14th Local Authority Treasurers Investment Forum & Finance Directors’ Summit 2022

Tony Travers is a professor in the LSE’s Government Department and an assistant dean in the LSE’s School of Public Policy.  Research interests include public finance, urban politics and London government.  He has been an advisor to a number of UK Parliamentary committees. 

He was a Senior Associate of the Kings Fund from 1999 to 2004, and also a member of the Arts Council’s Touring Panel during the late 1990s.  From 1992 to 1997, he was a member of the Audit Commission.   He was a member of the Urban Task Force Working Group on Finance.

He is a research board member of the Centre for Cities and a board member of the New Local Government Network. He is an Honorary Member of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance & Accountancy.  He chaired the London Finance Commission (2012-13 and again in 2016-17) and was a member of the City Growth Commission (2013-14).

He chaired an independent commission examining local government finance in Wales and the London Finance Commission (2014 and 2017).  He was co-chair of the King’s Commission on London.    

He has published a number of books on cities and government, including Failure in British Government The Politics of the Poll Tax (with David Butler and Andrew Adonis), Paying for Health, Education and Housing   How does the Centre Pull the Purse Strings (with Howard Glennerster and John Hills) and The Politics of London: Governing the Ungovernable City.  Most recently, he published London’s Boroughs at 50.

Meg Hillier is the Member of Parliament for Hackney South and Shoreditch and Chair of the Public Accounts Committee since 2015. The cross-party committee scrutinises the value for money of public spending and holds the Government to account for the delivery of public services. First elected in 2005, Meg has been a junior Home Office Minister and Shadow Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change. 

After a substantial career in local government, including roles as Chief Executive, two as Chief Financial Officer and, also Police Authority Treasurer, Tony was appointed Chairman and Chief Executive of the Commission for Local Administration in England and Local Government Ombudsman. Subsequently, he was a Local Government Boundary Commissioner, Treasurer of Unicef UK and Vice Chair of the Consumer Council for Water. Most recently, Tony led the Redmond Review into the effectiveness of Local Audit and the transparency of financial reporting in local government. His current roles include Chair of the Improvement and Assurance Board at Nottingham City Council, Course Director at Public Administration International, covering dispute resolution and governance, and Chair of Cipfa’s Charities and Public Entities Board. Tony was Knighted for services to local government in 2010 and is a Past President of Cipfa.  

Ben Funnell is Head of Investment Solutions and is responsible for the macro and asset allocation process at CCLA, having joined in September 2022

Previously Ben spent 18 years managing multi asset funds at Man Group / GLG Partners LP, the London based hedge fund.  He started his investing career with a decade at Morgan Stanley where he was Chief European Strategist and sat on the firm’s global asset allocation committee

Ben was educated in Modern Languages at Durham University

Hetal is Senior European Economist with responsibility for providing macroeconomic analysis and forecasts for the UK and euro area economies. She joined LGIM in 2011 from Daiwa Capital Markets where she held the role of UK economist and topped the Sunday Times Economics league table for best UK forecast. Prior to that, she was a senior economic adviser to the Ernst & Young ITEM Club and an economist at the Oxford Economics Consultancy where she led coverage for a number of European and Asian countries as well as working on numerous bespoke economic modelling projects. Hetal has also worked for HM Treasury and the Office for the Deputy Prime Minister. Hetal graduated from the University of Bath and holds a BSc and MSc in Economics.

Olly is a senior economist working in the Institute for Government’s public finances team. His current projects focus on the cost of living crisis, energy policy, and the role of the Treasury.

Before joining the Institute, Olly worked in the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy where he researched UK growth, productivity and investment. Before that he worked on forecasting, econometrics, and macroeconomic strategy within the Economics Group at HM Treasury. He holds a BSc in Political Economy and an MSc in Behavioural and Experimental Economics.

Kelly is responsible for managing relationships with our clients.

Kelly joined CCLA in 2019 after 16 years finance and accountancy experience attained in both public and private sector. Kelly is a chartered accountant by background and her role prior to joining CCLA was Chief Finance Officer (Section 151 Officer) of a District Council in Local Government. Kelly has held a number of senior roles within local government and private sector and has a wide range of experience, managing finance, procurement and property amongst other services.

Kelly is a member of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) and is currently a member of the National CIPFA Council as well as involved with volunteer roles in her home base of the Midlands.

Luke is CIO at the Greater London Authority, where his team oversees financing major infrastructure investments, corporate treasury, collective investment arrangements for the GLA and its partners, and pensions policy. As part of that role, he is the managing director of London Treasury Limited, the GLA’s regulated asset management subsidiary. He splits his time between City Hall and the board of the Pension SuperFund, a consolidator of corporate DB schemes, which he co-founded and launched in 2018.

