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December 2012

INTOUCHThe National Audit Office Alumni Newsletter

Festive cheer

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That was the year that was…2012 was certainly a momentous year for Great Britain, what with the Queen’s Jubilee, hosting a very successful Olympic and Paralympic Games, and the announcement of a royal baby on the way!

But what of the NAO’s year?Certainly our unique insight into public services gave us an understanding of the complex changes taking place in the public sector, and so our work has been changing to keep pace with this. We have been developing our skills in ICT analysis, costing and economic modelling, along with broadening our work around local services.

In line with the rest of the public sector, we have been cutting our costs. The London office has been reorganised to allow the whole of the block nearest Victoria station to be let to tenants.

Our digital communications have gone from strength to strength this year – we launched our first email newsletter which now goes out regularly to almost 300 clients, and subscribers to NAOdirect, our email alert service, have gone up to 6,100 from 710 – an increase of 859%! In addition, the NAO Twitter account now has 5,992 followers – an increase of 500% since the beginning of the year.

With a refreshed strategy, we now look to 2013 where we will be putting particular emphasis on:

• ‘Following the pound’, where services are delivered by contractors or local bodies;

• Responding to concerns raised by whistleblowers or members of the public;

• Looking at users’ perspectives of public services;

• Looking at the centre of government and integration or sharing of services;

• Carrying out fair and balanced scrutiny of government attempts to stimulate growth and innovate in public services, and;

• Providing responsive support to PAC, select committees, and other Parliamentarians.

WelcomeWell, here we are, December 2012 and what a tremendous year it has been for GB! The Diamond Jubilee Celebrations were absolutely spectacular. I don’t know about you, but I certainly put up some bunting for the occasion! What a marvellous job we did in hosting the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics, finishing third in both games. Andy Murray winning a gold medal at Wimbledon and

defeating Roger Federer was perhaps my favourite sporting moment. I thought the opening ceremony of the Olympics was amazing and particularly liked the short film featuring Daniel Craig in his role as James Bond escorting the Queen from Buckingham Palace.

This year, I had the privilege of attending the royal garden party at Buckingham Palace and was lucky enough to meet the Duchess of Cambridge. Kate was even more stunning in person and was absolutely delightful to talk to. We were served lovely tea, sandwiches and cakes and were given the opportunity to wander through the palace’s gardens. I would be interested to hear what our Alumni members’ highlights of 2012 were and welcome you to email these in to Alumni@nao.gsi.gov.uk

We hosted our annual Alumni Event at the end of October 2012 and the NAO’s Director of Strategy, Knowledge and Communications, Marcial Boo, led an interesting debate with the help of four Alumni panel members. We would like to take this opportunity to thank Ross Campbell (MoD), Diane Makepeace (London Borough of Richmond), Stephen Brown (Deloitte) and Nick Pettigrew (Ipsos MORI) for sharing their experiences and insights on how strategic financial management can make a difference. The debate was followed by a reception and gave Alumni members the opportunity to network and catch up with old colleagues. Overall, the event was a success and those who attended commented on how useful they found hearing about how other organisations have tackled current issues.

The NAO too has had a busy but an exciting year, see opposite to find out more. Turn to page 5 to hear more on the NAO’s Alumni event. We would like to point you to page 11 where an NAO colleague Sonja Walde, tells us what it was like to volunteer during the ‘greatest show on earth’. In this issue, we hear from a couple of our Alumni members on the ventures they have pursued since leaving the NAO. Turn to page 3 to hear about Tash Gavin’s new business venture “I Know Why It’s Yum, Mum” and turn to page 7 to hear about Colin Prescott’s book “Brighton & All That Jazz”. Finally, we asked one of our panel members, Nick Pettigrew at Ipsos MORI, to tell us a bit about his current role and what he has been working on lately.

Finally, I would like to thank our contributors this month: Tash Gavin, Colin Prescott, Nick Pettigrew, Sonja Walde, Richard Coltman, Ann Green, Alex Kidner, Aileen Murphie, Robin Ball, Gaby Cohen, Ed Humpherson, Gillian Guy, Naaz Coker and the Alumni Team.

Tania Phillips

  

Design and Production by NAO Communications© National Audit Office 2012Printed by Xxxxxxxxx | DP Ref: 010032-001

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I worked at the NAO from 1997–2010. A highlight of my career was working on the landmark NAO report Tackling Obesity in England (2001). I loved my job and various posts (Health VFM, advising a member of PAC, VFM Development, secondment to the Polish Audit Office and finally, on the Third Sector team) but as one lovely director (Helen Booth) put it, I was always a round peg in a square hole.

