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HM Treasury/ National Audit Office Conference

Managing risks to Improve Public Services - 8 February 2005

Biographies

Sir David Omand GCB

Permanent Secretary
Cabinet Office

In 2002 Sir David became Security and Intelligence Co-ordinator and Permanent Secretary, Cabinet Office. He is the Accounting Officer for the Single Intelligence Account, from which the three Security and Intelligence Agencies are funded. He oversees the Civil Contingencies Secretariat, and in the event of a major incident requiring central Government co-ordination, he acts as the Government’s senior Crisis Manager. He also acts as the UK’s counter terrorism co-ordinator, overseeing all domestic counter terrorism and crisis management work.
On promotion to Permanent Secretary he took up post as Director of GCHQ in 1996. Sir David took up the post of Chairman of the Centre for Management & Policy Studies in 2001 before moving to his current post.

Rt Hon Paul Boateng MP

Chief Secretary
HM Treasury

Rt Hon Paul Boateng MP was appointed Chief Secretary to the Treasury on 29 May 2002. He was previously Financial Secretary to the Treasury 2001-2002, before that Minister for Home Affairs 1998-2001 and previously Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department of Health 1997-98.He joined Parliament as Member for Brent South in 1987. His career in Opposition included stints as spokesman for the Treasury and Economic Affairs 1989-92 and the Lord Chancellors Department 1992-97. He also served on the Select Committee for Environment 1987-89.He was educated at Achimota, Accra Academy, Apsley Grammar School, Bristol University and the College of Law.

Sir Andrew Turnbull

Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Home Civil Service

Sir Andrew Turnbull was appointed as Secretary of the Cabinet and Head of the Home Civil Service in September 2002.
Sir Andrew read economics at Cambridge University and graduated in 1968. He became an Overseas Development Institute Fellow, working as an economist for the Zambian Government. In 1970, he joined HM Treasury and worked in various posts, including a secondment to the International Monetary Fund from 1976 to 1978. Between 1983 and 1985, he was Private Secretary (Economic) to the Prime Minister then, in 1988, returned to Number 10 as Principal Private Secretary. He returned to the Treasury in 1992.
Sir Andrew was Permanent Secretary to Department of Environment/Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions from 1994 to 1998 then Permanent Secretary to HM Treasury from 1998-2002.

Sir John Bourn KCB

Comptroller and Auditor General
National Audit Office

Sir John Bourn is the Comptroller and Auditor General of the United Kingdom and, since 1999, Auditor General for Wales as well..
Sir John is the head of the National Audit Office employing some 800 staff. He, and the National Audit Office, are totally independent of Government. He certifies the accounts of all UK Government Departments and a wide range of other public sector bodies; and he has statutory authority to report to Parliament on the economy, efficiency and effectiveness with which departments and other bodies use their resources.
Sir John was educated at the London School of Economics where he took a first class honours degree in Economics and a PhD. He has worked in several UK Government Departments including the Treasury and the Civil Service College. Before his present appointment Sir John was Deputy Under Secretary of State for Defence Procurement in the Ministry of Defence.

Suma Chakrabarti

Permanent Secretary
Department for International Development

Permanent Secretary, Department for International Development, since 2002. 1981-88: Senior Economic Assistant and Economic Adviser, ODA. 1988-1990: Assistant to UK Executive Director, IMF and World Bank, Washington. 1990-92: Private Secretary to Rt Hon Lynda Chalker. 1992-96: Assistant Secretary: Aid Policy and Resources Department, ODA. 1996-98: Environment, Transport and Regions Team, Spending Directorate, HM Treasury.1998: Director, Budget and Public Finances, HM Treasury.1998-2000: Director of Performance and Innovation Unit, Cabinet Office. 2000-2001: Head of Economic and Domestic Affairs Secretariat, Cabinet Office. 2001-2002: Cabinet Office, Director General for Regional Programmes, DFID.

