

Aileen has been Director of MHCLG & Local Government VFM at the NAO since July 2013 and leads the NAO’s value for money work on local government. She has published reports to Parliament on financial sustainability of local authorities, most recently on the position of the sector in 2018 after 8 years of funding reductions. She has also reported regularly on the local economic growth landscape and on Adult Social Care, one of the key services provided by local authorities. One of her recent outputs Progress in setting up combined authorities builds on previous work in Devolving responsibilities to cities in England: Wave 1 City Deals and Local Enterprise Partnerships examining at the government’s steps in devolving power and responsibility as the Government’s programme of devolution gets underway. She has published Housing in England: an overview and Homelessness in England assessing trends in homelessness and the government’s measures to combat its rise. Last but not least, a report on the halting progress on integrating health and social care, the interface between health and social care highlighted that despite 20 years of trying, this key question in public policy remains unresolved.

Roy is a Fellow of  CIPFA whose career has straddled the public and private sectors.   Roy joined RP Martin in 2015 having spent 20 years in the public sector in a variety of senior roles, his last being  Deputy S151 of a London Borough helping them deliver in excess of £100m of corporate savings and to win numerous LGPS investment awards.

As CIPFA’s  Educational Development Manager in the late 1990’s he managed the redevelopment of the Professional Accountancy Qualification. After leaving CIPFA,  Roy worked as an independent consultant, specialising in pension and treasury management. During this time he co-authored an MSc in Public Sector Treasury Management with Nottingham Trent University. Following the Icelandic banking crisis, Roy was appointed Chair of CIPFA’s Treasury Management Network and helped establish CIPFA’s Pensions Network.

Roy holds a degree in Criminology from the University of Westminster.

David Phillips is an Associate Director at the Institute for Fiscal Studies who leads its work on devolved and local government finances. As part of this he and colleagues are analysing trends and outlook for local government funding and spending, highlighting key issues for the Fair Funding and business rates policy reviews, and assessing options for local tax reform and devolution. This work pays particular attention to the financial incentives and risks involved with different policies – which is a focus of the IFS’s work on Scotland and Wales’ new fiscal frameworks as well.

David also helps lead the IFS’s work on tax policy in low and middle income countries, regularly travelling to Ghana and Ethiopia to support their governments on a range of issues – including the interactions between national and regional/local tax policy and administration.

Alongside his work at the IFS, David is a member of the Welsh Government’s Tax Advisory and Local Government Finance Reform Working groups, and a member of the Scottish Parliament’s Expert Advisory Group for finance issues.

Joanne Pitt is an experienced local government adviser and has 25 years of public sector experience. Joanne worked in key areas including business rates, council tax and housing. Joanne has authored a number of publications including Balancing Local Authority Budgets and Investing in Social Housing. These publication have helped CIPFA influence the public sector agenda, a role that Joanne sees as vital in times of economic and political pressure. She is currently working on the CIPFA Financial Management Code and areas of financial resilience.

Rhiannon Price has been the head of publishing at CIPFA since 2011 and has responsibility for CIPFA’s technical publishing programme. She is a publishing professional with nearly 20 years’ experience of commissioning, writing, editing and design. Before working at CIPFA Rhiannon has worked in health, social policy and education.

Sir Tony has had a long and substantial career in public service, in particular local government. He is a past President of CIPFA and currently chair’s the Institute’s Charities and Public Benefit Entities Faculty Board.

He was Chairman and Chief Executive of the Commission for Local Administration and Local Government Ombudsman for a period of nine years, as well as a Local Government Boundary Commissioner for a period of seven years.

His previous roles have included Chief Executive of the London Borough of Harrow, Finance Director of Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council and Treasurer to the Merseyside Police Authority.

He is currently the Deputy Chair of the Consumer Council for Water, Treasurer of Unicef UK, and also an Associate Consultant at Public Administration International. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, and a Fellow of the Institute of Revenues, Rating and Valuation.

Sir Tony was knighted for services to Local Government in 2010.

Joining NHS Wales in 1990 as a national Financial Management and Accountancy Trainee, Rebecca has held a number of positions across South Wales.  These include being the Director of Finance of two Health Boards for a combination of 14 years leading both to financial break-even.

For 18 months from July 2014, Rebecca held the position of Chair of the All Wales Directors of Finance during which she actively supported the creation of the NHS Wales Finance Academy, taking personal leadership of the Partnerships Programme.

