The public sector is getting tetchy about its finance directors. There have been accusations of many departments not having qualified FDs, with the DTI recently having advertised for one.

Who else doesn’t have a qualification, TS wonders? The Treasury has Mary Keegan, with whose qualifications we do not quibble. HMRC has Stephen Jones, who, it should be pointed out, has not yet passed his CIMA exams.

‘He is just about to complete them,’ a spokesman says, before launching into a spirited defence. ‘He’s a trained tax inspector, which is far superior anyway, and he has a first class degree in Maths from Oxford. Try and find another FD who is better qualified.’

Consider the challenge well and truly laid down.