He has worked in pensions and asset and liability management since 2005 and as Chief Finance and Risk Officer of the London Pension Fund Authority from 2013-15, played a leading role in spearheading the consolidation of Local Government Pension Schemes through the creation of LPP, the first pooled LGPS vehicle.

Luke is an active volunteer in public finance, currently Vice Chairman of CIPFA’s Capital and Treasury Management Panel, which drafts statutory prudential guidance for the public services and a member the Public Sector Deposit Fund’s Advisory Board. He is a former member of the Bank of England’s Money Markets Committee. Outside of finance, he is a Senior Judge at the International Wine Challenge and an investor, board member and occasional gymnastics coach at CFLDN, the East London gym that brought CrossFit to Europe. His questionable fashion choices include the frequent wearing of bow-ties.

Amanda Healy is the Head of Finance for the Capital Programme and Treasury Management at the London Borough of Brent. She has had responsibility for the strategic treasury activities over the past 3 years and has undertaken the Council’s first private placement as well as a structured lease financing arrangement for the delivery of affordable housing.

Christine Golding is the Chief Accountant at Essex County Council.  Christine has a spent a significant proportion of her career working in local government corporate finance roles, with a particular focus on technical accounting and treasury management.  As her job title implies, she currently leads on all aspects of Essex County Council’s financial / technical accounting (including production of the Council’s statutory financial accounts and leading engagement with the Council’s external auditor).  However, she also has responsibility for the Council’s treasury management activities and for ensuring compliance with the prudential framework.

Tim Seagrave is group finance lead for capital & treasury management at Manchester City Council. An economics graduate, Tim began his local authority finance career at Newcastle City Council, and moved back to his birthplace to join Manchester City Council in 2009. He has experience in directorate finance as well as corporate, including working on the city council’s response to local authority funding settlements and leading on the early stages of business rates reform for the city. Tim moved onto treasury management in 2010, and during his time with the treasury team he has managed the Council’s debt and investment portfolios and overseen the HRA debt settlement, including repayment of LOBOs. Since 2014 Tim has also led the team responsible for the financial management of the Council’s capital programme, from project inception through to accounting for schemes, and has led on the development of a new capital approval process. A CIPFA member, Tim attends CIPFA’s Better Governance Forum.

Victoria has worked across all areas of finance at Guildford, starting in management accounts.  The opportunity to take on treasury and capital came 12 years ago, and she hasn’t looked back!  She evolved the treasury function at Guildford and really diversified their investment portfolio.  Guildford only have long term HRA debt, but that will change.  When Victoria took on the role, the capital programme was tiny.  Now they are looking at major regenerations in the borough, which keeps everything really interesting.  Victoria is a member of the CIPFA treasury management network panel and the BoE Money Markets Committee, being the local government rep.  After restructures at Guildford, she is the lead specialist and deputy s151 officer – but treasury will always be a keen area of interest!

Gopi Karunakaran is Ardea’s Co-Chief Investment Officer. In this capacity Gopi shares responsibility for overseeing the investment process and investment team, with ultimate accountability for ensuring the performance of all portfolios is consistent with client objectives.

Gopi joined Ardea in 2017, prior to which he was a global fixed income portfolio manager at hedge funds in London and Singapore. He commenced his career with Deutsche Bank in Sydney, on their graduate training programme, before moving to a fixed income trading role in their London office.

Gopi has +20 years’ experience across global fixed income markets, including the full spectrum of global interest rate and credit markets, as well as broader macro relative value investing across equities, FX and structured products.

He has a Master’s degree in Finance from The London School Of Economics And Political Science (LSE) and a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from The University Of New South Wales.

Will has more than 20 years’ experience in the London Money markets, having started dealing with the local government sector in 2002. Specialising in fixed income & negotiable instruments, alongside cash dealing, Will is expert in dealing with both rising and falling markets to maximise client investments working within a range of risk profiles. Will has comprehensive knowledge of the custody service offered by King & Shaxson and utilised by a wide range of clients to hold negotiable instruments.

Dennis Gepp was a founding partner and the Chief Investment Officer at Prime Rate Capital Management LLP, from 2007 until the company was acquired in early 2012 by Federated Hermes, Inc.  Since then, he has been Managing Director of Federated Hermes (UK) LLP, and CIO of the cash business until December 2022.  Since January 2023 he has concentrated on regulatory matters as Head of European Regulatory Affairs.

