Previous Intellect Event 2008

Alexis Cleveland

After a short academic career, Alexis joined the Department of Health and Social Security as an Assistant Statistician. In her early career she worked on policy development, finance, planning, and data management. In 1989 she moved to the Information Technology Services Agency where she ran large scale IT development programmes and managed live service delivery. Frustrated by the lack of business and technology integration she took the opportunity to move to the Benefits Agency in 1993 as CIO and Director of Operations (South of England). In 2000 she became Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency and managed its restructure into five separate businesses. Alexis became the first Chief Executive of The Pension Service on its launch in April 2002.

In November 2005, Alexis agreed to become the Customer Group director for Older People as part of the Transformational Government strategy. In this role, she is involved in looking at ways of increasing customer focus across service providers and at ways of improving integrated delivery.

In June 2007, Alexis moved to Cabinet Office as Director-General for Transformational Government and Head of Cabinet Office Management, where her remit will include bringing greater clarity to the role of the Cabinet Office and its relations with other departments and helping to drive forward reforms that cut across the entire civil service.

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John Suffolk

John was appointed Her Majesty’s Government Chief Information Office on the 5th June 2006.  Prior to this he was the Director General of Criminal Justice IT (CJIT) from February 2004.

He has a background of over 25 years’ experience in IT and major transformation programmes. John has worked in the engineering and financial service industries and has extensive experience in delivering IT-enabled change.

He has had many and varied roles at Director level, including as a CIO twice in different organisations, as well as Customer Services Director, Operations Director and a Managing Director of a multi-channel £20bn business. His experience of running large, national businesses means John has the track record and insight to lead major IT-enabled transformation programmes which deliver clear business benefits.

John will lead the work of the CIO Council in delivering the Government’s strategy for the transformation of public services enabled by technology.  John will also provide leadership to the IT Profession across the wider public sector and enable public service transformation through the strategic deployment of technology which includes driving the use of shared services.  John will also act as the ‘face’ of UK Government IT both home and abroad.

John is a frequent conference speaker on transformational change and leadership in the UK and abroad.  In his spare time he looks after his farm protecting rare breed sheep and pigs.

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Sir David Varney

Sir David joined Shell in 1968 after graduating from the University of Surrey with a degree in Chemistry.  Sir David gained an MBA at Manchester Business School in 1971.  Returning to Shell, he worked in Australia, Holland and Sweden.  In 1987 he was appointed Chief Executive of Swedish Shell.  In 1990, he was appointed head of Marketing in Shell International in London. In 1992, he was appointed a Managing Director of Shell UK responsible for the oil products business.  In 1995, he was appointed Head of Shell Oil Products Europe.  In 1996, Sir David left Shell and became Chief Executive of BG Group (previously British Gas).  Sir David left BG in 2000.  In 2001, Sir David was appointed Executive Chairman of MMO2.  Sir David chaired Business in the Community from 2002 to 2004.  In 2004, Sir David was appointed Chairman of HM Revenue and Customs.  He left that post in August 2006 in order to advised the Chancellor on the opportunities for transforming the delivery of public services in the UK.  He has also conducted reviews into the relationship between HMRC and large business and the corporation tax rate in Northern Ireland.

Sir David was President of the Chartered Institute of Management for 2005/2006.  Sir David is currently the Prime Minister’s Adviser on Public Service Transformation.  He is a non-executive Director on the Civil Service Steeering Board.

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Sir Gus O'Donnell

Sir Gus O’Donnell took over as Cabinet Secretary on 1 August 2005.

Prior to that, he was Permanent Secretary to HM Treasury (July 2002 – July 2005).  Before that he had been Managing Director, Macroeconomic Policy and International Finance since1999. From 1998-9 he was Director of Macroeconomic Policy and Prospects, and from 1997-98 was the UK’s Executive Director to the IMF and World Bank.

He has also been Head of the Government Economics Service, the UK’s largest employer of professional economists, since 1998.

Gus O’Donnell studied economics at the University of Warwick and Nuffield College Oxford. He joined the Treasury as an economist in 1979, having spent four years as an economics lecturer at the University of Glasgow. Subsequent posts in Government included Press Secretary to the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1989-90) and Press Secretary to the Prime Minister (1990-94).

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Tom Watson

Tom Watson was elected to Parliament in June 2001 and was quickly appointed to the Home Affairs Select Committee. He was made Parliamentary Secretary to the Paymaster General in 2003 and entered the Government as an Assistant Whip at the end of 2004.

Between May and September 2006 he was Under Secretary of State for Defence and Minister for Veterans. In July 2007, he rejoined Government in the Government Whips office and in January 2008 was appointed Cabinet Office Minster.

In his time as a Minister, he has presented the Organ Donation (Presumed Consent with Safeguards) Bill to Parliament, steered the final stages of the Armed Forces Bill through the Commons, and has sat on the Standing Committees of the Proceeds of the Crime Bill, the Communications Bill, the Human Tissue Bill, the Civil Partnerships Bill and the Gambling Bill.

Before entering Parliament, Tom worked as a Political Adviser to Sir Ken Jackson at the Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union. He has also worked for the Labour Party and Save the Children and served on the Rover Taskforce, the Government-appointed body that helped extend the life of the Longbridge car plant.

Tom is the author of a number of publications, including Votes for All, examining the introduction of compulsory voting, and Taking Responsibility – Dealing with the Legacy of Radioactive Waste; and contributes regularly to political journals.

Tom was Parliament’s first blogger and has a well-established interest in technology.

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