Corporate report

GFF Strategy 2030

Published 2 July 2025

Foreword

We’re both incredibly excited to be launching the new Government Finance Function Strategy that will take us through to 2030 and beyond. Our new strategy sends a clear message about what we, as a finance community, are about and what we want to collectively achieve.  

This strategy builds on the successes of our previous strategies. These have been vital in strengthening our finance foundations and we must continue to focus on these, adapting to changes in our operating environment to ensure we remain a reliable and credible function. Moreover, they have given us the maturity and confidence to capitalise on emerging technologies and embrace new opportunities and ways of working, helping us add even greater value to our customers and government as a whole.  

Developing this strategy has been a truly collaborative effort. We engaged extensively across the finance community to ensure the strategy resonates with everyone and we listened to our customers and stakeholders to ensure that our strategic priorities directly support their needs and wider government objectives. 

Over the next 5 years, successfully delivering against our strategic vision and objectives will position us as a dynamic function that is responsive to customer needs, is innovative in its approach, and is able to use data to shape decision-making and track performance, with strong finance foundations underpinning all of this. These things really matter because they are what enable finance teams to add value to our customers and stakeholders, earning us our seat at the decision-making table. 

We will take an active role as a convenor across boundaries, ensuring that we leverage our collective strengths and expertise to break down barriers and generate greater insights and advice for our customers. This collaborative ethos is at the heart of our strategy, driving us to deliver exceptional service and support to all stakeholders across government. 

We will embrace innovation and new ways of working to deliver more for our customers and government, while continuing to build a resilient, innovative, and inclusive finance function that meets the needs of today and is prepared to tackle the challenges of tomorrow.  

James McEwen and Conrad Smewing, Joint-Heads of the Government Finance Function

Who we are and why we’re here

The Government Finance Function (GFF) is a diverse cross-government community of over 9,000 finance colleagues who play an integral role in the delivery of public services and the pursuit of financial excellence. The function spans central departments, arm’s length bodies, small and medium departments, and devolved administrations. The GFF encompasses a range of finance disciplines, including risk and compliance, strategic finance, and more, reflecting the breadth of expertise within the community. 

Our role is fundamental to delivering high-quality public services. We support ministers and Accounting Officers in meeting their responsibilities under Managing Public Money, and we play a vital role in strategic planning, performance tracking, risk management, and delivering better outcomes for citizens. Finance is not just about numbers, it’s about making a real difference to society by improving how public funds are managed, invested, and accounted for. 

Our work sits within a wider cross-government model of functions - professional groupings such as finance, HR, commercial, and digital - that enable consistent, effective, and efficient delivery across government. These functions operate within a shared framework shaped by functional standards, which define expectations, assure performance, and develop capability across departments. 

As we look ahead to 2030 and beyond, we are proud to build on over 40 years of financial leadership. Our new strategy sets out a bold vision for the future: one that places finance at the heart of decision-making, strengthens public trust, and delivers value for money.

Your mission is to put finance and financial data at the heart of decision making, to help deliver value for money and strengthen public trust. From everything I have seen in my role so far, you are delivering all of that and more, through your insightful advice and analysis, effective risk management, and informed strategic planning. Your work is critical in underpinning our economic foundations and supporting the effective delivery of public services. As we work across Whitehall to modernise the delivery of public services, and make better use of data and technology, so too will the Government Finance Function. I look forward to working with you on this important work.

The Rt Hon Darren Jones MP, Chief Secretary to the Treasury

What we’ve achieved

Since launching our first strategy in 2019, and refreshing it in 2022, the GFF has matured into a resilient, innovative, and forward-looking community. We’ve built stronger capabilities, developed our people, and improved the way finance operates across government. These achievements have helped us meet complex and evolving challenges, while continuously delivering critical support and services to departments, ALBs, and ministers. 

We’ve grouped our achievements into four key themes that reflect our core priorities since we last refreshed our strategy back in 2022.  

Investing in Our People 

• Upskilled over 8,000 of our people through the Government Finance Academy with leadership, technical and future-focused training. 

• Expanded career support, launching tools like the Skills Capture Tool and embedding the Finance Career Framework across 90% of the function. 

• Supported talent at all levels, onboarding Finance Fast Streamers and Apprentices, and strengthening senior leadership resourcing through recruitment campaigns. 

• Launched an award-winning careers site to attract talent into the function. 

Strengthening Finance Foundations 

• Published and embedded updates to the Finance Functional Standard and launched the Continuous Improvement Assessment Framework (CIAF) to help identify continuous improvement opportunities across the function. 

• Delivered the NOVA functional reference model, setting best practice for finance processes and data standards.  

• Improved data-driven decision-making across government, using business intelligence tools to increase transparency and offer real-time data visualisation. 

• Supported accountability on climate with a 3-year implementation plan for climate-related financial disclosures. 

• Published the Government Efficiency Framework and supported cross-government implementation. 

Leading on Risk Management  

• Established the Risk Centre of Excellence and appointed the first Head of the Government Risk Profession who delivered the broader risk management strategy previously set out to Parliament and continues to evolve the strategy for the future. 

