Board of HM Revenue & Customs

Mike Clasper, Chairman of HMRC

Mike will lead the Board, which will provide strategic leadership, approve business plans, monitor performance and ensure the highest standards of corporate governance.

Biography

Mike joined HMRC on the 1 August 2008 from Terra Firma Capital Partners Ltd where he was Operational Managing Director. He was formally Chief Executive at the airport operator BAA PLC.
Born in Sunderland, Mike began his working life as a British Rail signalling engineer before joining Procter & Gamble in 1978. He progressed quickly to a series of senior management positions, when he left in 2001 he was President, Global Home Care and New Business Development. From Procter & Gamble he moved to the airport operator BAA.

Mike is a Non-Executive Director at ITV plc and Chairman of the West London Working Consortium. He has also recently been appointed Chairman of Which, a non-Executive part time post of two days a month. He was a founder member of the Corporate Leaders Group on Climate Change and was also Chairman of the Business in the Community taskforce on Marketplace Responsibility.

Executive and Advisers Committee

Dave Hartnett CB, Acting Chief Executive Officer:

Dave was appointed as Acting Chief Executive Officer on 1 August 2008, having been Acting Chairman from 20 November 2007. His Executive and Advisers Committee (ExCom) portfolio includes Communications and Marketing and Valuation Office Agency.

Dave joined the Inland Revenue in 1976. He worked for nearly 10 years on investigation work before becoming Director of Claims Branch in 1991. In 1994 he was appointed Director of the Financial Intermediaries and Claims Office moving in 1996 to lead the technical team on personal taxation. In 1998 he was appointed Director of Capital and Savings, with tax policy responsibility for capital taxes, savings, pensions, share schemes, charity tax issues and stamp duty. He led the 2000 quinquennial review of the Valuation Office Agency before his appointment as Director General in 2000.

Melanie Dawes, Acting Director General Business Tax:

Melanie was appointed Acting Director General (Business) in November 2007. Her ExCom portfolio includes Businesses Customer Unit, Large Business Service, Corporation Tax and VAT, Anti-avoidance, Customs & International and Excise, Stamps and Money Businesses.

Previously Melanie was Director of Large Business Service from December 2006. The LBS manages HMRC’s relationships with the largest companies, partnerships and employers in the UK.

Prior to joining HMRC Melanie spent fifteen years at the Treasury, most recently as Europe Director where she led the Treasury’s contribution to the UK Presidency of the EU in 2005 and was involved in various international tax, financial and budgetary negotiations. She started her career as an economist and has also worked on public spending, tax and tax credit policy, monetary policy and the euro. She coordinated the first Treasury assessment against the Five Tests for UK membership of the single currency in 1997.

Married with a young daughter, Melanie has been actively involved in the voluntary sector at board level for some years.

Bernadette Kenny, Director General Personal Tax:

Bernadette's ExCom portfolio includes Customer Operations, Customer Contact, PAYE, Self Assessment and National Insurance Contributions and Charity, Assets and Residence. Bernadette joined HMRC in May 2005, following a short period as acting Chief Executive of the Royal Parks.

She had previously spent 24 years at the Department for Constitutional Affairs, having started in the then Lord Chancellor's Department as a Government Lawyer in 1980. After an early career in a range of both legal and policy posts, she moved into operations in 1991 managing civil and the higher criminal courts in the South East.

She led the team that launched the Court Service as an executive agency in 1995 before setting up the new agency's HR and Learning function. She moved onto the agency board in 1999, leading on business change, IT, procurement and tribunals operations. She returned to DCA HQ in 2002 as Change Director.

Mike Eland, Director General Enforcement and Compliance:

Mike's ExCom portfolio includes Criminal Investigation, National Teams & Special Civil Investigations, Detection, Local Compliance, Risk & Intelligence, Debt Management and Banking, Individuals Customer Unit and Central Compliance.

Mike joined HM Customs and Excise in 1975, having been called to the bar in the same year. He spent six years at the Cabinet Office in various roles, including Private Secretary to the Deputy Prime Minister, and three years in the Home Office as Deputy Director General in the Immigration and Nationality Department.

Mike's jobs with HM Custom and Excise include Director of Customs, dealing with policy in relation to international trade, drugs, pornography and trade sanctions and restrictions, and Director General of Business Services and Taxes, with overall responsibility for the collection of indirect taxes and customs duties, facilitating and regulating international trade and advising Ministers on these issues. Mike was acting Chairman between June 2003 and September.

Steve Lamey, Chief Operating Officer:

Steve's ExCom portfolio covers change and performance for HMRC as Chief Operating Officer and includes the Capability Review, Departmental Transformation Programme, PaceSetter and Strategy.

Steve graduated in mining Engineering at University College Cardiff in 1978 before starting work with the BOC Group. He had a wide variety of roles there, working in project engineering and management roles before moving on to operational, commercial and senior management jobs. He became Director of Global Information and Management User Services in June 1998.

In 2000, Steve joined the British Gas (BG) Group as CIO and Vice President Information Management (IM). This meant he was responsible for development and delivery of business strategy and services, ensuring that IM added business value.

He became Chief Information Officer (CIO) for both former Departments in October 2004. In October 2007, he was appointed to a new role, Chief Operating Officer, to oversee and co-ordinate all performance including development of future performance measures.

Mike Hanson MBE, Director General Benefits and Credits:

Mike's ExCom Portfolio includes Benefits and Credits and Central Policy.