In April 2016 Rebecca took a unique personal development opportunity to work in Aneurin Bevan Health Board as Associate Director of Finance for 1 year during which she completed the Value Based Healthcare Programme at Harvard Business School.

Appointed as the Director of the NHS Wales Finance Academy in March 2017, Rebecca has a drive for the Academy to be leading edge in the development of finance people and functions with the ambition for finance staff to continuously add value to the organisations we support and the population we serve in Wales.

Notable highlights since being in post have been delivering the keynote address at the launch of Rolls-Royce plc’s own Finance Academy, broadcast live around their world-wide sites and supporting the Finance Academy to win both the 2018 Leading Wales Organisational Award for Inspiring Great Leadership and 2019 Public Finance Award for Finance Training and Development Initiative.

Rebecca is Vice Chair of her local primary school board of governors and has numerous outside interests including being member of Cardiff National Ice Skating Club and playing a variety of musical instruments.

Brian qualified as an accountant in 1980. With over 40 years’ experience, he is a leading national expert on public financial management.

Brian is the Finance Commissioner for Northamptonshire County Council. He was appointed to this role by the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government. As a Commissioner he exercises executive powers for all functions associated with strategic financial management, governance and scrutiny. Brian has also taken up the role as the Associate Director of Local Government at CIPFA where his key role is to further develop strong links between CIPFA and local government treasurers’ societies and the sector more generally.

He is trustee of the Centre for Public Scrutiny (CfPS) which is the leading national organisation promoting and supporting excellence in governance and scrutiny across public services. He is a director of the Local Government Mutual Ltd. The company offers a cost-effective alternative to traditional insurance for all local authorities in England. He is also a director of the UK Municipal Bond Agency. The Agency aims to provide loans to local authorities as an alternative to PWLB loans.

Previously Brian has been a director of the Consultative Committee of Accounting Bodies (CCAB). The CCAB’s core purpose being to promote sustainable growth in the UK economy through the UK accountancy profession. The accountancy profession forms a central part of the professional and business services sector which contributes £166bn to the economy each year.

Brian is a former President of the Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA). The Institute has 14,000 members who work throughout the public services, in national audit agencies, in major accountancy firms and in other public bodies where public money needs to be effectively and efficiently managed. As the President he visited a number of countries encouraging sound public financial management. He is also a former President of the Society of County Treasurers and the Association of Local Authority Treasurers. He was also a financial adviser to the Local Government Association. This involved providing advice on a range of financial issues affecting local authorities in England and Wales.

Prior to his role as a Commissioner, Brian’s career included being the Chief Financial Officer for Leicestershire County Council and Staffordshire County Council. During his time at Leicestershire the authority was awarded the LGC Council of the Year. He previously worked for a number of local authorities including the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames.

Having previously worked for a London borough, county council and in the private sector, Adrian joined Sevenoaks District Council in 2006 as the Finance Manager and has been the Chief Finance Officer since 2013.  Sevenoaks has a balanced 10-year budget, is financially self-sufficient and has a Property Investment Strategy that is delivering new income.  In 2017, Sevenoaks became the LGC Council of the Year and was also the overall winner at the CIPFA Public Finance Innovation Awards.  Adrian is a member of the Executive Committee of the Society of District Council Treasurers.

Sara Sabin is an ACA qualified accountant, former introvert and entrepreneur, trained in UK tax.

She been involved in innovative business start-ups since leaving the corporate world in 2016, both as a Founder and as part of the team. Always with a focus on making it easy for professionals and high achievers to achieve career satisfaction. Networking is a big piece of the puzzle and a skill worth mastering.

Sara believes that “effective networking” is not a skill you’re born with, but one that can be developed. Even, if you’re an introvert! Everyone should be able to network easily and accelerate their career. Whether you’re looking to move job, get promoted or transition to a new career.

Duncan Selbie is the founding Chief Executive of Public Health England. Prior to 2013, he was Chief Executive of Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals, the regional teaching hospital for the south east of England. From 2003 to 2007 he was the Director General of Programmes and Performance for the Department of Health and subsequently its first Director General of Commissioning. Before this, he was Chief Executive of South East London Strategic Health Authority and before that Chief Executive of the South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust. He joined the NHS in January 1980.

Photo © Guzelian.