Sometime in 2007, my three-year-old shouted down from the toilet: “Mum, I need broccoli for dinner, and porridge for breakfast, I can’t poo!”

At that moment, the seed was sown: if I could convince young children of the health benefits of fruit and veg, cereals and seeds, surely they would be much happier to ‘eat up their greens’? If I could create a show and workshops, which

were fun, musical, intriguing, participative, colourful AND educational, surely children would be more positive about eating avocados (because vitamin E is good for your skin) or sunflower seeds (whose lovely Omega oils improve your memory)?

In January this year, after a year of studying (I am a biology graduate but did a diploma in nutrition), script development, rehearsing, piloting and marketing, ‘I Know Why It’s Yum, Mum!’ began ‘trading’.

‘I Know Why It’s Yum, Mum!’ is a social enterprise, run on a not-for-profit basis (which basically means we charge as little as possible to achieve maximum social impact – my definition of VFM). We have three core services – but they all focus on doing one thing: explaining why fruit and veg is good for our bodies.

1 A 50-minute theatrical show (Dr FREG and the Fruit and Veg Mysteries), followed by workshops, that tours primary schools;

2 Fruit and Veg Rainbow Workshops for 2- to 5-year-olds, involving touch, taste, craft and song activities, with the Rainbow Fairy (that’s me!); and

3 A 2-hour nutrition workshop which I deliver to parents, childcarers/ nannies, volunteers who work with families, which covers the basics of a healthy diet for children, and arms delegates with loads of fascinating funky facts that they can use to convince children to eat up things that grow! (Like raspberries make your nose less snotty if you have a cold, and lettuce makes you sleepy.)

Despite no longer being able to afford to shop, I am very happy – I am living the ‘Big Society’ dream, to give a little back, for as long as I can afford to. Every week is totally different. I have had a huge amount of support, emotionally and professionally from NAO colleagues, and financially from some very generous companies like WholeFoods Market, Abel and Cole and several others. The feedback is fantastic and the word is spreading.

The hardest part of the journey? The marketing. So if you know any teachers of 2- to 11-year-olds, please feel free to mention www.iknowwhyitsyummum.com and help us to make a bigger difference to the health of children in London, and beyond.

FROM AUDIT TO ‘EDUTAINMENT’

} If I could convince young children of the health benefits of fruit and veg, cereals and seeds, surely they would be much happier to ‘eat up their greens’? ~

I know why it’s Yum , Mum!

R

NATASHA GAVIN EXPLAINS

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FAREWELL TO RUTH EVANS AND RICHARD FLECK

WE WELCOME TWO NEW NON-EXECUTIVE BOARD MEMBERS

In early July, Green caught up with two departing Board members, Ruth Evans and Richard Fleck, who had kindly agreed to a valedictory interview. Having mastered the technological challenge of the telephone conference, and managed to connect with Ruth at home and Richard on a train, we started by asking what they had enjoyed most about being on the NAO Board. Both Ruth and Richard were evangelical about the mission of the organisation. Ruth, in particular, talked about the ways in which our VFM reports have a political impact. She thought that, under Amyas, we had become much more punchy in our style, and were really getting to the heart of the issues. Ruth is particularly keen on reports which focus on the social impact of government activity, and believes that we can go much further in measuring non-financial impact. Richard said that he had found the NAO’s frontline staff to be really impressive people, and he had enjoyed interacting with them. He wished at times that he could have had more interaction with the people doing the detailed work.

Both Ruth and Richard thought it had been fascinating to be a member of a new Board that was establishing its own mode of operation. The Board had “a unique position and was uniquely interesting”, in that it must respect the independence of the Comptroller and Auditor General while maintaining an appropriate level of challenge. Corporate governance and constitutional propriety both need to have their place. Richard found it interesting as well, because this was his first public sector role. Ruth praised the corporate work that has been done on products like the Diversity Strategy, and said the NAO’s strategic work in general was both important and well managed.

We finished by asking what they are up to next. Ruth could only say “watch this space”, as something exciting is coming up but can’t be confirmed yet. Richard isn’t thinking about a new role, but rather he is worrying about his son who, in January 2013, will take part in an attempt to break the world record for a team rowing across the Atlantic. The record currently stands at 32 days and the team will try to break the 30-day barrier. There are few activities more exciting than sitting on the NAO Board, but that might just be one of them!

