Celebrating success: HSCP CIPFA trainees shine at national awards

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Glasgow City Council is proud to be one of Scotland’s largest employers of CIPFA trainees, helping shape the next generation of public finance professionals. The Council’s Finance and Audit Trainee Programme gives staff across our services — including our HSCP — the opportunity to work full time while studying toward the prestigious Chartered Public Finance Accountant (CPFA) qualification. It’s a challenging three year journey with 12 exams, but one that opens up strong career pathways across the Council family.

This programme plays a key role in our Glasgow City Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP)’s succession planning, helping us nurture talent, build professional pathways and retain skilled finance staff across the HSCP and wider Council family.

Outstanding achievements at this year’s CIPFA Scotland Graduation and Prize Giving

At the CIPFA Scotland Graduation and Prize Giving Ceremony — held in the Glasgow City Chambers — our HSCP staff made a remarkable impact. Across Scotland, trainees attend from local authorities, the NHS, the civil service and private sector organisations, making the achievements even more impressive.

This year, we celebrated one graduate and two award winners from within our teams:

Graduate

  • Surpreet Kaur, Senior Finance Officer, HSCP
    • Completed the full CIPFA qualification
    • Awarded the Archie Gillespie Memorial Prize for the highest mark in Scotland (local government) in the final exam

Prize Winners

  • Jillian MacLeod, Senior Finance Officer, HSCP — achieved top mark in Scotland for Management Accounting (99%)
  • Sean McAlaney, Senior Officer, HSCP — achieved top mark in Scotland for Developing Strategy and Data Analysis

Their success reflects the hard work, commitment and resilience required to balance full time work with a demanding professional qualification.

Trainees Share Their Journey

Surpreet Kaur

“This award allowed me to use the valuable experience I’ve gained working in the HSCP to achieve a professional qualification. Qualifying as an accountant and receiving the Archie Gillespie Memorial Prize has given me a great sense of achievement. As a Grade 7 Senior Finance Officer, I now have more opportunities for career growth. I’m grateful to the council, my colleagues, friends and family for their support.”

Jillian MacLeod

“I’m halfway through my CIPFA studies and was delighted to receive the award for the highest mark in Scotland for Management Accounting. The qualification is challenging, but I’m really enjoying the learning and development opportunities.”

Sean McAlaney

“I’m in my fourth year studying CIPFA. Winning this award means a lot — it shows my hard work is paying off and gives me confidence heading into future exams.”

Duncan Black, Depute Chief Officer Finance & Resources and Chief Financial Officer for our HSCP, said: “Huge congratulations to Surpreet, who is now a fully qualified accountant, and to Sean and Jillian for achieving the highest marks in their exams. We’re extremely proud of our long standing CIPFA trainee scheme, which offers mentoring and rotation across all finance and audit teams.”