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In February 2022 the government published the long-awaited Levelling Up White Paper with a list of ‘12 missions’ outlining how it proposes to fix the disparities across the UK. But how will the success of any of these missions be measured? Do we already have the tools we need to do this?

Hear from our expert speakers, who have immense practical experience in this area, about what data already exists and what further data is required.

The webinar will explore existing metrics for measuring the outcome of levelling up measures and provide challenge as to the quality of these metrics. Aimed at central government, local government finance teams, auditors and those with an interest in understanding and assuring the levelling up performance measures, the session will provide insight on what metrics and statistics already exist and how they might be used to measure the success of the levelling up missions, including a practical view on how these metrics could be assured.

Key benefits

• Understand existing levelling up metrics.
• Hear from experts about the further measures required.
• Understand the role of accountants in measuring, reporting and assuring levelling up.

About the speakers

Ed Humpherson, Director General for Regulation, Office for Statistics Regulation UK Statistics Authority
Ed Humpherson was appointed as Director General for Regulation in October 2013 and took up post in January 2014. He is head of the Office for Statistics Regulation which provides independent regulation of all official statistics in the UK. The aim of OSR is to enhance public confidence in the trustworthiness, quality and value of statistics produced by government. Prior to joining the Authority, Ed was a Board Member and Executive Leader for Economic Affairs at the National Audit Office, a post he held since July 2009. This role included responsibility for the overall strategic direction of NAO’s work on economic affairs. Ed Humpherson was educated at the University of Edinburgh. Ed is a Chartered Accountant and a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.

Jeffrey Matsu, Chief Economist, Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA)
Jeffrey is also a Fellow of Practice at the Blavatnik School of Government at the University of Oxford.
With extensive experience in connecting policy with practice through evidence-based research, he works with partner governments, accountancy bodies and the public sector around the world to advance public finance and support better public services.
Previously, Jeff was responsible for market analysis and thought leadership at the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and co-led the economy theme at the UK Collaborative Centre for Housing Evidence (CaCHE).
He was also a senior economist at Morgan Stanley and served on the research staff at the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System in Washington DC. Jeff holds degrees in economics from the University of Washington and Johns Hopkins University.

Mark Lynam, Corporate Director for Regeneration and Economic Growth, Wakefield Council
Mark joined Wakefield Council in 2021 as Corporate Director for Regeneration and Economic Growth. He has responsibility for Economic Growth and Skills, Planning, Transport and Highways and Arts, Culture and Leisure, serving the District’s 340,000 residents. Wakefield is part of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority which is one of the UK’s biggest economic areas outside London. Prior to joining Wakefield, Mark was Director of Transport, Housing and Infrastructure at Sheffield City Region Mayoral Combined Authority since joining in 2016. He supported the directly elected Mayor in delivering a transport capital programme of over £200m which underpinned the region’s objectives for inclusive economic growth. He was also responsible for leading the development of South Yorkshire’s housing, infrastructure, net zero and transport policy agenda.

Mark’s professional background is in economic development, regeneration and policy. Between 2013 and 2016 he was the Head of Economic Development at Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council where he reshaped the authority’s economic strategy and led on a number of major regeneration projects. Mark’s other career roles include heading up Nottingham City Council’s major economic programmes work, which involved leading the negotiation of the authority’s first City Deal and the Government’s flagship Enterprise Zone. Mark is a member and former board director of the Institute of Economic Development (IED), alongside his membership of the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives (SOLACE).

Alison Ring OBE FCA, Director, Public Sector & Taxation, ICAEW
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.

Costs

In partnership with

ICAEW members and non-members are welcome to join. To find out more about the ICAEW Public Sector Community please click here.