Heather Self and David Gauke honoured for contributions to tax

Heather Self has received the Council Award, the highest ranking award that the Institute can give. This recognises her outstanding contributions to the life of the Institute and the profession as a whole. This includes chairing the Institute’s Technical Committee, co-founding the Women in Tax network and regularly featuring in the media as an expert commentator on tax matters. She is just the sixth recipient of the Council Award to date.

David Gauke has been awarded an Honorary Fellowship of the Institute. The award of an Honorary Fellowship is a mark of excellence bestowed on the grounds of particular distinction in the field of taxation. The award is based on Mr Gauke’s contribution as a member of the Treasury Select Committee, as Shadow Treasury Minister, then as Exchequer Secretary, Financial Secretary to the Treasury, Chief Secretary to the Treasury and Secretary of State for Work and Pensions.

CIOT President Glyn Fullelove said:

“I am delighted to be able to recognise Heather Self and David Gauke for their exceptional contributions to the fields of taxation and the tax profession.

“Heather has a lifetime of experience as a senior tax professional – in business, in practice and at HMRC – but it is for her wider work as a writer, broadcaster and raising the profile of women in the tax profession that we are primarily honouring her. Whether on television, radio, print or online she is one of the most effective communicators in the profession. For more than a quarter of a century she has been a clear and cogent contributor to the tax policy debate. More recently the growth of Women in Tax since she co-founded it just five years ago has been stellar.

“David served as a Member of Parliament for 14 years and for 10 of those was either minister, or shadow minister, for tax. He led for the government on nine Finance Bills and throughout his time in office demonstrated a commitment to consultation and engagement with the tax profession and other stakeholders leading to generally more considered tax policy. As well as putting in place the new Tax Consultation Framework and Tax Professionals Forum he was instrumental in setting up the Office of Tax Simplification and oversaw the government’s much-praised first Corporate Taxes Roadmap.

“Sadly, due to the coronavirus I am not able to present Heather or David with their awards in person at an Institute event, as we would usually do. I look forward to the day when I or my successor will be able to do so.”

Notes for editors

1. Heather Self

Heather is a tax partner at leading advisory firm Blick Rothenberg, advising businesses and entrepeneurs on a wide range of tax issues.  She has over 30 years’ experience advising on UK and international corporate tax matters, with particular experience of working with businesses in the energy sector.  From 1992 to 2001 she was an international tax partner at Ernst & Young.   She then served as Group Taxation Director at Scottish Power and was a partner at Grant Thornton before working as an anti-avoidance adviser at HMRC.  In 2011 she moved to become a partner at Pinsent Masons and in 2018 she joined the corporate tax team at Blick Rothenberg.

Heather was a member of the CIOT’s Council from 1993 to 2004. This included a time serving as Chair of the Technical Committee and also as Deputy President of the Institute. From 2011 to 2017 she was a member of the Tax Committee of the CBI. She is a fellow of both CIOT and ICAEW.

Heather is recognised for her work in setting up the ‘Women in Tax’ network which aims to raise the voice of women working in all areas of tax. Since its launch in November 2015, the network has grown to have 10 branches across the UK. In 2017 International Tax Review named her as one of their Global Tax 50. She is a regular speaker at tax events, as well as a commentator on BBC News, and one of the most prominent members of ‘tax Twitter’. She writes a regular column - ‘Self’s Assessment’ – for the magazine Tax Journal.

2. David Gauke

David Gauke was Member of Parliament for Hertfordshire South West from 2005 to 2019. In February 2006, he was appointed to the Treasury Select Committee which he then left in June 2007 when appointed to the Shadow Treasury team.

After the 2010 General Election, David was appointed as Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, at the time the youngest Conservative minister in the coalition government. In July 2014 he was promoted to Financial Secretary to the Treasury, still retaining responsibility for tax matters.  Between 2010 and 2017 he led for the government on nine Finance Bills. He oversaw policies to tackle tax avoidance, such as the General Anti-Abuse Rule, and to make the UK tax system more competitive, such as reductions to the rate of corporation tax and the introduction of a Corporate Taxes Roadmap.

In 2016, David was appointed Chief Secretary to the Treasury where he attended Cabinet and had responsibility for public spending. In 2017, he was promoted to Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and in January 2018 he was appointed Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor, becoming the first solicitor to become Lord Chancellor.

Before he became an MP David was a solicitor with city firm Macfarlanes, specialising in financial services regulation. He is now back at the firm as their Head of Public Policy.

3. CIOT Council Award

Heather Self is the sixth recipient of the CIOT Council Award. The previous recipients are:

Ian Luder 2010
John Avery Jones 2011
John Andrews 2012
John Whiting 2013
Anthony Thomas 2017

4. CIOT Honorary Fellowships

David Gauke is the 34th recipient of a CIOT honorary fellowship. Other former ministers to have received the honour include:

Rt Hon Lord Mackay Of Clashfern (former Lord Chancellor) 1981; Rt Hon Lord Howe of Aberavon (former Chancellor) 2000; Rt Hon Lord Lawson of Blaby (former Chancellor) 2006; Rt Hon Lord Healey (former Chancellor) 2009; Rt Hon Kenneth Clarke (former Chancellor) 2015.

A full list of previous recipients of the award is available on request