Dennis was Treasurer of Brown Shipley & Co Ltd, private bankers, responsible for the management of the bank’s liquidity and asset and liability management from 1992 until 2007. During the previous 19 years, he held senior positions in the Treasury Departments of CIBC (Europe), Middle East Bank, Baring Brothers, Iran Overseas Investment Bank and Bank of America International. He has been Honorary Treasurer of ACI UK – the Financial Markets Association, the world’s largest association of financial markets practitioners, a member of the Board of the Institutional Money Market Fund Association (IMMFA) and chair of IMMFA’s Investment Committee.  He is currently a member of the STEP (Short Term European Paper) Committee, EFAMA’s Trade, Trade Reporting and Market Infrastructure Standing Committee and MMF Working Group, Irish Fund’s MMF working Group and Fitch’s European Short-Term Investor Advisory Council.

Danny is Head of Corporate Finance at Warrington Borough Council responsible for all aspects of the Council’s corporate finance function and climate change.

Danny is an expert in treasury management, capital accounting, programme management, transformation, regeneration, governance, climate change and the commercialisation agenda.

Dennis Gepp was a founding partner and the Chief Investment Officer at Prime Rate Capital Management LLP, from 2007 until the company was acquired in early 2012 by Federated Hermes, Inc.  Since then, he has been Managing Director of Federated Hermes (UK) LLP, and CIO of the cash business until December 2022.  Since January 2023 he has concentrated on regulatory matters as Head of European Regulatory Affairs.

Dennis was Treasurer of Brown Shipley & Co Ltd, private bankers, responsible for the management of the bank’s liquidity and asset and liability management from 1992 until 2007. During the previous 19 years, he held senior positions in the Treasury Departments of CIBC (Europe), Middle East Bank, Baring Brothers, Iran Overseas Investment Bank and Bank of America International. He has been Honorary Treasurer of ACI UK – the Financial Markets Association, the world’s largest association of financial markets practitioners, a member of the Board of the Institutional Money Market Fund Association (IMMFA) and chair of IMMFA’s Investment Committee.  He is currently a member of the STEP (Short Term European Paper) Committee, EFAMA’s Trade, Trade Reporting and Market Infrastructure Standing Committee and MMF Working Group, Irish Fund’s MMF working Group and Fitch’s European Short-Term Investor Advisory Council.

Mike is Director of Investment at Lancashire County Council responsible for Treasury investment and debt management as well as a broader commercialization brief.  Mike was Chief Investment Officer for Lancashire County Council and Lancashire County Pension Fund since 2009, having previously held a similar role with Cornwall County Council and was responsible for the joint venture with LPFA which became LPP, ahead of the Governments pooling agenda. Mike graduated in Physics with Economics from Imperial College London, and has over 35 years of experience as a rates, currency and fixed-income proprietary trader and market maker, as well as debt/capital markets experience having established the Euro-Commercial paper and Euro-Medium Term Note operations at Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch. Mike has held a number of senior posts across a wide range of rates proprietary trading, market making, debt origination, structuring and risk management positions at Bank of America, UBS, Merrill Lynch, SG Warburg and Morgan Stanley.

Tim is the Head of Pensions & Treasury at the London Borough of Haringey, where he is responsible managing the Council’s pension fund investments and administration functions. Prior to joining the team, he trained as an accountant at the London Borough of Ealing before moving on to a similar role at the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham Pension Fund where he was awarded the LAPF Investment Rising Star Award in 2020.

Tim has always maintained a keen interest in finance, studying accounting at A-Level, before going on to graduate with a bachelor’s degree in Accounting and Finance from Lancaster University.

Tim Seagrave is group finance lead for capital & treasury management at Manchester City Council. An economics graduate, Tim began his local authority finance career at Newcastle City Council, and moved back to his birthplace to join Manchester City Council in 2009. He has experience in directorate finance as well as corporate, including working on the city council’s response to local authority funding settlements and leading on the early stages of business rates reform for the city. Tim moved onto treasury management in 2010, and during his time with the treasury team he has managed the Council’s debt and investment portfolios and overseen the HRA debt settlement, including repayment of LOBOs. Since 2014 Tim has also led the team responsible for the financial management of the Council’s capital programme, from project inception through to accounting for schemes, and has led on the development of a new capital approval process. A CIPFA member, Tim attends CIPFA’s Better Governance Forum.

David Green is a director of Arlingclose, the local authority treasury advisers. He is a fellow of the Association of Corporate Treasurers and a CIPFA qualified accountant.

David is the strategic lead on Arlingclose’s approach to investment strategy and credit risk management, ensuring clients earn a suitable risk-adjusted investment income while remaining within their risk appetite. He is also a key member of Arlingclose’s technical team, maintaining relationships with CIPFA and DLUHC. He writes and delivers the annual workshops on investment strategy and accounts closedown.

