About Us

CPA Headquarters Secretariat Staff

About the CPA Headquarters Secretariat

The CPA Headquarters Secretariat is at the core of the Association and is committed to work with the leadership and membership of the Association in seeking to achieve its mission statement and strategic objectives.

The CPA Headquarters Secretariat embodies and champions the values of the CPA in both its work and conduct and undertakes all functions in a professional, transparent and holistic manner. Our Secretariat support for CPA Branches, both national and sub-national, will continue to recognise and respect the different needs and preferred approaches of our member Parliaments.

The CPA team is headed by the CPA Secretary-General, the CPA’s Chief Executive Officer, who is responsible for interpreting and implementing its policies and enhancing its activities and international relations, and is Secretary to the annual plenary conference.

Under the leadership of our Secretary-General, our staff group of 21 are well balanced in terms of gender and comprise of a rich representation of the Commonwealth nations.

The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association’s Headquarters Secretariat is located in London, United Kingdom. For further information about the CPA, please contact:

Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA)
CPA Headquarters Secretariat, c/o Richmond House, Houses of Parliament, London SW1A 0AA, United Kingdom.
T: +44 (0)20 7799 1460
Email hq.sec@cpahq.org

Investors in People

At CPA, we have invested heavily in our staff to provide them with the opportunity grow and develop, encouraging both formal and informal learning opportunities where they can flourish, keep learning and ultimately to deliver to their full potential. Continuous development of our staff is a priority and our efforts have been externally recognised through the attainment of the Investors in People Award.

The Investors in People Standard is an internationally recognised accreditation, which is celebrated worldwide as a global benchmark in good people management and development and shows that an organisation is putting people first. Investors In People is a standard for people management that offers accreditation to organisations observing a specific criteria which has been developed to help organisations achieve excellence in management by providing organisations with tailored assessments in planning, implementing and evaluating effective strategies of improving organisations’ performance through their people.

Find out more here.

Our Teams

CPA Headquarters Secretariat

Strategy and Engagement Team (including Communications)

The CPA’s Strategy and Engagement Team comprises of the Private Office, Strategic Planning, Governance, Communications and both the Internal and External Engagement functions.

The team leads on supporting the work of the CPA Secretary-General and the governance of the organisation. This includes assisting the CPA Secretary-General in their Chief Executive Officer role on matters of managerial oversight, the administration of the CPA Headquarters Secretariat, legal status, strategic planning and CPA’s internal and external relations.

The team is also a key conduit between the CPA Headquarters Secretariat and the CPA’s governing bodies and coordinates the two governance bodies, the CPA Executive Committee (which meets twice a year) and the CPA General Assembly (which meets annually at the Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference), as well as supporting the CPA Secretary-General in their capacity as the Secretary to these bodies and advisor to the CPA Chairperson and CPA Officers.

Communications colleagues are responsible for setting the Communications Strategy for the CPA and the delivery and management of all key communications channels to ensure the CPA membership is kept fully apprised of all CPA news and activities.

They also lead on the production of key communications outputs such as The Parliamentarian, the CPA blog and the CPA Order Paper e-newsletter. They also set the visual branding rules for the Association.

Programmes Team

Led by the Head of Programmes, the CPA Programmes team is the largest division within the CPA Headquarters Secretariat. The CPA Programmes Team is divided into two spheres: Multilateral Engagement and Bilateral Engagement.

The first sphere focuses heavily on the CPA's network coordination (Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians, CPA Small Branches, Commonwealth Parliamentarians with Disabilities and Youth Engagement) with the second sphere, Bilateral Engagement, focusing on in-country institutional strengthening programmes including the CPA Parliamentary Academy. The CPA Programmes Team oversees the delivery of all CPA programmes, projects and seminars.

Operations, Human Resources, IT and Partnerships

There are a number of operational roles based within the CPA Headquarters Secretariat including IT, Human Resources and Partnerships and Engagement. This team is headed by the CPA Deputy Secretary-General.

The operational areas of work supports the governance and delivery services of the CPA Headquarters Secretariat, for example setting the Secretariat's administrative policies ranging from procurement, staffing and sourcing external funding.

Finance Team

The CPA Headquarters Secretariat’s Finance Team provides operational, strategic and value-adding financial and business support services to the Association. The team ensures strict governance and regulatory compliance requirements are met. In particular, it ensures that effective financial accountability, equitability, value for money/best value considerations are taken into account in the provision of the Association's services.

More about the Finance Team and its work can be found here.