Government 'two years' from qualified FDs
The government is still as far as two years off from reaching its target of having a qualified finance director in every department
Target: Dame Mary Keegan
CIPFA, which has
worked with the Treasury to plug the gap that the government aimed to fill by
the end of 2006, said the project was still a way off completion but was moving
forward.
‘Realistically, the whole process across Whitehall could be completed within
two years,’ writes CIPFA education and training director Adrian Pulham in this
week’s Accountancy Age. ‘Yes, the deadline has been missed but the
matter is firmly in hand.’
Pulham also admits an NAO report highlighting that £45bn of government
spending was not overseen by a qualified FD was ‘clearly of concern’.
Dame Mary Keegan was in charge of a plan to have all departments with a
qualified FD at the helm by the end of 2006.
The Treasury said that 96% of departments had a qualified FD in place, a
‘remarkable turnaround’.
‘There has been a major step change in the numbers of qualified finance
directors within a very short period of time,’ said a spokesman.