The two new members of the NAO Board who will replace Richard and Ruth have exciting backgrounds themselves.

Gillian Guy is the Chief Executive of Citizens Advice and has a great deal of experience in both the public and voluntary sectors. She began her career as a lawyer in private practice, before moving to local government. She served as Chief Executive of the London Borough of Ealing for 12 years before becoming Chief Executive of the charity Victim Support, a post she held until 2010.

Naaz Coker started her career in the NHS, working operationally as a pharmaceutical officer before moving on to become a clinical director and general manager in hospitals for over 20 years. She served as a Director at the King’s Fund and was

SAY HELLO…

…AND GOODBYE

Chair of the British Refugee Council for eight years. She served as Chair of the St George’s NHS Trust and deputy Chair of the RSA until 2011 and was named Asian Woman of the Year in 2000 and 2003.

} Richard said that he had found the NAO’s frontline staff to be really impressive people, and he had enjoyed interacting with them ~

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Rather than invite a single guest speaker, this year we held a debate featuring a panel of alumni members, chaired by the NAO’s Director of Strategy, Knowledge and Communications, Marcial Boo.

The audience was welcomed to the auditorium by Michael Whitehouse, Chief Operating Officer of the NAO. Michael began by talking about the NAO’s values: being independent, authoritative, collaborative and fair. He updated us on the changes within the London office space, with the whole of one block (the one nearest to Victoria train station) being let to tenants. He also touched on the increase in the NAO’s work on local services following the government’s decision to abolish the Audit Commission, although that is still subject to Parliamentary approval.

Then it was on to the main event… the debate was on the subject ‘How can strategic financial management make a difference?’

Marcial introduced the panel members – chosen because they are alumni now in a wide range of new roles:

• Ross Campbell is Head of Financial Management Policy and Accounting at the Ministry of Defence

• Diane Makepeace is Head of Finance and Performance at the London Borough of Richmond

• Stephen Brown is a Partner at Deloitte

• Nick Pettigrew is Deputy Managing Director of the Social Research Institute with Ipsos MORI

Each had their own take on strategic financial management and why it is important from their perspective.

Ross talked about the pace of change at the MoD, and felt that strategic financial management is something they are currently not doing enough of.

Stephen said that, from his perspective in the private sector, strategic financial management is key to getting clients to see tax as a cost, since tax is very closely linked to the overall strategic vision of a business.

Diane was faced with the situation of having to take 10 per cent out of the base budget when she arrived at Richmond Council. It has impacted on staff in a big way, with the finance department losing 20 per cent of its people. However, she has managed to slash the budget for temporary staff by 50 per cent and overtime is down. The focus now is on improving commissioning.

Up for debate

THE LATEST ALUMNI NETWORKING EVENT TOOK PLACE ON WEDNESDAY 24 OCTOBER AT OUR BUCKINGHAM PALACE ROAD OFFICES

Nick said that, within Ipsos MORI, there has to be financial awareness throughout the business. In fact, the Finance Director is located with the team of researchers, which people find helpful. The company also has a financial management system which can be accessed by all staff.

Marcial then opened the debate up to the audience, and much of the discussion was around people – in particular, the difficulty of controlling financial management while keeping people happy at the same time. There was also some discussion about social responsibility, particularly around procurement, and planning for growth at the same time as cutting costs.

All in all, this was a very interesting and lively debate which highlighted some very different perspectives from both panel members and the audience.

Alumni member Jo James said: “It was a very enjoyable evening. Great to have the opportunity to hear about the NAO’s current work and to engage in some stimulating discussion. Lovely, too, to catch up with some friends from the past. The NAO made us all feel very welcome and there were tasty refreshments too! Just a pity there weren’t a few more of us…”

What should we debate next time?

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in action, doing the day-to-day work of the NAO. And it’s striking how clearly the teams exemplify the values.

For example, I recently joined the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission (CMEC) audit team in Newcastle. The CMEC audit is a bit of a labour of love for me, since they are based in new offices in Longbenton. One of my very first VfM studies was on the PFI deal to develop the Longbenton site – I’d never before visited the finished building.

The CMEC team that I worked with was Richard Wilson, Helen Rossiter-Houldsworth, Holly Bennett and David Wilkinson-Kelly (who is a secondee from CMEC supporting the team – collaboration in action). The team exemplified all the professional values of the NAO: in particular, showing fairness in the way they dealt with a client grappling with huge problems with its legacy systems, and independence in challenging the client to do more to improve the financial reporting built on those systems.