Previously, David worked in the private sector for five years as a treasury manager where he managed the cash flows and banking activities of a large leisure business. He then joined the West Sussex County Council corporate finance team as Treasury Manager and then Principal Accountant. David joined Sterling Consultancy Services in 2008 and in 2011 was promoted to Head of Consultancy before moving to Arlingclose the following year. He joined the board of Arlingclose in May 2021.

David is a regular speaker at external conferences and blogs on treasury management issues on www.room151.co.uk.

Currently head of local authority capital and accounting in DLUHC since May 2019.  My team has policy responsibility for all matters to do with the Prudential Framework and wider LG capital system and for matters related to local authority financial reporting. Formerly government auditor at National Audit Office for 14 years, specialising in financial audit, value for money reporting and project and programme delivery. Fellow of ICAEW.

Victoria has worked across all areas of finance at Guildford, starting in management accounts.  The opportunity to take on treasury and capital came 12 years ago, and she hasn’t looked back!  She evolved the treasury function at Guildford and really diversified their investment portfolio.  Guildford only have long term HRA debt, but that will change.  When Victoria took on the role, the capital programme was tiny.  Now they are looking at major regenerations in the borough, which keeps everything really interesting.  Victoria is a member of the CIPFA treasury management network panel and the BoE Money Markets Committee, being the local government rep.  After restructures at Guildford, she is the lead specialist and deputy s151 officer – but treasury will always be a keen area of interest!

Charlotte is responsible for managing equity portfolios.

Charlotte spent the first 15 years of her career at Newton Investment Management where she was a multi-asset and subsequently a global equities manager for UK and international pension funds. She joined CCLA in 2016 from EFG, where she was a senior portfolio manager.

Charlotte read modern history at the University of St Andrews, holds an MA in history from College of William & Mary, Virginia, and an MBA from Cranfield. She holds the Investment Management Certificate and the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.

Cameron Shaw is a portfolio manager in the investment team focusing on interest rate strategies and risk management.

Cameron has over 13 years’ experience with a focus on Relative Value strategies. Cameron also has overall responsibility for the development and delivery of Ardea’s risk framework. Cameron monitors and briefs the team on evolving approaches to best practice in the field of risk measurement and management.

Cameron joined Ardea in 2013. Prior to Ardea, Cameron worked in London where he held various risk management roles including head of risk and performance at Ashmore Investment Management. Before moving to the UK Cameron was Head of Investment Analytics at Challenger in Sydney.

Cameron received a Quantitative Finance degree from the University of Newcastle.

Nick Edwardson, Senior Investment Specialist, is a member of the Multi-Asset Group. His role is to support the team in articulating how the company’s products and investment process aims to add value for clients. Prior to his current role, Nick was the managing director of a successful small business outside of the financial services sector. Prior to that, he worked for Matrix Group in the Pan-Euro equity sales team where he was responsible for sales, marketing and account management for Scottish institutional clients. Nick began his career as a soft commodity futures and options trader, before joining ING Wholesale Banking’s UK Institutional Equity Sales team latterly becoming Head of Edinburgh Office. He has been in the industry since 1995 and started with the firm in 2016. Nick served in the British Army and studied Russian at the University of Exeter.

Tony Travers is a professor in the LSE’s Government Department and an assistant dean in the LSE’s School of Public Policy.  Research interests include public finance, urban politics and London government.  He has been an advisor to a number of UK Parliamentary committees. 

He was a Senior Associate of the Kings Fund from 1999 to 2004, and also a member of the Arts Council’s Touring Panel during the late 1990s.  From 1992 to 1997, he was a member of the Audit Commission.   He was a member of the Urban Task Force Working Group on Finance.

He is a research board member of the Centre for Cities and a board member of the New Local Government Network. He is an Honorary Member of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance & Accountancy.  He chaired the London Finance Commission (2012-13 and again in 2016-17) and was a member of the City Growth Commission (2013-14).

He chaired an independent commission examining local government finance in Wales and the London Finance Commission (2014 and 2017).  He was co-chair of the King’s Commission on London.    

He has published a number of books on cities and government, including Failure in British Government The Politics of the Poll Tax (with David Butler and Andrew Adonis), Paying for Health, Education and Housing   How does the Centre Pull the Purse Strings (with Howard Glennerster and John Hills) and The Politics of London: Governing the Ungovernable City.  Most recently, he published London’s Boroughs at 50.

Meg Hillier is the Member of Parliament for Hackney South and Shoreditch and Chair of the Public Accounts Committee since 2015. The cross-party committee scrutinises the value for money of public spending and holds the Government to account for the delivery of public services. First elected in 2005, Meg has been a junior Home Office Minister and Shadow Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change. 

