The former head of the Government Digital Service has become the second senior figure from consultancy Public Digital to be appointed in recent weeks to a position supporting government transformation
HM Revenue and Customs has named Government Digital Service founder Mike Bracken as a non-executive director.
His appointment to the tax agency’s boardroom comes after he was included in a panel of experts convened by the Labour party in April to advise on how best to “modernise” HMRC and improve tax compliance.
A month after this advisory group was formed, an election was called and, six weeks after that, Labour was in power.
The new administration has now ensured that Bracken will support HMRC’s digital and data ambitions on a more permanent basis by appointing him to a non-executive directorship.
The new recruit brings with him a wealth of digital government experience, not least during 2011 to 2015, when he was the founding leader of the Government Digital Service. After leaving the civil service, he set up global consultancy Public Digital and, according to his biography on GOV.UK, “currently advises more than 30 governments and global financial institutions on digital transformation”.
PublicTechnology understands that Public Digital does not currently work with HMRC – nor will it take on any work with the department in the future.
In statement, Bracken said: “I’m delighted to be asked to help HMRC accelerate its digital capability. Along with a new group of advisers, we aim to support the talented team in charge of the transformation efforts to improve public services for citizens and businesses alike.”
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Bracken is the second high-profile figure from the firm to take on a government appointment since the new administration took power, with the consultancy’s former partner Emily Middleton recently being named as temporary director general for Digital Centre Design at the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.
Her role is to lead the process of “designing the scope, strategy and structure of the new digital centre of government” that has been created within DSIT, which now houses the Government Digital Service, Central Digital and Data Office, and Incubator for Artificial Intelligence.
The appointment has faced criticism from those that have accused the new administration of “cronyism”, as Public Digital had previously donated to the Labour party by paying £65,000 to support Middleton’s secondment to the office of DSIT secretary Peter Kyle, while he held the equivalent role in the shadow cabinet. This payment is considered a donation-in-kind.
Government has stated that Middleton’s appointment was made “in line with the civil service rules on recruitment”.
Joining Bracken as a new HMRC non-exec, meanwhile, is another member of the expert panel recruited by Labour earlier this year to advise on the department’s future: Bill Dodwell, the former tax director of the Office for Tax Simplification.
Along with these two new additions, four non-executives that previously served directly on the board or supported the work of its committees are no longer listed on HMRC’s GOV.UK site: David Cooper; Susie Warran-Smith; Thomas Taylor; and Elizabeth Fullerton-Rome.
PublicTechnology had contacted HMRC requesting comment and was awaiting response at time of going to press.
There will be further change at the top of HMRC, as chief executive Jim Harra last week announced that he is to step down and retire next spring. The department has already opened the recruitment process for his successor.
Writing in the candidate information pack, cabinet secretary Simon Case – who is also shortly to vacate his post – said that overseeing technology-led reform will be a key part of the brief.
He said: “To succeed in this role you will need a passion for leadership and managing significant cultural change in a complex environment, coupled with the experience of successfully leading major digital programmes to achieve customer service improvements; you will need to be able to lead a department that is transforming on an unprecedented scale.”