Innovate UK is the UK’s innovation agency and is now part UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). With an annual budget of over £1.2bn, Innovate UK works with people, companies and partner organisations to find and drive the science and technology innovations that will grow the UK economy – delivering productivity, new jobs and exports. Rob started his finance career at the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham and has worked in both policy and finance business partnering roles at HM Treasury and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy prior to his appointment at Innovate UK. Rob is a CIPFA member and qualified in 2007.

Ryan is the Founder and Chief Executive of Bright Blue. He founded the organisation in 2010 and finally became the full-time Chief Executive at the start of 2014. Under his leadership, Bright Blue has grown significantly in size, reputation and impact. Ryan was previously a Research Fellow for the think tank the Social Market Foundation and was part of the team that won Prospect Magazine’s Think Tank of the Year in 2012. Prior to 2010, he was a researcher for Rt Hon David Willetts MP when he was Shadow Education Secretary, where he authored the Conservative Party’s Childhood Review. Ryan is a Visiting Fellow at King’s College London. He is a trustee of the Early Intervention Foundation, and was previously a trustee for the Young Women’s Trust (2014-2019) and the Daycare Trust (2010-2015). He sits on the advisory council of the University of Bath Institute for Policy Research, National Council for Voluntary Organisations, and Shelter’s Big Conversation on Social Housing.

Ileana Steccolini is a Professor of Accounting at Essex Business School. She held previous positions at Newcastle University and Bocconi University. Her research develops at the interface among public administration, management and accounting studies and she has published extensively on public sector accounting, budgeting, performance management and accountability, reform and change processes, governmental financial resilience and inclusion and participation in public services. She is the chair and founder of the Accounting and Accountability Special Interest Group within the International Research Society of Public Management, a member of the Standing Scientific Committee of the European Accounting Association and of the IRSPM board, and Joint editor of Financial Accountability and Management.

Oliver Stopnitzky is a Senior Fraud Prevention Officer at the NHS Counter Fraud Authority (NHSCFA). Oliver leads the NHSCFA’s national work in preventing procurement fraud across the NHS. Research shows that the nature of crime is rapidly changing with fraud the most common type of crime. It is therefore vitally important for organisations to take a heavy stance towards fraud. Oliver is an advocate to creating the right organisational culture in order to tackle fraud and corruption.

Before working at the NHSCFA, Oliver worked as a Technical and Development Advisory at CIPFA Counter Fraud Centre and previously at the Fraud Advisory Panel. Oliver studied his Masters’ degree on Counter Fraud and Corruption Studies at the University of Portsmouth, which focused on the extent of corruption in Afghanistan. Lending in insight and knowledge; he is a regular speaker on counter fraud.

Davina Teeluck, is a Senior Fraud Prevention Officer at the NHS Counter Fraud Authority (NHSCFA). Davina has developed the NHSCFA’s national work in preventing procurement fraud across the NHS. Davina has over 15 years’ experience in countering fraud in the NHS, with an in-depth knowledge in developing policy and fraud prevention measures.

Davina has a passion for understanding how behavioural change can create a positive organisational response to countering fraud. Davina has a background in local security and counter fraud management.

Kathy is the Head of Reporting and Planning for the Oracle Cloud Programme at the Home Office. She is responsible for the successful delivery of a Reporting, Analytics, Planning and Budgeting solutions for HR, Procurement and Finance. Ensuring that their newly implemented systems continue to deliver the day two benefits and the optimization of the platform through robotics and automation and transform the Home Office back-office functions. Kathy has built the inhouse expertise in the New Cloud based Oracle reporting tools in order to support the increase in capability in Data and Analytics via the Government Analytics and Reporting Centre of Excellence, that she leads.  Kathy is a qualified accountant, with more than 20 years’ experience working in a variety of Finance and IT roles, in both Public and Private sectors. She’s also a mother of four and has a passion for charity work and running, recently running the London Marathon for the National Autistic Society.

John is an independent adviser and writer on business transformation and innovation.  He is the Vice President of the Association of Accounting Technicians, a former member of CIPFA Council and former a former CIPFA Regional President.   He has been a regular contributor to PF magazine for several years, including writing a monthly column ‘Technology Watch’. He has over 30 years of experience of leading and working on technology-related programmes and projects, in both the public and private sectors, including holding key roles as the Local Government e-Envoy, Director of e-Government for the Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA) and the Technology and e-Government Adviser to the Local Government Association. He is the Executive Director of e-ssential Resources, which provides advice, consultancy and support to public and private sector bodies.