After a substantial career in local government, including roles as Chief Executive, two as Chief Financial Officer and, also Police Authority Treasurer, Tony was appointed Chairman and Chief Executive of the Commission for Local Administration in England and Local Government Ombudsman. Subsequently, he was a Local Government Boundary Commissioner, Treasurer of Unicef UK and Vice Chair of the Consumer Council for Water. Most recently, Tony led the Redmond Review into the effectiveness of Local Audit and the transparency of financial reporting in local government. His current roles include Chair of the Improvement and Assurance Board at Nottingham City Council, Course Director at Public Administration International, covering dispute resolution and governance, and Chair of Cipfa’s Charities and Public Entities Board. Tony was Knighted for services to local government in 2010 and is a Past President of Cipfa.  

Ben Funnell is Head of Investment Solutions and is responsible for the macro and asset allocation process at CCLA, having joined in September 2022

Previously Ben spent 18 years managing multi asset funds at Man Group / GLG Partners LP, the London based hedge fund.  He started his investing career with a decade at Morgan Stanley where he was Chief European Strategist and sat on the firm’s global asset allocation committee

Ben was educated in Modern Languages at Durham University

Hetal is Senior European Economist with responsibility for providing macroeconomic analysis and forecasts for the UK and euro area economies. She joined LGIM in 2011 from Daiwa Capital Markets where she held the role of UK economist and topped the Sunday Times Economics league table for best UK forecast. Prior to that, she was a senior economic adviser to the Ernst & Young ITEM Club and an economist at the Oxford Economics Consultancy where she led coverage for a number of European and Asian countries as well as working on numerous bespoke economic modelling projects. Hetal has also worked for HM Treasury and the Office for the Deputy Prime Minister. Hetal graduated from the University of Bath and holds a BSc and MSc in Economics.

Olly is a senior economist working in the Institute for Government’s public finances team. His current projects focus on the cost of living crisis, energy policy, and the role of the Treasury.

Before joining the Institute, Olly worked in the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy where he researched UK growth, productivity and investment. Before that he worked on forecasting, econometrics, and macroeconomic strategy within the Economics Group at HM Treasury. He holds a BSc in Political Economy and an MSc in Behavioural and Experimental Economics.

Kelly is responsible for managing relationships with our clients.

Kelly joined CCLA in 2019 after 16 years finance and accountancy experience attained in both public and private sector. Kelly is a chartered accountant by background and her role prior to joining CCLA was Chief Finance Officer (Section 151 Officer) of a District Council in Local Government. Kelly has held a number of senior roles within local government and private sector and has a wide range of experience, managing finance, procurement and property amongst other services.

Kelly is a member of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) and is currently a member of the National CIPFA Council as well as involved with volunteer roles in her home base of the Midlands.

Chris Tambini is Director of Corporate Resources and s(151) at Leicestershire County Council and President of the Society of County Treasurers. He has worked at the County Council for many years and prior to that worked at Nottingham City Council, PwC and the London Borough of Lewisham where he qualified as Cipfa. He has varied non-work interests including cycling and allotment gardening.

Peter is the Director of Finance at the London Borough of Bromley.

He takes an active interest on social care and health matters and is the Honorary Secretary of the Society of London Treasurers

Peter’s authority was a Public Finance Awards Winner in 2021 for ‘Excellence in Asset Management’ which mainly reflects the Council’s outstanding treasury management and pension fund performance.

John is the Council’s Strategic Director of Finance and Governance and the Council’s statutory “section 151” Chief Finance Officer.

He has worked for Waltham Forest since August 2011. 

The Finance and Governance Directorate includes: Legal, Democratic Services, Electoral Services, Data Governance, Council Tax and Business Rates collection, Housing Benefits and Council Tax Support, Procurement and Strategic Commissioning, Business Intelligence, Complaints, Internal Audit and Fraud teams, Treasury and Pensions Fund Management, and Financial Management and Accountancy.

John has worked in Local Government for 47 years starting in 1975.  Prior to working for Waltham Forest John worked for the London Borough of Newham for 36 years training and an Accounting Technical and progressing through to the Chief Finance Officer role.  He had worked in a wide range of service and corporate finance posts and spent a number of years in the Education Department as the Assistant Director for Finance and Asset Management (service finance, property and schools facilities management).  Experience at Newham included leading on complex buildings procurement schemes and also experience of ICT and change projects.

John is a qualified accountant and a member of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy and holds a Master’s Degree in Business Administration.  He is currently a member of the CCLA Local Authorities Money Market Fund Advisory Board, and independent member of the Newham College of Further Education’s Audit Committee and, a member of the London Financial Advisory Committee (representative group of London Borough Treasurers).

