July 2011
Mike Hathorn of the Public Sector Group has been awarded the Sir Harry Page Award by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) for his work as Chair of the International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board (IPSASB).
The Sir Harry Page Award is made every year by CIPFA for outstanding technical work within the field of public service accounting and financial management.
Mike chaired IPSASB from 2007 to 2009, and the award judges felt it was largely due to his personal drive and commitment that the programme of revising public sector accounting standards came to a successful conclusion with their publication in May 2010. It is widely recognised that the international standards strengthen the accounting profession’s voice in public sector organisations throughout the world.
Mike was presented with his award on 5 July by CIPFA president Chris Bilsland during the institute’s annual conference. Bilsland said: ‘The work that Mike has done on IPSASB is of truly global significance. Its success is already apparent from the increasing take up of the standards internationally.’
The award judges were particularly impressed by Mike’s success in developing the Rules of the Road, enabling existing International Financial Reporting Standards to be converted into public sector IPSAS standards and taking advantage, where appropriate, of good practice in the commercial sector. The judges agreed his work had global implications, helping to tackle many problems only a few countries had been able to address in the past.
On receiving his award, Mike said: ‘I am delighted to receive this award, which recognises the important global contribution of IPSASB to better management through the adoption of accrual accounting and greater accountability through transparency in financial reporting in the public sector. It has been a privilege to play a part and work with CIPFA experts throughout my time on IPSASB.’
Sir Harry Page was a former president of CIPFA. The award has been presented annually since 1969 and attracts entries from a wide spectrum of organisations.