Annual Report 2007: Commissioner's introduction
Structure and governance
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Senior management appointments
David Butler, who was appointed Chief Executive and Commissioner of Inland Revenue in February 2001, resigned in March 2007 to take up the role of Head of Taxation Administration and Consumption Tax at the OECD in Paris.
Robert (Bob) Russell was appointed Chief Executive and Commissioner in May 2007. Bob had previously been appointed to Inland Revenue as Deputy Commissioner, Service Delivery, in October 2006, after having come from the Canada Revenue Agency where he held the position of Assistant Commissioner for the Atlantic Region.
Carolyn Tremain, who came to Inland Revenue to take up the role of Deputy Commissioner of People, Capabilities and Governance in November 2004, was appointed Deputy Commissioner, Service Delivery, in August 2007.
Governance
This section sets out Inland Revenue's accountability and governance arrangements.
Accountability to Parliament
During the year, we attended two Finance and Expenditure Committee (FEC) hearings focused on external accountability:
- Financial Review for our 2005-06 Annual Report on 15 November 2006
- Estimates Review for Vote Revenue's 2007-08 financial appropriation on 13 June 2007.
We also attended FEC hearings considering tax and other legislation related to our areas of responsibility.
You can view FEC reports on the Select Committee website.
Internal governance
Our internal governance arrangements are built around internal boards and committees which oversee all our responsibilities.
There are two governance boards, chaired by the Commissioner:
- The Executive Board examines longer-term strategy, ethics, external relationships, strategic risks, progress towards our long-term objectives and outcomes, and employee survey results.
- The Management Board focuses on the implementation of strategy within the parameters set by the Executive Board, and setting and reviewing operational performance.
These two boards are supported by three committees[3] (chaired by the Commissioner or deputy commissioners) that oversee specific areas:
- The Project Governance and Investment Committee oversees the approval, initiation and implementation of key projects. This committee has external members.
- The Technical Issues Committee facilitates and ensures the coordination of our work on key legal and technical issues.
- The Risk and Assurance Committee provides independent assurance to the Commissioner for the effective and efficient performance of his statutory responsibilities and accountabilities. This committee has external members, including its chair.
During the year, we reviewed our internal governance. The review found our arrangements were effective, but identified opportunities for improving our governance capability. These recommendations will be implemented during the coming year.
Managing risk
We identify and manage strategic and operational risks as part of our governance processes and through our risk management framework. These are both linked into our organisational planning methodology which helps us to take an integrated approach to risk management.
Our current strategic risk areas include people capability, reputation, technology and financing. We will include an assessment of these in our strategic planning activity for the 2008-11 planning cycle and the 2009-10 strategy refresh.
Our current risk management framework continues to meet industry standards and responds to the changing needs of our business requirements.
Our approach to managing operational risks aligns with our strategic context and focuses on the following broad areas:
- identifying risks in our projects, initiatives and activities
- developing appropriate risk mitigation strategies to address these risks.
3 There were originally four committees. As part of the governance review, the Management Board disestablished the People Capability Committee in March 2007.
Date published: 29 Jul 2008
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