Zoe is a VP/Senior Analyst in Moody’s Sub-Sovereign Group and holds lead analytical responsibility for ratings on a portfolio of local authorities, housing associations and other government-related issuers in the UK. Prior to joining Moody’s, Zoe worked as an Associate Director at Arup in London, undertaking a range of economic and financial consultancy projects with public and private sector organisations in the UK and internationally.

Zoe holds a BA (Hons) in History from the University of Birmingham, an MPA in Public Economics and Policy from the London School of Economics and is an Fellow Chartered Accountant (FCA) of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.

Alison is the Shared Director of Finance for Watford Borough and Three Rivers Councils leading a well-established shared service arrangement. Whilst both councils have active housing joint ventures and benefit from extensive income generation, they are quite different in density, need and approach to service provision giving a broad experience of the challenges facing Local Government. Alison previously worked for CIPFA as their Head of Standards and Financial Reporting and is currently President of the SDCT.

Dan Bates is a finance specialist at LG Improve. He leads LG Improve’s Financial Resilience function, enabling councils to adapt to a leaner, more outcomes focused way of working.   Working with all types of authorities on financing and funding to modernise financial management, outcomes-based budgeting and well-being and social value. 

With a career in Local Government spanning just over 20 years, and working for a number of different Local Authorities mainly in London and surrounding Districts, Adele has a passion for the positive impact that finance and resource teams can have on our communities and our local areas.  She is a Fellow of CIPFA, as an accountant by trade, and she is currently Resources Director at the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead (RBWM), who she joined in 2020 just as the impact in the UK of the global pandemic was emerging.    She joined at a time when RBWM were going through significant change, even pre-pandemic, thanks to her interest and strengths around cultural and service change, especially assisting organisations on their improvement journeys and true transformation of services.  

Adele also likes to describe herself as an accidental runner (which she can bore you about a lot), and an extremely passionate volunteer in Girl Guiding which predates her Local Government career.  She believes she developed many of her leadership skills and ability to deal with wide-ranging and varied questions and queries through her weekly meetings with young people, which can often mirror working in Local Government!

Alison joined ICAEW in 2020 as the Director of the Public Sector team, which supports members working in and with the public sector to deliver public priorities and sustainable public finances. ICAEW engages with policy makers, public servants and others to promote the need for effective financial management, audit and assurance, financial reporting and governance and ethics across the public sector to ensure public money is spent wisely. 

From September 2021 Alison is also the Director of the Tax team. The tax team leads on being the professional and public interest voice of ICAEW in the field of tax and maintains and enhances the reputation and status of ICAEW by improving the tax system through engagement and making representations to governments and the revenue authorities. It supports ICAEW members practising tax and upholds high standards of technical competence and ethics by creating and publishing high quality resources that help members to be regarded by the public, policymakers and society at large as trusted advisers in the field of tax. 

Alison qualified as a chartered accountant in practice and subsequently worked at HMRC for more than 25 years where she held the post of Commissioners’ Advisory Accountant.

Neil is joining the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) as its first Director of Local Audit from the 12th September 2022. Neil will lead FRCs role and activities ahead of ARGA becoming the system lead for local authority financial reporting and audit. Neil has been a Key Audit Partner for local authority external audits since 2009, both as a District Auditor for the Audit Commission until 2012, and thereafter working for EY. 

Ian is the London Borough of Hackney’s statutory Chief Finance Officer. He is also the lead officer responsible for the major projects of the council including the £500m Britannia site, Regeneration and Capital projects and the Council’s Pension Fund. He holds various senior non executive membership roles in London Treasury Limited and London Energy Limited as well as being a member of SLT, LFAC, SMT and ALATS. He was also elected to the Cipfa Council. Ian is a keen sportsman and avid fan participating regularly in a range of sports including running, football, rugby, tennis, skiing and golf.

Carol is the Deputy Chief Executive and City Treasurer at Manchester City Council . As well as being the S151 officer, she has responsibility for the Corporate Core and for driving a number of priorities such as the leading on the Council’s Zero Carbon Action Plan and as SRO for The Factory and Town Hall projects.  Her previous experience in Manchester has included her role as Deputy City Treasurer responsible for Finance and Performance and ICT as well as being a member of the Health & Social Care Devolution Team, as 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 a number of joint ventures such as Northern Gateway and Manchester Central and for the Greater Manchester Learning Trust.  

