Adrian Blaylock IRRV, Lead Revenues Advisor, Benefits and Revenues Service
Adrian joined CIPFA in 2017 after spending 24 years working in a revenues team in local government where he gained experience in all aspects of revenues with over half that time spent as principal revenues officer, contributing to the management of the revenues team.
He sits on several groups advising and working closely with central government on development of policy. He is a member of the IRRV and previously sat on the executive committee of the Yorkshire and district association.
Sheldon Wood BA IRRV, Lead Benefits Advisor, Benefits and Revenues Service
Sheldon joined CIPFA in 2003, after spending three years as an associate and seventeen years at Sheffield City Council where he was a principal benefits officer and where he gained experience of all aspects of benefits administration and management as well as leading project teams implementing major changes in the benefits system.
He writes and delivers events on issues affecting benefits services, speaks at national conferences, has worked with nearly 300 local authorities and numerous government departments on benefits policy and consultation responses.
Mohamed Hans, Solicitor, Principal Advisor, Procurement and Commissioning Network
Mohamed joined CIPFA in 2004, after working as a senior commercial solicitor for a number of West Yorkshire local authorities. He is an expert on the interpretation of public procurement rules and has written extensively on this topic over many years. He has also developed widely used practitioner toolkits, is invited to speak at conferences in the UK and abroad and is the first point of contact for practitioners need to understand complex procurement issues.
He manages the Procurement and Commissioning Network, which has over 130 member authorities. He sits on a number of advisory boards, including the National Audit Office, Home Office and the CIPFA Procurement and Anti-Corruption Advisory Forum.
David Ellis FCPFA, Advisor, Finance Advisory Network
David joined CIPFA in 2012 as an advisor, following a 30-year career in local government. In his practitioner days he specialised in technical accounting, overseeing the introduction of IFRS-based accounting for two local authorities as well as leading on asset and capital accounting matters. In his final practitioner role as chief accountant, he held key responsibilities for technical accounting and the preparation and audit of the statement of accounts.
He has an extensive technical knowledge and practical understanding of local authority financial statements and the CIPFA/LASAAC Accounting Code of Practice, with which he provides support and guidance to practitioners across local government and UK public bodies.
Jennifer Bevan, Advisor, Finance Advisory Network
Jennifer joined CIPFA in 2022 after working for seven years in local government. She is a CIPFA-qualified accountant who, for the past five years, has been working at Bury Metropolitan Council where she started as a revenue advisor in Public Health and Adult Social Care. From there she joined the authority's closedown and capital teams, with a particular focus on fixed assets and closure of capital accounts. Her experience also includes working on a number of special projects including transformation, levelling up and land and property disposals scheme. As a CIPFA member, Jennifer is also an active volunteer within the CIPFA North West Region.
Nick Harvey CIPFA, Technical Advisor, Treasury Management and Pensions Networks
Nick is technical advisor for the Treasury Management and Pensions Networks, leading on revisions to and guidance on the Treasury Management and Prudential Codes. He also advises on the changing pension fund investment landscape, particularly the move towards more diverse and sustainable portfolios. He has 14 years' of experience as a treasury practitioner at principal officer level, five years experience overseeing pension fund investments, and three years of experience managing a banking team. He joined CIPFA in 2021.
Diana Melville CIPFA, Advisor, Better Governance Forum
Diana is the lead advisor for the Better Governance Forum and is CIPFA's representative on the Internal Audit Standards Advisory Board. She is a CIPFA-qualified accountant and a member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.
She authored the 2018 edition of Audit Committees: Practical Guidance for Local Authorities and Police, and was part of the CIPFA working group that developed the Good Governance Framework for Local Government. She regularly provides advice and training on the application of good governance in practice and annual governance statements.
Naomi Whitmore, CIPFA
Naomi is a CIPFA-qualified accountant. She joined CIPFA in 2023 after spending 18 years working in the public sector in both finance and auditing roles. She has worked in both in-house audit teams as well as public sector audit partnerships. She has experience of working across all levels of local government as well as auditing the police, fire, and education establishments. Naomi delivers events to new auditors, sharing her experiences in internal audit.
Mark Catlow, CPFA
Mark joined CIPFA in 2022 after working for seven years in local government. Prior to this he worked for both Ernst & Young and the Audit Commission. He has extensive experience of the collection fund, treasury and statutory financial reporting.
Dr William Burns, Social Care Policy Advisor
William is CIPFA’s social care policy voice, and he runs the Social Care Network. His work focuses on social care reform, and he has produced thought leadership in the areas of charging reform, children’s social care reform, Scotland’s National Care Service, and social care funding.
Before joining CIPFA, he was Social Care Finance Lead at the Scottish Government where he was involved in costing a range of social care reform policies stemming from the Independent Review of Adult Social Care. William attained a PhD in English Literature from the University of Glasgow and started studying accountancy during the final stages of his PhD.