Values as an anchorValues, then, are apparent in the core audit work we undertake and how we reflect on it. But they are also embodied when we go into difficult or new environments. In these cases, we not only embody the values but we have to actively look to them to support us. They are a guide, or an anchor, in difficult environments.

The best example of this I’ve seen recently is the NAO report on the settlement of major tax disputes. For me, the way the team handled this demonstrated the NAO’s values.

This may seem an odd choice – it was an atypical piece of work, conducted using Sir Andrew Park, a High Court judge, to look into the fine detail of how tax settlements were finalised by HMRC. It was subject to extremely strong confidentiality constraints. And it was controversial – criticised publicly in the media. Some commentators felt we had not got the conclusion on the reasonableness of tax settlements right.

The team (led by Paul Keane and consisting of Fiona Nicolle, Sarah Rollinson and Alan Banks) demonstrated the values. They had to demonstrate a real independence of mind, because the work was being undertaken with huge external expectations, and because it was clear that our likely conclusion (that HMRC’s settlement of major tax disputes was reasonable) would be different to the assumptions of many of our stakeholders. The team also had to be authoritative in a complex, contested area; I was hugely impressed with the way they were able to summarise intricate tax issues in a way that was clear and did justice to the technical complexities. Collaboration was also at the heart of this exercise: as far as I’m aware, it was the first time we worked directly with a judge. Sir Andrew Park brought enormous legal and tax knowledge, and a distinct working style, involving very close focus on the facts of each case, borne of his long experience reaching judgments in tax litigation cases. The team adapted and accommodated this approach brilliantly; very quickly, Sir Andrew felt and acted as part of the team.

The NAO at its bestThis exercise taught me something very important. The NAO is at its best when we exemplify the values: when we make objective, authoritative judgements and the basis for these judgements is clear to others; when we work collaboratively, with each other and people who join the team temporarily, such as expert advisors; when we are fair to all sides (not just audited entities, but also the people and companies they deal with); and when we are independent, and courageously so.

This article is about values – the NAO’s values, how they underpin what we do and how they are most important in difficult, atypical situations. It arose from a discussion in the Leadership Team in July. We were thinking about recent NAO outputs and about how a number of them demonstrated the NAO’s values. We wanted to celebrate and highlight the values, and an article in Green is one of the best ways to do this.

So a quick reminder on the values themselves. There are four: in everything we do, we should be independent, authoritative, collaborative and fair.

Demonstrating the valuesHow do we demonstrate that we live up to our values? It starts before we ever issue a draft report or audit completion report. In fact, the values begin when we walk through the door of an audited entity or into any other environment. This is because these values are not add-ons; they are core to the way in which we behave and are trained into all NAO staff from the outset of our careers here.

It’s worth remembering that for many of our smaller clients, the NAO’s audit team is one of the most high-powered professional teams they will see all year. Our openness, our curiosity and our independence of spirit, and our technical excellence, will make us shine as we handle even simple things like the initial audit engagement. And these qualities of openness, curiosity and technical excellence are the visible manifestation of the underlying professional values that we all exhibit – often without consciously thinking about it.

Back to auditI’ve seen this myself in the most direct way through my Back to Audit programme. I spend one day with an audit team during their fieldwork or planning, sitting with them in the client’s offices, and undertaking some (pretty basic) audit tasks. I learn a lot about the practical realities of our audits and our methodologies. But I also see the teams

ED HUMPHERSON REFLECTS ON SOME RECENT EXAMPLES THAT DEMONSTRATE HOW THE NAO’S VALUES CAN COME TO THE FORE

VALUE ADDED} I was hugely impressed with the way they were able to summarise intricate tax issues in a way that was clear and did justice to the technical complexities ~

} The NAO is at its best when we exemplify the values: when we make objective, authoritative judgements and the basis for these judgements is clear to others ~

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In October, the Attendance & Wellbeing team ran a week-long series of events to increase staff awareness of the importance of their health, and give guidance on how to manage it effectively. These events were designed to provide top tips on healthy living such as nutrition and exercise talks as well as including a table tennis tournament and mini-medicals.

We were pleased to welcome Jayne from the company Supernourished who discussed the ability to increase your energy levels by getting the right nutritional balance. Top tips of the talk were to ensure that you eat good food regularly and how you can still snack on tasty food that is good for you. The talk involved a live demonstration and tasting session on breakfast smoothies, and healthy energy balls such as raw chocolate brownies. If you would like to find out more about these recipes

or wish to give them a go please contact us at Alumni@nao.gsi.gov.uk and we will provide you with a copy of all the recipes from the session.