Harvey began his career in the British Army.  After Sandhurst, he was commissioned into the Royal Irish Regiment and served in various locations including operational tours in Northern Ireland, Bosnia, Kosovo and Sierra Leone. Since leaving in 2000, he has spent the best part of the last 19 years working in the public and voluntary sector. The majority of roles he has held during this time, have been leading large scale operations across the UK, specifically this has been in the areas of homelessness, disability, care, grant giving and employability.

As Chief Operating Officer for ILF Scotland, Harvey not only deputises for the CEO, but is responsible for operational delivery, IT, health and safety, information governance, facilities, risk, resilience, human resources and organisational development. He is a Trustee for the Queen Mary Roehampton Trust, Champion for Family Friendly Working Scotland and a volunteer for Poppyscotland.  He lives in Edinburgh with his family and is a very keen (if not particularly good) cyclist!

Christian is responsible for PFM’s local government advisory business in the UK.  Having started his career in investment banking, Christian spent 11 years in business and financial planning in local government before helping to establish the UK Municipal Bonds Agency as credit officer and programme manager.  

Rob Whiteman has been CEO of CIPFA since October 2013 during which time the institute has seen its accountancy student footprint extend to 80 countries and new specialisms launched in areas such as counter fraud. Rob has been chair of the North East London STP since 2016.

Previously, Rob has held CEO roles at the Home Office for the UK Border Agency (UKBA) and the Improvement & Development Agency (IDeA). He was CEO of LB Barking & Dagenham from 2005 to 2010 and non-executive roles have included the Department of Energy & Climate Change (DECC).

Carolyn Williamson is Deputy Chief Executive & Director of Corporate Resources for Hampshire County Council and is responsible for the Corporate Services Shared Partnership arrangement covering the County Council, Hampshire Constabulary, Hampshire Fire & Rescue Service, Oxfordshire County Council, London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham, Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea and Westminster City Council which encompasses Finance, HR and Transactional Services to the partners. This is a unique arrangement which operates across the Public Sector with joint governance arrangements and a cost sharing arrangement to underpin the partnership.

Carolyn is the Chief Financial Officer for Hampshire County Council and Hampshire Pension Fund. Carolyn is also responsible for Hampshire County Council’s IT Service and leads on the Digital Strategy implementation for the County Council.

Carolyn is CIPFA (Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy) qualified, since 1991. Carolyn is President of CIPFA for 2019/20 and has been a Member of CIPFA Council since 2013, having held Chairmanship roles on the Audit Committee and Student & Members Board, as well as attending CIPFA Council and Board.

Graham Wilson has worked in local government for most of his professional life. He became Head of Legal services at Wakefield MDC and subsequentky Chief Officer of that Council until 2002. During his time at Wakefield he became the Legal Advisor to the National Association of British Market Authorities and subsequently in 2002 its Chief Executive.During his tenure NABMA has become the most influential markets organisation in the country and worked with government on a number of projects including the highly successful Love Your Local Market Campaign which is now celebrated in twenty four countries around the world. Graham is a member of the Future High Streets Forum and the London Markets Board. In 2012 he was awarded  the OBE for services to retail markets.

Helen has a degree in Economics and became a qualified member of CIPFA while working for the Audit Commission. Taking up a post as a Lecturer at CIPFA Education and Training Centre (CETC), Helen taught on a range of modules, including Company Financial Reporting, Public Sector Financial Reporting, Business Change Management and Strategic Leadership, but ultimately specialised in the Strategic Case Study, which she has taught for both CIPFA and Kaplan.

For several years she was the senior examiner for the Strategic Case Study exam, responsible for authoring, standardisation and marking, and moderator for the Strategic Leadership exam. Helen moved on to become the Training Delivery Manager and subsequently the Apprenticeship Delivery Manager at CETC, which is the post she holds to date.

A career spent in training and development, which now includes the role of Work Based Learning Coach for CIPFA’s apprentices, to robustly inform the processes designed and managed by the Apprenticeship Team, marks a genuine commitment to helping would-be accountants and financial managers achieve their professional potential.

As Chief Operating Officer at Cheshire West and Chester Council, Mark is a key member of the Leadership Team, responsible for the financial governance, and corporate operations of this large unitary authority.

As part of his wider role Mark is responsible for the strategic direction and management of the £5.5 billion Cheshire Pension Fund.

Cheshire West and Chester Council has also set up a number of alternative service delivery vehicles to provide quality and value for money services to its customers and residents.