Alex Burghart MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Overview of government skills agenda for 2022 (10.00-10.15, Plenary)

Alex Burghart is the Conservative MP for Brentwood and Ongar, and has been an MP since June 2017. He currently holds the Government post of Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education).

© UK Parliament 2022. Photograph available under an Attribution 3.0 Unported (CC BY 3.0) licence at https://members.parliament.uk/member/4613/portrait

Shannon Armstrong, Debt Advice Specialist (Financial Wellness Group)

Credit Control & Debt Advice - what's on the curriculum this year? (11.00-11.30, Stream 2)

Shannon Armstrong has worked at the Financial Wellness Group for nearly four years, having started as a review specialist for the Debt Management Plan department. For the past 12 months Shannon has worked as a debt adviser through the Money Advice and Pension Service which funds their free-to-customer service team called Benesse Advice.

Shannon started the apprenticeship programme in May 2021 with the aim to refresh and progress her knowledge industry-wide.

Claire Aynsley, Head of Membership & Compliance (CSA)

Compliance Skills Priorities (10.30-11.00, Stream 2)

Claire joined the Credit Services Association in 2002. She has played a vital role in the progression of the Association and is now Head of Regulatory Compliance and Standards, continuing to support and guide members. Claire's dedication and passion for the industry have greatly enhanced the status of the Association, forging strong relationships with regulatory bodies and other industry stakeholders to ensure the CSA is at the forefront of any regulatory and legislative changes.

Teresa Culmer, Skills Development Manager (ESFA)

Financing Skills & Recruitment - accessing resources and how apprenticeships funding works (10.30-11.00, Stream 1)

Teresa Culmer a Skills Development Manager in the Department for Education in the Apprenticeship Directorate working directly with large employers in the Midlands to improve quality outcomes and growth of apprenticeships, and encouraging participation in traineeships and T level Industry Placements. Before joining DfE she worked for DWP within a Jobcentre.

Zoe Dellow, Senior L&D Consultant (CSA)

Compliance Skills Priorities (10.30-11.00, Stream 2)

Prior to joining the CSA as Senior L&D Consultant, Zoe worked at Santander in the L&D department for 11 years - five of which she spent training new and existing collections employees. Zoe has has over 25 years of teaching/training experience in multiple organisations including finance, telecommunications and education.

Peter Hayle, Director of Finance & Operations (CSA)

Counter-fraud & Financial Crime; a skills agenda for secure operations (11.00-11.30, Stream 1)

Peter is a chartered accountant who originally qualified with KPMG in Newcastle. He has worked in a number of senior roles across a range of sectors, including companies such as Rolls Royce, Sage and Your Move and has also operated in the highly regulated environment of fund management. Peter is Director of Finance and Operations, and is responsible for management accounts and financial reporting, and helps provide operational support for the day-to-day running of the Association.

Graham Hasting-Evans, Chief Executive (NOCN)

Apprenticeships and Upskilling your Staff (10.15-10.30, Plenary)

Graham Hasting-Evans is Chief Executive of NOCN Group: an international and UK based education and skills charity who works with employers, to support them up-skill their workforces and supports individuals to obtain certified skills to gain employment, advance their careers or undertake further education. He also advises governments on skills policy to establish and operate apprenticeship, vocational and technical skills programme aim at improving economic performance. He has been involved in UK Government’s reform of apprenticeships and technical education following many years senior management experience in a number of economic sectors both in the UK and internationally.

Sarah Heath-Marshall, Community Protection Officer (Walsall Council)

How work-based learning gives back to your business (11.30-12.00, Plenary)

Sarah Heath-Marshall is a Community Protection Officer employed by Walsall Council. Sarah has held this post for five years, and employed by the Local Authority for 20 years working in various posts from clerical and ICT support, Consumer advice, anti-social behaviour and community protection. Sarah’s role as Community Protection Officer involves dealing with complaints from residents, councillors or businesses in regards to issues surrounding environmental crime, statutory nuisance, anti-social behaviour, fly tipping, licensing enforcement and unauthorised encampments. Within the role it is important to build relationships with partner agencies such as the Police, Fire Service, Social Services, Pubwatch and others to enable to look at issues surrounding the businesses and community around Walsall and the best ways to ensure compliance is met. This partnership working ensures that the most appropriate agency takes the lead where necessary to ensure that any issues of non-compliance are dealt with in the most efficient way.

Chantelle James, Compliance Manager & Data Protection Officer (UK Search Limited)

Compliance Skills Priorities (10.30-11.00, Stream 2)

Chantelle started at UK Search Limited, a Trace and Debt Collection company based in Chesterfield, in early 2018. Her main responsibilities were to implement more structure to the Quality Assurance checks and to ensure UKSL were compliant with the new GDPR being introduced. This included conducting Data Protection impact assessments, call monitoring, providing feedback to agents and liaising with clients on call calibrations.