More top tips for the week were provided by Travers Barr from General Medical Clinics who discussed the importance of exercise both in terms of weight loss and having a healthy body and heart. In order to lead a healthy life, individuals should do at least 45 minutes of exercise 5 times a week. The exercise should be cardiovascular in nature and can include fast walking as an effective method.

The main conclusion for the week was how important it is to manage your nutrition and exercise closely in order to lead a healthier lifestyle.

BY JEMMA BRIMER

Know Your Numbers Week

It was great when, on retirement from the NAO, I could pursue my interests in depth. During my first five years I did courses in jazz harmony, art history and website design. I helped start Lewes Jazz Club (LJC) and served as its chairman, treasurer and newsletter writer, dogsbody and whipping boy at times between 2001 and 2006. I also indulged my passion for travel – as a lecturer on jazz history on cruise ships. All of this activity contributed to the production of this book.

An artist started to come to LJC who, with his equipment, candles and torch sketched the musicians during their performance

– always wearing his beret. His name is Martin Wertheim-Gould, known as ‘Salmond’. He is a regular at jazz venues all over the Brighton area and he has also painted many pictures of Brighton.

One day I said, “Martin, why don’t you put all your art work into a little book?”

He said, “No! It has to be an art book.”

I said, “In that case it should combine your Brighton pictures and your jazz pictures.”

The title, “Brighton & All That Jazz” came at that moment. So I worked on his pictures, digitised them, photoshopped

BY COLIN PRESCOTT

BRIGHTON & ALL THAT JAZZ

them, edited them for publication and used a publishing program to lay out the pages. A friend of Martin’s published the book.

I must say that the pictures have come out fantastically well in print. The combination of landscape and jazz is unique and works very well. The book looks stunning in its hard cover with a painting of musicians performing in the bandstand on Hove promenade.

Jazz Journal published a very favourable review in its September 2012 edition. It is a coffee table book and we have sold a lot of copies to be given as presents.

The book is available at some Brighton bookshops, including Waterstones and the Royal Pavilion shop, and in Lewes from Harvey’s Brewery shop. For anyone interested in obtaining a copy by mail order please send a cheque payable to C Prescott for £24.95 plus £5 p&p to PO Box 7, 205A Old Dover Road, Canterbury, CT1 3ER. Further details are at:

website www.salmondart.co.uk

email baatjazz@gmail.com

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First impressions lastAlex Kidner is one of the longest-serving members of staff, having joined in 1973. With four decades under his belt, he has seen six C&AGs through the revolving doors. Alex’s father joined the then Exchequer and Audit Department in 1944 and Alex’s first memory of the NAO was attending a 1960s children’s party, aged eight..

On his first day, Alex recalls the Audit House induction, meeting the Chief Operating Officer (his father’s best man) and a long pub lunch with another new colleague. Interestingly, many of our lifers’ good memories seem to involve pubs.

On Ann Green’s first day, she met Alex who was returning from a secondment, as well as her Director (Gerry Garside) and Director of Establishments (Phil Beck). Also there that day was another new starter whose department had no work for her. Told to bring in her knitting, she exhausted her repertoire of scarves and jumpers before quitting six weeks later.

Aileen Murphie’s first day consisted of a “dull training session about the supply system”. Less tediously, on her first day on the line she met her husband to be.

Gaby Cohen’s first day was 25 years ago. She recalls being interviewed by Karen Taylor, whose enthusiasm was “utterly infectious”, and later by Dickie Bird, who was “delightful”. She also remembers a formal dinner that evening in St James’s, held entirely in honour of the new entrants.

Richard Coltman’s initial impressions were of a fog of cigarette and pipe smoke, a few token women in the audit grades, with more in admin support, and few staff from ethnic minorities. Lunches were two-hour pub affairs, with extended Friday sessions the norm. Staff were expected to take a free half day each month, to compensate for travelling to local audit, and a half day to do their Christmas shopping.

Our lifers recalled the pre-technology days with a mix of nostalgia and gratitude for where we are now. When most staff joined, they worked on typewriters, then requested time to use one of a small pool of word processors and, later, computers. A memo once promised that, one day, everyone would have a computer – but nobody believed it. Life was dominated by paper and much time was spent marking up drafts and filing logically. Gaby lamented the lost art of ‘building files’ but says she has no fondness for the old days, which were “bureaucratic, formal, stifling and slow”.

