Audit and Risk Assurance Committee

The Ombudsman is assisted by an Audit and Risk Assurance Committee in respect of the Accounting Officer aspects of the role. The committee is made up of 4 non-executive members and meets quarterly.

The committee members advise the Ombudsman on all activities, policies and procedures concerning governance, risk management and internal control.

Tim is a Board Member of The Community Housing Group, a provider of social housing to the local communities around Kidderminster in the West Midlands, and is also a member of its Audit and Assurance Committee. He is also a Trustee of the Chester Diocesan Academies Trust, a multi-academy trust of primary schools.

Tim is a retired senior civil servant having held several positions at Ofqual, the exams regulator including its Director of Risk and Markets, Director of Strategic Reform during the reform of GCSEs and A levels, and Director of the National Reference Test. He has a broad background in regulation and risk management. Prior to joining Ofqual, he was Chief Executive and Director of Regulation at Standards for England, and also worked at the Financial Services Authority, supervising major banks.

Tim’s earlier career was in the private sector including Risk Director at Xansa plc, a business process and IT outsourcing company, and at NatWest in roles including Director of International Markets and Head of the Group’s Business Consultancy unit.

Tim is an Ombudsman Director at the Financial Ombudsman Service and brings over 13 years of dispute resolution experience together with operational leadership from a parallel ombudsman service. Prior to joining the Financial Ombudsman Service, he held a variety of senior management roles at Barclays, where he worked for 13 years.

Tim has also previously been a member of the Finance and Development Committee of Tower Hamlets Community Housing, where he gained valuable insight into the running of a registered housing provider. He served as a local councillor on Tower Hamlets council for eight years, leading on a number of housing issues and was lead member for overview and scrutiny. Tim was most recently a councillor on Reigate and Banstead Borough Council where he held the Executive Portfolio of Investments and Companies.

Hiten is Governance and Risk Director with an international technology organisation. He has also been a non-executive director for 20 years, working at board level, providing strategic, organisational, financial, and corporate direction. His experience covers governance, legal, compliance, people and culture, IT (digital and cybersecurity), QI (quality improvement), services, audit and risk management.

This has been across social housing, regulated, not-for-profit and third sector organisations. Hiten has served as Chair, Trustee and Governing Board Member, Chair of Audit and Risk and Chair of Finance Committees during this time, completing full terms at the Chartered Institute of Housing and Severn Vale Housing. He is a Board Member at The Pioneer Housing and Community Group, and member of its Audit and Assurance Committee.

David has extensive executive and governance experience ranging from roles in urban regeneration, social housing and engineering, and pension and committee board. From September 2012 until September 2023, David was a Board Member and Chair of the Audit and Risk Assurance Committee of Estuary Housing Association.

Working in the further and higher sectors since 2002, David has been involved in Chief Financial Officer roles with a broad portfolio of leadership responsibilities including audit and risk management, business continuity planning, student admissions and record systems, estate management, strategic campus master planning and development and IT.

David’s other governance roles include social housing (Board member Coin Street Housing Co-Operative and independent member of the Stonewater Housing Risk and Assurance Committee) and the Social Housing Pension Scheme (Committee member).