Chantelle progressed to be more involved in Internal Audits alongside the Compliance Manager at the time, and responding to complaints. When the Compliance Manager left UKSL Chantelle required further training and knowledge within Financial Services, and the CSA was chosen as their training provider and Chantelle enrolled on the Level 6 Compliance and Risk Specialist course in early 2021.

Now one year into the course, Chantelle says that she feels more confident in her decision-making and that her knowledge has grown significantly. She has since been promoted to Senior Compliance Manager, and believes that the apprenticeship has contributed to this career progression. Chantelle says that the assignments are always adapted and relevant to her job role, which allows her to make more informed decisions and be certain of her abilities.

Simon Lowe, Tutor (CSA)

Credit Control & Debt Advice - what's on the curriculum this year? (11.00-11.30, Stream 2)

Simon has 20 years of experience in Operations Management, Compliance and Coaching roles across the Gambling Sector and Financial Services, focussing upon delivering good practice and corporate governance controls to ensure good customer outcomes.

Axel Manwaring, Tutor (CSA)

Counter fraud & Financial Crime: A skills agenda for secure operations (11.00-11.30, Stream 1)

Axel Manwaring is a tutor and assessor for the CSA for the Regulatory Compliance Officer Apprenticeship and the Counter Fraud Investigator Apprenticeship. Axel was previously a Criminal Investigator for HMRC and in the Project Delivery Team for the Counter Fraud Investigator Apprenticeship and Government Counter Fraud Profession.

Fiona Macaskill, Director of Learning & Development (CSA)

Financing Skills & Recruitment - accessing resources and how apprenticeships funding works (10.30-11.00, Stream 1)

Fiona has more than 35 years' experience in learning and organisation development. She has had senior operational and business development roles, managing training and education requirements for private and public sector clients.Fiona leads the professional development pathways designed to support established professionals and those new to the industry, as well as promoting and sharing best practice in learning and development across the industry. Fiona is responsible for the CSA's specialist Apprenticeship Training provision which was launched in October 2017.

Andrew Mills, Skills Development Manager (ESFA)

Financing Skills & Recruitment - accessing resources and how apprenticeships funding works (10.30-11.00, Stream 1)

Andrew Mills is a Skills Development Manager for the Department of Education. His work involves coaching and supporting levy-paying employers in the North West, with aims to grow their use of apprenticeships.

Prior to this role, he worked at the chalk face, teaching key stage 1 and special needs learners.

Jane Peacock, Non-executive Director (CSA)

How work-based learning gives back to your business (11.30-12.00, Plenary)

Jane Peacock joined the CSA in 2021 as a Non-Executive Director, bringing with her a specialism in Further Education and Apprenticeships. She has led development initiatives and regulation within several government bodies, most recently the Education and Skills Funding Agency. Prior to life in the Civil Service, Jane’s career was in teaching and education management in a wide variety of settings including Sixth Form, Further Education, secure and Special Needs.

Danielle Rhodes, Risk Assurance Officer (Lowell Financial Ltd)

How work-based learning gives back to your business (11.30-12.00, Plenary)

Danielle Rhodes is a Risk Assurance Officer at Lowell Financial Ltd, and joined the business in December 2020. Between June 2019 and August 2020 Danielle completed the Level 3 Compliance Risk Officer Apprenticeship, achieving an overall distinction, and it opened her eyes to where she really wanted to be in her work life. In October /November 2020, following redundancy at her previous employer, Danielle took the opportunity to move from a role within Learning and Development and pursue her passion to work in a risk environment. Completing the apprenticeship helped Danielle build her confidence as well as other key skills and knowledge, meaning she felt that she was ready to ‘take the leap’.

Chris Shaw, Tutor (CSA)

Credit Control & Debt Advice - what's on the curriculum this year? (11.00-11.30, Stream 2)

Tom Wilson, Senior Counter Fraud Manager (AXA)

Counter-Fraud & Financial Crime: a skills agenda for secure operations (11.00-11.30, Breakout 1)

Tom has worked in the insurance industry since 1997, holdinig various roles in Claims but for the last 20 years has worked in the Counter Fraud environment in various capacities. Tom's current roles involves leading the Counter Fraud Claims teams across Motor, Household, Commercial Property, Liability and Travel which provides for a varied role - this is both Retail and Commercial Insurance. Tom's function consist of circa 100 people of all levels and he is accountable for the financial delivery of fraud savings of £120m+ together with ensuring that a robust risk, control and governance framework exists to manage any fraud threats to AXA.