MY CIPP
A day in the life of a CIPP board member In the first of a summer series of articles, we want you to get to know the CIPP’s board members, so we invite you to take a glimpse into a typical day in each of their lives…
mixed portfolio of work. I divide this into three buckets and do a bit of everything every day so I can keep on top of things. 1 . I write technical articles, opinion pieces and thought leadership papers about UK employment taxes (including payroll) and devolved taxes (which encompasses all taxes (national and local), which are devolved to Scotland, Wales and NI). These appear on the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS) website but also in other sector publications. 2 . I deliver webinars, speak at conferences and events, lecture postgraduate tax and accounting students and volunteer at schools attended by underprivileged children to talk about careers in tax and accounting. 3 . I attend many meetings. I co-chair four different forums with HM Revenue and Customs and two with Scottish Government / Revenue Scotland. I have meetings with: l Ministers and senior civil servants l tax experts who volunteer to be on ICAS tax committees l ICAS members l other tax professionals to discuss problems businesses and employers are facing. I need a reality check because it’s over a decade since I worked in practice, so although I know the legislation and policy back to front, I need people to tell me how that’s affecting the real world of doing business and the labour market, outside of the policy bubble. I tend to try and push for meetings in the mornings, and I like to do my writing in the afternoons. I prefer to deliver my webinars in the mornings when I’m fresh too. Sometimes this means I’m in back- to-back meetings for four or five hours.
Writing usually involves lots of technical research and reading time, so I like to be able to relax when doing that. I don’t like to interrupt my writing work with meetings because the ‘flow’ is lost. I like to think about what would happen if you turn X, Y or Z on its head and consider things in a different way. It comes in handy when working in tax policy. It’s important to consider that something shouldn’t be changed for the sake of it: but some things shouldn’t stay the same either, just because they’ve ‘always been done like that’. As you know, I’m a board member at the CIPP, which is an honour and a privilege, and complements what I do at ICAS very well, as they’re both Institutes, regulators, educators and examiners. I find the board meetings very rewarding, and I like to find a balance between unfettered ambition and realistic expectation in terms of where we’re trying to steer the CIPP. I love working with my fellow board members – it’s very challenging and simultaneously fulfilling to think that the Institute is going from strength to strength due to the sound decision making of the senior leadership team, the chief executive officer and the board. I’m very proud of the CIPP – it has a special place in my heart. I tend to work until around 6.30pm and then it’s power walkies for an hour and cooking / relaxing with the hubster. Not a bad balance overall. I never work at weekends unless I’ve missed a day or part of a day due to other things happening, such as a visitor arriving. That’s flexibility for you – a great thing and essential for work / life balance. By the time Question Time comes on the telly, I’m starting to nod off. I am getting on a bit you know!
Justine Riccomini MSc FFTA AIPA Chartered MCIPD ChFCIPP My day usually starts at about 6:30am, when I get up walk my dog, Reggie. He’s a Cockapoo puppy and my office companion number one. We’re always out in the fields above our home in the Pennines of West Yorkshire, to get a few thousand steps in before breakfast. Then it’s home for a cuppa with my hubster, Alessandro, and a bowl of porridge. After my shower, I head upstairs to my office, which is a huge attic room running the full length of the house. It’s divided into my ‘girl cave’ and a den. My hubby works from home three days a week and I allow him to share my girl cave, but I’m a full-time remote worker. So, I’m either at home or travelling to meetings in Westminster, Holyrood or the Welsh Government in Cardiff. I start work at 8am to get a few things done before the email traffic cranks up. My days are often long because I get embroiled in work and there’s always so much going on. But little Reggie needs his walks so it’s a good excuse to break and get some fresh air. As the head of employment and devolved taxes at the oldest professional accounting body and regulator in the world, there’s lots going on and I have a
| Professional in Payroll, Pensions and Reward | June 2023 | Issue 91 14
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