Mary Keegan

Managing Director, Government Financial Management
HM Treasury

Mary took up her present role in Government in September 2004, succeeding Sir Andrew Likierman. She is also Head of the Government Accountancy Service and Finance Director of HM Treasury. She was previously Chairman of the Accounting Standards Board and, before that, head of the Global Corporate Reporting Group of PricewaterhouseCoopers, advising on corporate governance and regulation across the world including International Accounting Standards. A founder member of IASC’s Standing Interpretations Committee and of the International Forum on Accountancy Development, she was also Vice-President of the Fédération des Experts Comptables Européens. A frequent commentator on corporate governance and reporting transparency, she is co-author of 'The ValueReporting Revolution - Moving Beyond the Earnings Game'.

Tony Douglas

Terminal Five Managing Director
British Airports Authority

Tony Douglas was appointed Managing Director of BAA’s prestigious Terminal 5 programme, in September 2003.and is currently Britain’s largest construction project.
Tony originally joined BAA in 1998 as Group Supply Chain Director and was later promoted to Group Technical Director with responsibility for leading BAA’s technical functions, including development, design, group supply chain, construction and maintenance of new and improved airport facilities.
Before joining BAA Tony was a Director of Kenwood plc, responsible for group manufacturing and logistics in the UK, China and Italy. He has held a number of senior management positions in the aircraft manufacturing business with BAe’s regional aircraft division, culminating in the role of Product Process Director.

Una O'Brien

Director of Development
University College London Hospitals NHS Trust

Una O’Brien is a Department of Health Senior Civil Servant on secondment to the NHS. Una has been a Director of University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust since 2002 where she leads the Trust’s strategies for risk, service change and for clinical governance. Una was previously the Secretary to the Kennedy Public Inquiry into paediatric heart surgery in Bristol, and earlier, a Deputy Director in the Cabinet Office Efficiency Unit.

Edward Leigh MP

Chairman, The Committee of Public Accounts

Edward Leigh was a member of Richmond Borough Council and then the Greater London Council from l974 until l98l. Mr Leigh worked in the private office of Mrs Thatcher from l976-77 as private secretary in charge of her correspondence as Leader of the Opposition. From 1990-1993 Mr Leigh was a Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Department of Trade and Industry. Prior to that he was a Parliamentary Private Secretary in the Home Office.
In May 1997 he was elected Member of Parliament for the new seat of Gainsborough with a majority of 6,826. On 19 July 2001 Mr Leigh was appointed to the Committee of Public Accounts and on 17 October 2001 was elected Chairman of the Committee, a post which he holds to the present day.
He is a barrister, and a member of the Inner Temple, practising for Goldsmiths Chambers in arbitration and criminal law.

John Oughton

Chief Executive
Office of Government Commerce

John Oughton became Chief Executive on 1 April 2004 taking over from Sir Peter Gershon. He was previously the Deputy Chief Executive.
From Oxford University he joined MOD in 1974, where he spent most of his career. He has been private secretary to three different defence ministers under two administrations and to the Personal Adviser to the Defence Secretary. In 1980 – ‘81 he was seconded to the Canadian Government’s Privy Council Office and the Department of National Defence.
In the late ‘80s he was Director of Procurement Policy in MoD and from ‘93 to ‘98 he was Head of the Prime Minister’s Efficiency Unit. From ‘96 he managed the Next Steps project, developing the Government’s agenda for Executive Agencies.

Gus O'Donnell CB

Permanent Secretary to the Treasury

Gus O’Donnell took over as Permanent Secretary to the Treasury on 8 July 2002.
Before that he had been Managing Director, Macroeconomic Policy and International Finance since1999. From 1998-9 he was Director of Macroeconomic Policy and Prospects, and from 1997-98 was the UK’s Executive Director to the IMF and World Bank. Gus O’Donnell studied economics at the University of Warwick and Nuffield College Oxford. He joined the Treasury as an economist in 1979, having spent four years as an economics lecturer at the University of Glasgow. Subsequent posts in Government included Press Secretary to the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1989-90) and Press Secretary to the Prime Minister (1990-94).

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