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

Mike has spent over 30 years managing or investing on behalf of both public and private sector pension schemes.  Mike became CEO of LGPS Central Limited in March 2018. Since then assets under management have grown significantly, with several multi-billion pound fund launches and investment fund vehicles spanning both public and private markets asset classes. The “One Central” team of investment professionals has also grown and now numbers almost 70, across two offices in the Midlands. Before taking the lead at LGPS Central, Mike was the CEO of Pensions Infrastructure Platform (PiP). Mike joined PiP in 2014 and successfully built the investment and management team, achieved FCA authorisation, launched the PiP Multi-Strategy Infrastructure Limited Partnership and acquired 16 UK infrastructure assets across renewable energy, transport, health and social housing. Prior to PiP, Mike spent five years as Chief Investment Officer for the £2bn pension schemes of DMGT plc, the UK based, global media business. Mike was responsible for investment strategy, portfolio management, oversight of external investment managers and the management of the in-house investment team. Between 2001 and 2008 Mike was Deputy Managing Director of Hermes Focus Asset Management. As a Board member at HFAM, Mike led the UK investment team, managed relationships with the global pension scheme investor base and helped build a profitable third-party client business. Mike began his investment career at Hermes in 1990 as a UK Smaller Companies Equity Portfolio Manager before moving to Mercury Asset Management (Merrill Lynch Investment Managers, Blackrock) in 1997. Since 2010 Mike has served as an Independent Trustee of the Institute of the Cancer Research Pension Scheme and is the current Chair of the Trustee Board. Mike is a member of the 30% Club, a global campaign to increase gender diversity at board and senior management levels.

Philip is Strategic Director of Finance & Investment (S151) at the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham having joined in December 2019. Prior to this he has held roles at the City of London Corporation, East Herts Council and Ealing Council. His early career was spent in the retail and charity sectors.

Becky Hellard was appointed in September 2021 as Birmingham City Council’s Director of Council Management (s151).  Having joined the Council as Interim Director for Finance and Governance in October 2019, Becky has overseen the delivery of financial improvement plans across the Council, strengthening the strategic approach to the Council’s budget, and delivering financial resilience.

Progress on these fronts was recognised as exemplary in an independent report from the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA).  The review of financial management capability against CIPFA’s five-star model and ranked the City Council as a three-star authority – up from the one-star rating awarded in 2019 and delivered a year ahead of schedule.

Becky is a double qualified accountant and has worked in local government approaching 30 years, having held permanent and interim positions in Core Cities, Metropolitan Authorities, County Unitaries and London Boroughs.

The Director of Council Management role has overall responsibility for the Council’s engine room and support services as well as front line services including Revenues and Benefits and Customer Services.  In addition, the post covers aspects such as Performance Improvement, Programme Delivery, IT & Digital, Financial Management, Assurance and Governance Arrangements.  The Director is also the Council’s statutory Section 151 officer.

Sarah is Director of Health and Adult Services in the Royal Borough of Greenwich and Deputy Chief Executive of the Council.  She joined Royal Greenwich in 2019 from Camden Council. Sarah is also President Elect of the Association of Directors of Social Services (ADASS). 

After qualifying as a social worker, Sarah became one of the country’s first specialist HIV social workers when the AIDS epidemic hit west London, creating personalised and community-led responses when traditional care models were failing.  She has 30 years’ experience in Local Government, working in several London Boroughs, including senior roles in commissioning and operational delivery, covering a wide range of Council services.  She was the Director of Adult Social Care in the London Borough of Southwark and Executive Director for Communities in Camden. 

Sarah led national policy for mental health, dementia and disabilities at the Department of Health until 2016.  She was responsible for the introduction of mental health access standards, the Crisis Care Concordat, the Transforming Care programme and implementation of the Prime Minister’s Dementia Challenge. Sarah has held regional ADASS vice-chair and chair roles and was a member of the London Clinical Senate.  She is also a co-chair of the Research in Practice Partnership Board.

Chris Naylor joined Inner Circle Consulting after nearly seven years as the Chief Executive of the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham to focus on “reimagining public services and connecting them fully to the people who need them”. Under his leadership the Council focused on inclusive growth, prevention, civic engagement and public participation and equalities. In 2020 Chris was named Municipal Journal’s Chief Executive of the Year.

He joined Barking and Dagenham from the London Borough of Barnet where he was Chief Operating Officer. Previously he was Corporate Director of Resources in Tower Hamlets and Director of Resident Services at Hammersmith and Fulham.

Chris is a Chartered Accountant and has a degree in Social and Political Sciences from the University of Cambridge, specialising in contemporary social theory. Chris was born and brought up in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, where he was educated at Wickersley comprehensive school.

Leigh is the Deputy Chief Executive and Executive Director of Resources (s151 Officer) at Surrey County Council (SCC). He has been at SCC since 2018, having previously also held s151 roles at the London Borough of Bexley, and the Royal Borough of Kingston (RBK), where he also acted as joint Chief Executive for a period of six months. Leigh started his career at the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham, and has also worked for the London Borough of Hillingdon.