Mike joined the Civil Service in 1974, serving in HM Customs and Excise, the Parliamentary Commissioner's Office and on secondment, via the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, to the Hong Kong Government. In Hong Kong, Mike performed a variety of roles, including head of the Government Property Agency, Refugee Co-ordinator, Information Co-ordinator and Government Spokesman. On returning to the UK and HM Customs and Excise, Mike became head of Logistics and Finance before moving to his present position.

Anthony Inglese, General Counsel and Solicitor:

Anthony’s ExCom portfolio includes the Solicitors Office.

Anthony trained and worked as a lawyer in the Home Office. Whilst there, he enjoyed a loan to the Law Officers’ Department in the late-80s.

He became Head Lawyer at the Office of Fair Trading in 1991; then Head Lawyer at the Ministry of Defence in 1995; and in 1997 he became Deputy Treasury Solicitor. From 2002 he was Solicitor to the Department of Trade and Industry (later the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform) before coming to HMRC in March 2008.

He leads for the Government Legal Service on Professionalism and Ethics and is a Bencher of his Inn (Gray’s Inn) and a member of the Bar Standards Board. He gives training at the National School of Government. He was made a Companion of the Order of the Bath in 2008.

Philip Moore, Interim Chief Finance Officer:

Philip’s ExCom portfolio includes Estates and Support Services, Finance, Internal Audit, Banking Services, Commercial Directorate, and Governance and Security.

Philip was appointed as the interim Chief Finance Officer in January 2008.

Philip was previously the Chief Finance Officer and Chief Executive of insurer Friends Provident, having had a number of finance director roles prior to that.

Before returning to the corporate world in 1998 Philip spent nine years with Price Waterhouse Coopers both in the UK and in Hong Kong where he was the partner leading the firm’s insurance consulting practice in South East Asia.

Deepak Singh, Acting Chief Information Officer:

Deepak's ExCom portfolio includes Information Management Solutions and Knowledge, Analysis and Intelligence.

Deepak took on the role of Chief Information Officer (CIO) of HMRC, from Steve Lamey who has been appointed to new post of Chief Operating Officer for HMRC.

Deepak joined HMRC in June 2006 from T-Mobile where he was an Executive Vice President responsible for IT Strategy, Governance, Quality Management and Change Management.

Having graduated from York University in 1985, Deepak has spent over 20 years in the commercial sector and brings with him extensive experience of leading large scale IT activities. He has worked for a number of private sector organisations including: nPower, AstraZeneca, Jaguar Cars and Philips Electronics.

Jim Morrison, Acting Chief People Officer:

Jim Morrison is acting Chief People Officer for HMRC. He was appointed on 1 August 2008. As Chief People Officer, he is accountable for the People Function which includes Corporate Shared Services, Corporate Responsibility & Diversity and Workforce Change.

Jim joined HMRC as Deputy People Officer on an interim basis on 7 January 2008. He has 35 years experience in HR, over 20 of which have been as HR Director. His previous organisations have included T-Mobile, where he was a UK Border Director, Thorn Software, Lucas Industries, and Smiths Industries.

Non-executive directors

Kate Owen:

Kate Owen runs her own consultancy business as well as being a Governor for Imperial College and a Fellow of the Windsor Leadership Trust. Kate’s career in BP has given her a background in learning and development as well as change and transformation. Kate sits on the HMRC Audit Committee, the People Committee, and the HMRC Capability Committee.

John Spence:

John Spence is involved in a wide range of charities and church organisations as well as a number of business focused organisations (such as Business in the Community). John’s background is in the banking sector, where he was Director of businesses, retail distribution, and policy and risk at Lloyds TSB. John sits on the HMRC Audit Committee, the Departmental Transformation Programme Steering Group, and the Corporate Responsibility and Diversity Committee.

Mark Haysom:

Mark Haysom is the chief executive of the Learning and Skills Council. Mark’s background is in the newspaper industry, where he has over 30 years experience. Mark sits on the IMS Steering and Performance Committee and the Departmental Transformation Programme Steering Group.

Advisers

Kate Barker, CBE

Kate has been an external member of the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England since June 2001. Prior to this Kate was Chief Economic Adviser at the CBI, and before that worked as Chief European Economist for the Ford Motor Company. She has headed up several Government reviews, is Chair of Governors at Anglia Ruskin University and is a member of the FA Football Regulatory Authority.

Naguib Kheraj

Naguib recently stepped down as Chief Finance Officer at Barclays Bank PLC. He is a member of the Board of Governors of The Institute of Ismaili Studies, an educational institution which promotes scholarship and learning on Islam. He is also Chairman of the national committee of the Aga Khan Foundation (UK), a member of the development board of The Prince’s Trust and a Member of the investment committee of The Wellcome Trust.

Phil Hodkinson

Phil Hodkinson is a non-executive director and audit committee chair of BT Group plc, chairman of the HBOS Foundation, a trustee of Christian Aid and a director of Business in the Community. Until recently Phil was Group Finance Director of HBOS plc and Chairman of Insight Investment, having previously worked for Zurich Financial Services as CEO of its UK Life Business and as a consulting actuary. Phil is a past chair of the ABI's Raising Standards Accreditation Scheme and was a member of the DTI operating and financial review working group.

Rudy Markham

Rudy has spent a long and distinguished career at Unilever, which he joined as a commercial management trainee in 1968. He spent most of his early career in the finance function of various Unilever companies in Europe, before being appointed financial director of Unilever in Zurich. In 1996 he was made responsible for running operations in China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, based in Singapore. In 1998 he joined the Board of Unilever as director of strategy and technology. He was made Chief Financial Officer in 2000. He retired in 2007.