Having spent a number of years working in the private sector, my roles in the public sector show that my skills are transferable, both in terms of operational accounting and at the strategic level. I have split this section into two - the things that I have done for the public sector and something that I have not. My experience has been with four public sector organisations, and for three of these I have described these roles in the context of case studies - Oxfordshire County Council (a local authority), the London Development Agency (part of the Mayor of London's brief but funded in the main by central government) and the Olympic Delivery Authority, a Non-Departmental Public Body (or NDPB). Also, I have worked in the health service - the Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust is a large acute and teaching hospital; since the role is similar to other assignments, I have not prepared a case study.
I have prepared a separate paper on the implications for IFRS conversion in the public sector
There were three main achievements at Oxfordshire for which I was responsible:
the important and yearend process. I managed the years ended March 2004 and 2005 which followed qualification of the 2003 accounts. The achievement here was to ensure that the accounts for 2004 were not qualified as the reasons behind the qualification the previous year had not been entirely cleared. The second year saw a change in auditors from the Audit Commission to KPMG, and this process had to be repeated. Neither years' accounts were qualified
for being an important agent for change in the re-implementation of SAP. There were a number of areas where SAP was not providing key financial controls (which was a specific requirement of my role), and these had to be tighted up. This involved getting buy-in for changes to SAP from peer-group finance managers within the Authority
designing and implementing a management accounts format. There were a number of gaps in the format used, so I designed a more advanced format, along the lines shown in this document but with changes specific to the Authority. Again, this needed the buy-in of the peer group of finance managers.
At the LDA, I was a key change agent for the improvement of its BVPI 8 score (which needed changes to the accounting software setup) and for managing its obscure VAT status.
The ODA was a start-up and here the challenge was to set up from scratch many of the processes and procedures that would form part of the organisational culture going forward and in particular in drafting its first statutory accounts using policies that would stand the test of time. Much of the thinking behind the implementation of processes and procedures at the ODA was to anticipate potential questions under the Freedom of Information Act (2000) and, in turn, the reporting systems were set up to reflect this. The ODA has a very high political profile within both Whitehall and Westminster and this work has had to pay particularly careful attention to the requirements of their associated bodies.
These are key experiences that I am able to bring to local government, whether for county, district or unitary authorities as well as for government departments (the ODA is a Non-Departmental Public Body). Although there is no forecasting and budgeting skills listed in these roles, I have substantial experience of operational and strategic forecasting experience from the private sector that can be applied in the public sector, for example Raising Funds From External Sources demonstrates my ability to lead or support a funding bidding process.
Please note that I am not "security cleared".
A role that I haven't done in the public sector is financial analysis and planning. However I have successfully completed the role in a number of organisations in the private sector and also I have shown that I can apply the associated skill, that to make high level presentations at the highest level.
Raising funds from external sources is based around the key skills of business planning and presentation. In public sector terms, this means that based around negotiations with budget holders, I am able to prepare profiled budgets, on an accruals basis, that can be put before, for example a public authority or a government department - the equivalent to a bank in the private sector.
Concluding point
I am experienced in the basic financial skills that are relevant to a public body:These are illustrated in the three case studies given
Financial planning and analysis is the only significant financial skill that is missing from this list and I am confident that I can transfer the skill that I have earned in the private sector can be transferred to the public sector
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