MORWENNA STEWART ASKS SIX LONG-SERVING STAFF WHAT KEEPS THEM COMING BACK

LIFERS“YOU’D GET LESS FOR MURDER”

There is something about the NAO that keeps people showing up. Ask someone how long they have been here and they will often say “not long”, then quote decades. Such longevity is rare in the private sector. So what is that magic ingredient that retains staff? Is it the work, the people, the travel, or the canteen food? The six ‘lifers’ featured here have 197 years of combined service. We sought them out and asked for their memories – the good, the bad and the just plain weird.

} Several of our six lifers recalled key social events, such as the sports day ‘gymkhana’, which lasted until the 1980s, with the C&AG awarding prizes. And the ‘zoo do’, details of which are embargoed under the 100-year rule ~

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all the paintings, with all in the room watching in quiet astonishment as I took down each picture, of which there were many, to log serial numbers.”

Pride without prejudiceOur six lifers were united in hailing the work of the NAO, and being proud of their part in it. Alex praised our “unique and interesting work”, the good work-life balance, and our reasonableness as an employer. Robin is proud to have worked in over 20 countries, from America to South Africa, to Japan and Brazil. However, he says his best moments were often “settling down on the plane to return to my family”.

Ann was particularly proud of working on one of the most damning NAO reports, which came through clearance unaltered and merited a three-hour PAC session.

For Aileen, key moments were winning both a values award and an impact award. However, she says her best days are when she completes a significant piece of work – “and that never changes”.

Gaby’s best moments were when the office broke new ground, such as with the suite of work on the banking crisis, or when putting issues on the public agenda – our early work on hospital infections being a notable example. Another key success was the long-fought campaign to have all our access rights enshrined in statute. She is most proud that our work is “well recognised, used and applied and that we really do make a difference”.

Parting shotsWeird secondments, weirder colleagues, positive changes, and much time in the pub were what first appeared to keep people coming back. But what also emerges is a supportive environment that makes a meaningful difference – within government and in each of our lives.

All of our six remember a friendly atmosphere, refreshingly free of backbiting and politics. However, several people said the office was highly hierarchical and male dominated. Aileen said, “in meetings, you were not expected to speak until everyone who was more highly graded than you had spoken.” On the plus side, postings lasted between three and four years, leaving little opportunity to get bored. A good atmosphere and good relationships seem to have prevailed through the decades.

Clients, colleagues and socialisingWhen asked about their best and worst colleagues over the years, the lifers mentioned many good ones but struggled to name the few ‘challenging’ characters. One remembered an unnamed former colleague as being “mean minded, petty, micromanaging, grudge bearing and DULL DULL DULL.” One civil servant remembered as being “terrifying” was Sir David Normington. When particularly angry, and fixed by his icy stare, one lifer was convinced that Sir David was going to have them “disappeared”. Some beloved colleagues included Ed Marsden, John Step, Irene Gordon, James Robertson, Adrian Window, Mike Dalton and Ralph Knox. Much missed were Mary Radford and Mark Andrews.

Several of our six lifers recalled key social events, such as the sports day ‘gymkhana’, which lasted until the 1980s, with the C&AG awarding prizes. And the ‘zoo do’, details of which are embargoed under the 100-year rule. One of our lifers remembers that they used to be able to enter ballots for events, such as state openings and official visits to Parliament, and tickets to royal garden parties. Richard recalled close-knit teams and strong bonding through social events. He wonders whether our social lives are less colourful today. Two of our long-timers praised Green’s forerunner – Audacity – as being a more edgy and satirical read.

Weird and wonderfulSome of Alex’s best memories include visiting a pub by helicopter, while on secondment with the MoD in Northumberland. While out visiting clients, fog descended and they had to fly back to the cars, hovering just above the road. Daredevil Alex was also winched onto a moving frigate, in a “too-tight survival suit” and played soldier firing an SA80 rifle at a training base. Very James Bond, Alex – we’re impressed.

One of Robin Ball’s most sobering memories was auditing the UK Atomic Energy Authority at the Windscale plant (which became Sellafield, after the 1957 fire). Robin entered the central core of the nuclear reactor used to produce plutonium for nuclear bombs. He found himself considering the role of nuclear weapons in the cold war and the CND opposition.

Some of Ann’s funniest NAO moments were during a study on disposing of seized goods. Her team visited a highly classified location, with a strong room the size of one of our meeting rooms. The room was stacked floor to ceiling with the UK’s largest resin cannabis seizure. It was a hot day and, with the locked door, the fans sent fumes into Ann’s face and she turned green and fainted... Ann’s funny memories also included a Halloween office party, with an escaped pet tarantula causing chaos, and being chased through a tunnel in Stratford station, while at a training course for HMRC.

