Letter from the President - March 2019

Dear reader,

One of the issues with writing magazine articles is the lead-in time.  As I write this, it’s a cold January day, but by the time you read it, spring will be well on the way!  Certainly Christmas and New Year are behind us. I was very fortunate this year to spend New Year in one of my favourite countries – Italy - in the capital, Rome, not as a result of being IRRV President but as a belated “big birthday” treat. I think if I could choose to live anywhere, it would be somewhere in Italy. 

Like many people working in local government, it wasn’t a career which anyone spoke to me about and, if they had, I doubt it would have been the area of revenues and benefits which would feature high on the list. No, following my graduation in 1990, I left the UK to teach English in the Italian town of Vigevano. Situated just outside Milan, it’s famous for its Piazze Ducale and shoemaking.  Sadly, after spending the summer there, I ended up returning to the UK and the first job I got was in my local council in the days of community charge. It’s fair to say that my love affair with Italy started then and has continued since! 

But back to business, the first event of 2019 which I attended on behalf of the IRRV was the Chartered institute of Taxation lunch. Quite apt, since January is the month when many of us will be completing our self-assessment tax return! It can be a little daunting walking into a room full of strangers and “mingling” before the formal dinner but I found myself talking to delightful elderly gentlemen of 95 years young who, when he heard the word “revenues”, as in IRRV, became convinced that I worked for HMRC - his former employer. After a few attempts to correct him I decided it was probably best just to keep him company ahead of the dinner. 

During the dinner itself, I found myself sitting between a Professor of Taxation from Oxford and the President of Tax Advisors Europe, who was from Milan. The dinner itself was in the Merchant Taylors’ Hall, one of the Great Twelve Livery Companies of the City of London. Livery Companies, or Guilds as they were previously known, began in mediaeval times as fraternities which were often religious but were also there to protect the interests of particular trades. Which prompts me to remind you of the forthcoming London and Home Counties Association dinner, planned for 7th March in the Innholders Hall. As my local Association I am bound to be a little biased but it really is worthwhile attending if you are able to. 

However, between now and then there will have been further Institute business to attend to, with my second meeting of national Council to chair at the end of January. This will be when the future strategy of the Institute is discussed in light of the responses to the consultation submitted. There is also have been the West Midlands Association dinner to attend at the end of February, where I look forward to meeting some new and familiar faces. And, a short break in the Aosta Valley skiing - not sure there has ever been a President who served on crutches, so let’s hope I’m not the first! 

Yours, 

Louise

Louise Freeth IRRV (Hons) is President of the Institute