• Published major guidance updates (which apply to all functions and departments) including the Orange Book, Risk Control Framework, and new Portfolio Risk Guidance. 

• To support good risk taking and productivity, developed over twenty demand-led new tools in collaboration with departments, from the Risk Culture Toolkit to the Strategic Value Driver Risk Assessment and the Central Government Assurance Directory providing pragmatic and robust resources to teams. 

• Provided specialist risk input into the review of broader government processes such as the Spending Review and the review of major programmes during funding requests. 

• Launched the government’s first professional risk accreditation, established the risk fast stream, and delivered over 50 risk learning and engagement events at senior and junior levels. 

Engaging Our Community 

• Grew our digital platform, OneFinance, to over 15,000 members.  

• Delivered a series of regional events in Darlington, Manchester, Cardiff, Glasgow, Belfast and more. 

• Piloted our first in-person GFF Awards, celebrating the contributions of our talented professionals.

These achievements reflect a community that is evolving. As we respond to the demands of a more complex and fast-moving environment, this record of delivery gives us confidence that we can meet what’s next, together.

Case for change

We are operating in a very different environment today compared to 2019 when we launched our first functional strategy. The financial climate is significantly more constrained, digital and data innovation is accelerating at pace, and the expectations placed on finance as a function have grown.  

Our role is evolving. Stakeholders increasingly look to us for proactive advice, joined-up insights, and strategic challenge. We’re also seeing a growing need for greater self-service, faster access to insight, and timelier, assured financial scrutiny. Senior leaders need us to provide assurance and clarity, especially as difficult trade-offs become more common in the context of tight public finances.  

This changing landscape is not unique to finance - it affects the whole of government. But finance is uniquely placed to lead. We have the tools, expertise, and relationships to influence outcomes, drive efficiencies, and contribute to long-term reform. To do this, we must continue to embrace new technology, improve the way we use data, and actively support key cross-government priorities. 

Digital innovation is a key enabler. Tools such as automation, data analytics, and generative AI are already showing their potential to transform how we work by reducing admin, unlocking insight, and improving the user experience for our customers.  

We also need to invest in our people. To make the most of these opportunities, we must build capability across digital and data, equip our teams with the right tools and skills, and create a culture that encourages innovation, collaboration, and continuous learning. By working closely with other functions, we can amplify our impact and ensure finance remains at the heart of effective, modern government.

Our strategic vision for 2030

Our new strategic vision and three supporting objectives will help us rise to these challenges, setting clear direction for the next five years and signalling our priorities and where we need to focus our collective efforts.

Our new objectives are intended to be something that everyone across the finance community can get behind and collectively benefit from. With new tools to manipulate data and uncover insights, better processes and technology at our disposal, and a more polished skill set to drive professionalism, we will be able to add ever greater value to our customers.

Insightful and Data Driven

This means each of us is equipped with the tools we need to drive greater insights and operational effectiveness from the work we do. We need to be able to use data and analysis to tell stories for our customers in an impactful way, providing them with expert advice that helps them run their organisations better and manage their finances. To help us do this, we will focus on ensuring we have more timely and accurate data that is joined up across functions, alongside access to modern analytical tools that will help us deliver high quality insights that shape decision-making. Building our collective ability to manage and analyse data makes us stronger as a function.

Skilled and Talented

This means creating job roles and opportunities that provide challenging and interesting work for each of us, with the ability to build a meaningful and rewarding career in the GFF right across the country. This is about continuing to invest in skills development and capitalising on the opportunities to work in new ways. To enable this, we will evolve our Finance Career Framework, ensuring our roles reflect the skills and capabilities we need to develop for the future. We will build new skills and approaches to work, expanding our Government Finance Academy curriculum to meet our changing requirements, while ensuring that our offer is transparent and accessible to everyone across the function. 

We will continue to grow our brand and strengthen our reputation to attract new, diverse people into the function, while simultaneously focussing on developing and retaining the talent that exists across our teams. We will seek out diversity in our workforce, recognising the role our differences play in taking on the challenges that our new strategy is here to overcome.

Innovative and Delivery Focussed

This means working smarter, so that more time is spent delivering the things that really matter to our customers and make a difference to government. This is about ensuring that the structures, processes, and tools are in place that will help us work more efficiently and effectively. Optimising and automating processes will reduce time spent on manual, repetitive tasks, creating opportunities to focus on more interesting, value-add activities.

Finance Foundations

Strong Finance Foundations are essential for maintaining professional credibility and supporting informed decision-making. To be insightful and data-driven, we need strong reporting and data disciplines. To be skilled and talented, we need to understand and apply the standards that safeguard public money. To be innovative and delivery-focused, we need firm processes and controls to build on. 

The GFF will continue to enhance these foundations through initiatives such as adopting International Finance Reporting Standards, improving risk management practices, and advancing sustainability reporting. As we look to 2030, we will maintain our customers’ trust through excellent Finance Foundations, building on existing initiatives and seeking new opportunities to strengthen financial management.