Gaby recalls simpler – but definitely not better – times, when men were men, including a former colleague who thought it perfectly acceptable to slap her backside. She conceded she undermined her ability to complain by walloping him on the backside far harder and with a heavy file. One of her most difficult moments was interrupting an Overseas Development Administration board meeting to audit the government art collection. There, she had to “check

Thank you to

Robin Ball Gaby Cohen Richard Coltman Ann Green Alex Kidner Aileen Murphie

} ...in meetings, you were not expected to speak until everyone who was more highly graded than you had spoken ~

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Recent VFM reports

The UK Border Agency and Border Force: Progress in cutting costs and improving performanceHC: 467, 2012-2013

This report found the UK Border Agency and Border Force have achieved both cost reductions and performance improvement since 2010, but insufficiently coherent planning and delayed delivery of key projects have hampered faster progress.

By automating processes and becoming more flexible, the Agency aims to cut costs by at least £350 million between 2011 and 2015, partly through reducing the number of staff by 4,500 full-time equivalents.

However, the Agency has not based its target operating model on clear performance priorities and there is a lack of detail in, for example, exactly how caseworking will change and how changes in operations could affect costs and performance levels. The current business unit structure does not offer the Agency the flexibility it needs to respond to unpredictable levels of applications for immigration and asylum.

DFID: The multilateral aid reviewHC: 594, 2012-2013

Our report welcomed steps taken by the Department for International Development to improve transparency over how aid it distributes via multilateral organisations is spent. The report found that the review is a significant step towards the Department being able to improve the value for money from its spending through these organisations which totalled £3.6 billion in 2011-12.

Managing budgeting in governmentHC: 597, 2012-2013

The government’s ability to show that its spending decisions represent the best value for money is being hindered by the patchy availability of good information.

This report shows that many aspects of government budgeting compare well with good budgeting practice – particularly in support of the Treasury’s objective to control spending. The system is less effective at addressing objectives for prioritization of public spending and delivery of value for money across government.

Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Whole of Government Accounts 2010-11HC: 687, 2012-2013

“The Whole of Government Accounts is a key means through which Parliament and the public can hold government to account for the money it spends and the activities it undertakes.”

“I hope that the WGA will provide the Treasury with the means to identify and manage key risks to the government’s financial position. To do this effectively, the Treasury must do more to improve these accounts. This includes producing them faster, and ensuring that all bodies owned and controlled by the government, such as Network Rail, are included.”

Amyas Morse, head of the National Audit Office, 31 October 2012

Managing the expansion of the academies programme HC: 682, 2012-2013

The National Audit Office has reported that the Department for Education has delivered a fundamental change in the nature of the Academies Programme through a rapid, ten-fold increase in the number of academies since May 2010. This increase is a significant achievement. However, the Department was unprepared for the scale of the financial implications arising from such a rapid expansion. In the two years between April 2010 and March 2012, the Department had to meet an estimated £1 billion of additional costs, while remaining within its overall spending limits.

Lessons from cancelling the InterCity West Coast franchise competitionHC: 796, 2012-2013

The Department for Transport competition to let the InterCity West Coast franchise lacked management oversight and the governance of the project was confused, according to the National Audit Office. The spending watchdog has concluded that the full cost to the taxpayer is unknown but likely to be significant, with at least £1.9 million in staff and adviser costs, £2.7 million in legal costs and £4.3 million on external advisers for the reviews that it has commissioned.

The report identifies five essential safeguards against poor decision making in major projects. These are necessary to enable officials to assure ministers and Parliament that decisions are sound and are value for money. However, in the case of the InterCity West Coast competition, none of these lines of defence operated effectively.

You can find more NAO reports on our website at www.nao.org.uk/publications

INTOUCH | 11

GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH

NAO staff celebrated the end of the summer audit season in style at the totally sold out Pop Quiz in July, when 44 teams represented countries competing in the Olympic games, with Cyprus topping the medal table with 177 points. Is it too much to ask to change our dress code so we can come to work looking this great every day?

Following a failed bid for Olympic tickets last April, I ended up searching for details for the opening ceremony and stumbled across an application form to audition as a performer. It didn’t seem to require juggling, fire eating or acrobatic skills, so I thought “why not?” I applied and was invited to audition later in the year.