Leigh is a former member of the CIPFA institute council, and a former school governor. He also previously acted as a Director of Achieving for Children, a company then wholly owned by RBK and the London Borough of Richmond. Leigh was named the Public Finance Awards ‘Public Finance Leader of the Year’ in 2020.

Clive Betts began his political career in 1973 and in 1976 was elected as a member of Sheffield City Council.  He became Leader of the Council in 1987, having served on the Housing and Finance committees for several years.  He remained on the Council until his election as Labour Member of Parliament for Sheffield Attercliffe from 1992 until 2010. From 2010 he was the Labour MP for the renamed Sheffield South East constituency and was re-elected in May 2015 and June 2017.

Clive was appointed a Government Whip in 1997 and held the post until 2001. In June 2010 he was elected as Chair of the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee(Formally the Department for Communities and Local Government Select Committee) and has been re-elected following each General Election.

Clive has been a key member on several Select Committees (Department for Environment, Transport and the Regions, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, Department for Communities and Local Government.)  His political interests include economic policy, local and regional government and housing.  He was chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Arms Length Management Organisations, the All Party Football Group and was also chair of the Netherlands Group in Parliament and Joint Chair of the Somali and Somaliland APPG.

Lindsay joined the Resolution Foundation in February 2016. She oversees the organisation’s work on a range of issues including housing, places, labour market enforcement and lived experience.

Prior to joining the Resolution Foundation Lindsay worked for Child Poverty Action Group, the World Bank and Oxfam, developing policies to assist those on low incomes in the UK, transition and developing country economies.

Paul is currently the Lead Financial Consultant to the North East LEP and has been providing financial advice to the North East LEP since 2014. He provides support and assurance to the CFO of the NTCA on LEP funding issues.

Well known for his role as City Treasurer and then Director of Resources of Newcastle City Council and Treasurer of the Tyne and Wear ITA until March 2014.  In 2014 he set up a consultancy firm Paul Woods Finance Ltd and was appointed Chief Finance Officer of the North East Combined Authority in May 2014 and continued to provide technical advice on local government funding to the Association of North East Councils until March 2019.   

Paul has a reputation for innovative financing arrangements and for being an expert in the complexities of the Local Government funding system. He has provided advice to the Association of North East Councils; Core Cities; Shanghai Municipal Finance Bureau and was a member of the LGA core advisor group.  He has briefed MPs in Parliament on Local Government Finance and provided evidence to the Public Accounts Committee.

Justine is passionate about social mobility and levelling up Britain having put it at the heart of the Department for Education’s strategy during her time as Secretary of State, Justine is the founder of the Social Mobility Pledge. 

Her work can best be described as helping organisations deliver on their purpose when it comes to both people and planet. That’s why she plays a role in driving forward the wider agenda with Fit For Purpose, the essential magazine, podcast, videos and events for purpose-led leaders and organisations. The Levelling Up Goals are the first major piece of work from the Coalition made up of the UK’s leading purpose-led policymakers, business leaders and university vice-chancellors.

Justine previously spent 14 years as Member of Parliament for Putney, Roehampton & Southfields including over 6 years in the UK Cabinet under two Prime Ministers, serving as Secretary of State for Education, International Development and Transport, and previously Economic Secretary to the Treasury. Prior to that she spent 15 years in business and industry as a finance professional.

John Stevenson has been the Member of Parliament for Carlisle since 2010. He was the first Conservative to be elected as MP in the seat since 1959.

Aside from his duties as a constituency MP, John is the Chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Food and Drink Manufacturing, Chair of the West Coast Mainline APPG, Chair of the APPG on Family Businesses and a member of the APPG on the Nuclear Industry. He has also been appointed as “Champion” for the Borderlands Growth Deal.

John has a keen interest in business, education and local government reform and was a member of the Communities and Local Government Select Committee and the Committee on Standards. He is a strong supporter of unitary authorities, devolution, and Elected Mayors.  This Parliament he is serving on the Constitutional Affairs Committee and is also a member of the Conservative Backbench 1922 Committee.

Within his constituency John has organised events on growth, education, planning, manufacturing, and nuclear power. Each year he organises and hosts a skills fair for students and jobseekers in Carlisle to meet with local employers where more than 70 businesses and 2,000 jobseekers take part.

John was educated at Aberdeen Grammar School and Dundee University. After graduating from Dundee, John went to Chester College of Law where he studied English Law and subsequently qualified as a solicitor in 1990. He went on to become a partner in Bendles Solicitors, Carlisle, where he still practices.

In the first year of being elected John cycled from Carlisle to Westminster to raise money for the local Hospice, and he has subsequently cycled from Land’s End to John O’Groats for the same cause.