CATA Senior Leaders bring sunshine to London!

We were delighted to welcome 31 senior leaders from 23 tax administrations in the Commonwealth and beyond for phase three of the CATA Senior Leadership Programme (CATA SLP) 2024-25 held in London from 24 February - 7 March 2025.

Phase one was hosted by the Kenya Revenue Authority in Nairobi, Kenya back in September 2024 where the learning focused on the themes of ‘Leading self’ and ‘Leading others’.  For phase two, CATA senior leaders returned to their respective countries and engaged with e-learning and met virtually within their assigned action learning sets.

Phase three kicked off on a typically British cold and windy Monday morning with a welcome event held at the Commonwealth headquarters, Marlborough House. The event was attended by colleagues from HMRC’s International Relations and Capacity Building team and included official welcome remarks from Jon Sherman (Director, Business Assets and International, HMRC) and Dr. Esther Koisin (Executive Director, CATA) and a reflective group activity on leadership legacy.

To everyone’s delight, the sunshine came out in all its glory just in time for photos in the gardens of Marlborough House.

After the welcome event, the CATA senior leaders embarked a classic double-decker bus for an afternoon of sightseeing, taking in the vibrant culture, iconic landmarks, and rich history of London while enjoying a delectable afternoon tea.

The theme of phase three is ‘Leading organisations’ and ‘Leading in current and future tax administrations’. Over the two weeks, the leadership training covered a range of themes and topics including what it means to be a truly conscious leader, how to strategize and communicate effectively as a leader, leadership legacy, challenges of legacy systems, the importance of creativity and innovation in one’s work and beyond and how to be a good digital leader.

CATA senior leaders also had the opportunity to engage with a wide range of senior leaders within HMRC, learning from the depth of their experience and knowledge.  They heard from Jonathan Athow, HMRC’s Director General of Customer Service and Tax Design  who delivered an Introduction to HMRC session and spoke about the Making Tax Digital programme which is a vital part of HMRC’s modernisation strategy.  Leaders across HMRC’s compliance teams gave an overview of their work   including Richard Las CBE who leads HMRC’s Fraud Investigation Service. Other senior leaders delivered sessions on HMRC’s international relations and capacity building work, planning for the future and emerging trends and how HMRC are capitalising on technology, particularly AI.

A highlight of the HMRC senior leader engagement was the ‘In Conversation with HMRC Leaders’ panel event where the CATA senior leaders explored the importance of peers, as well as building a strong support network within the CATA SLP cohort, their organisations and beyond .

The two weeks culminated with a closing event to celebrate the CATA senior leaders and all the HMRC and CATA colleagues who helped to make the programme a success.  This comprised of speeches from HMRC and CATA, certificate ceremony and lunch  It was an honour to have  Angela McDonald, HMRC’s Second Permanent Secretary in attendance especially as it was on the eve of International Women’s Day and she represents one of the few but growing cohort of women heading up tax administrations in the world.