ATT welcome, July 2016

This is my final welcome as deputy president: on the 7 July I will take over the presidency of ATT from Michael Steed. So I thought I would have a quick look back at my year as deputy president, which I have to say has absolutely flown by.

As deputy president, I have a number of responsibilities, which include writing these monthly welcomes in Tax Adviser, chairing the quarterly Steering Group chairs conference, attending the bi-monthly Leadership meeting, attending the quarterly joint officers and senior staff forum, attending the many dinners hosted by our branches, head office and our stakeholders, and attending the quarterly council meetings.

The Steering Group Chairs conference is a method of keeping all the Chairs informed of what is going on in the other steering groups to make sure there is no duplication of work and the chairs are aware of what else is going on in the ATT. The Steering Groups are made up of volunteers and we have six steering groups that are key to the smooth running of our Association: 

• Business Development Steering group are involved in developing the strategy for growth in members, communicating to our members (such as through the development of the website) and communicating with our members’ employers. 
• Finance Steering Group are involved in the development of the budget for the Association and overseeing the safe management of our assets.
• Member Steering Group are involved in a whole range of matters that have an impact on our members.
• Professional Standards Committee (which is joint with CIOT) are involved in the development and management of the standards that our members must comply with and have been heavily involved in the challenge the Treasury have tasked the tax profession with (the ‘19 March challenge’) regarding tax avoidance and the rewrite of the PCRT (Professional Conduct in Relation to Tax).
• Student Steering Group is involved in the setting of exams and overseeing the marking of exam papers.
• Technical Steering Group is very involved in anything that is tax related, for example responding to HMRC consultations.

Together these Steering Groups are key to keeping the Association running professionally, smoothly and successfully.  The conference call is a useful method of keeping everyone informed of what is going on at the Association.

My involvement in the leadership meeting is more demanding because it is dealing with many challenges, issues and making important decisions that the charity is faced with each quarter. There is a lot of reading involved prior to the meeting and quite often the issues will run and run and may involve seeking legal advice. The leadership team comprises seven people: the executive director, vice president, deputy president, president, two past presidents and the vice president from CIOT to ensure CIOT are aware of any happenings at the ATT that may have an impact in CIOT.

JOSF is the joint officers of CIOT and ATT and senior staff and meets quarterly to deal with issues we have in common such as the 19 March challenge and the Joint Pathway (an exam route to CTA via a modified ATT route). It also makes sure both organisations maintain open dialogue and understand what each organisation is planning to do.

I get invited to many formal dinners over the course of the year. The highlight for me during my year as deputy president was the Joint Presidents’ lunch held at the Signet Library in Edinburgh, which I feel is one of the most beautiful interiors I have seen, set in a beautiful city.

This year the ATT has also seen the retirement of Andy Pickering as executive director and the appointment of Jane Ashton as his successor. 

I really cannot believe how quickly the my year as deputy president has passed. There has never been a dull moment and I cannot thank or praise all the volunteers involved in the successful running of the ATT enough. You are all worth your weight in gold, and we look forward to meeting new volunteers over the course of the next 12 months – so if you want to put something back into the ATT, please just ask me and I will explain where your skillset will fit in, and how you will be able to add value to this great Association.