My heart sank as I joined 200 twenty-somethings back flipping and cartwheeling their way through a three-hour audition. I ended the session red-faced and puffing and thought I’d never get in, so it was a great surprise to be invited back to a second audition.

After an agonising four-month wait, cloaked in mystery, I was told I had been selected to perform at both opening AND closing ceremonies as an “Outgoing and extrovert character who interacts with the audience”. As I signed my life away on the two-page confidentiality agreement and read the four pages of rules, visions of being dressed as a Wenlock or Mandeville mascot and having to hug small children started to form in my head.

As the rehearsals got under way, the first thing I noticed was how tight the security was. We had to wear two bar coded photo ID badges round our necks at all times and anyone seen taking photos would be asked to delete them on the spot. Danny Boyle, would regularly make a personal plea to ‘#savethesurprise’ and

one night we were suddenly plunged into darkness as a press helicopter hovered overhead! To say I got swept away in all the hype would be an understatement and as my colleagues in HR will attest, I was literally ‘#burstingtotellthem’!

When the big day came, we stood outside our sections and mingled with our excited guests before the show started. Many were draped in flags, with wigs and costumes and my favourite, those all-in-one Union Jack lycra body suits.

For the opening ceremony we were ‘Mechanicals’ (from Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream) dressed in dungarees with giant bags filled with our weapons of mass audience entertainment, aka torches, bubble guns and 3D glasses. We wore ear pieces so the Mass Movement team could instruct (and sometimes yell) at us what to do.

Most of it was fairly easy, entertaining the audience, getting them to do ‘The Bolt’, sway their arms in the air, sing along to ‘I’m forever blowing bubbles’, stand up for the National Anthem, and so on. The only hairy moment was when we had to bring a giant blue sheet of silk down over the heads of the audience so that the stadium looked like an island. At the first dress rehearsal it got twisted, and in the second, it hadn’t been packed properly. But on the night it deployed perfectly.

The opening ceremony was all about high expectations and jaw dropping impact; but the closing one had much more of a party feel to it. The best part of all was at the end when we joined the athletes and performers on the field of play – standing alongside the real Team GB was an experience that I will treasure forever.

SONJA WALDE AND FRIENDS PUT ON A SHOW FOR A BILLION PEOPLE

POP QUIZ 2012

} …visions of being dressed as a Wenlock or Mandeville mascot and having to hug small children started to form in my head ~

Nick Pettigrew Ipsos MORI

Tell us a bit about what you’ve been up to since you left the NAO?I left the NAO to work at Ipsos MORI’s Social Research Institute. I’m now the Deputy Managing Director helping to run our social research business with our excellent team of researchers. We work for every single UK government department, lots of local authorities, regulators, international governmental agencies, as well as the NAO.

One of the great things about working at Ipsos MORI is the sheer variety of projects we have. This can range from running large surveys such as the GP Patient Survey and the Millennium

Cohort Study through to small qualitative projects looking at the public’s reactions to proposed changes in policies.

Lately, what have you been spending your time working on… I’ve been working on a really interesting project for the King’s Fund on how the public think the NHS should be funded in the future, given challenges facing the UK such as the rising cost of healthcare, an ageing population and technological change. We have carried out a couple of day-long workshops with a cross section of around 100 members of the public. The results will be fascinating – although the public is becoming somewhat more realistic in its expectations about NHS funding, they still find it really hard to comprehend the full scale of the funding challenge.

What areas had you worked for at the NAO and what is your greatest memory?I worked in the cross-cutting VFM team (do they still exist?) on a number of studies that involved liaising with several departments at once. I have lots of great memories of the NAO; I used to love helping to write questions that PAC members could use, and felt really proud when NAO reports were featured on the news. But my favourite memory is of Hugh’s army style circuit training sessions at lunchtime; I was in much better shape than I am now.

What would be your specialist subject on Mastermind?The albums of Wilco 1994–2012.

You’d never guess…I used to think that my name was pretty unusual, but there’s another Nick Pettigrew around who seems to be a semi-professional comedian and people keep getting me confused with him. For example, he occasionally contributes ‘witty’ stories to a cricket web chat; a client of mine saw what he had wrote and posted a comment asking me to stop messing around and send him a report...

When you were a child what did you want to be?I always wanted to be a professional musician, but the bands I was in in my youth went nowhere and tended to split up because of ‘musical differences’. I’m now in a ‘Dad band’ with other Dads playing bad covers of songs from bands like The Black Keys and The Killers.

Q&A