Former chief of defence people Sir Andrew Gregory has been given a rap on the knuckles after his new role was announced before he sought advice from the watchdog overseeing post-civil service appointments.
The Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (ACOBA) considers applications under the business appointment rules, drawn up to dissuade former officials and ministers from trading on their access to Whitehall contacts when seeking new employment.
Under the rules, former civil servants and ministers are told that they “should not accept or announce a new appointment or offer of employment before it has been approved” by ACOBA.
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But the latest transparency data from the watchdog shows that Sir Andrew Gregory — who retired from his role as the MoD’s HR chief in August — only sought advice on his move to become the chief executive of the Soldiers’, Sailors’ & Airmen’s Families Association (SSAFA) after his appointment had already been publicly announced by the armed forces charity.
In a letter to the MoD’s permanent secretary Stephen Lovegrove, Acoba’s Nicola Richardson makes clear the committee’s “concern” about the timing of Sir Andrew’s appointment, and says the watchdog is “unwilling to give retrospective approval” for the move.
“MoD policy is clear that applicants should not announce or take up appointments covered by the Business Appointments Rules until the approval process has been completed”
She writes: “The business appointment rules for former Crown servants specify that retrospective applications will not normally be accepted.
“To fulfil the remit given to it by government the committee needs to be able to consider an application fully and freely before offering its advice.
“It is impossible to do this in a way that will command public confidence if an appointment has already been announced and/or taken up. The committee is therefore unwilling to give retrospective approval for this appointment.”
Although the watchdog has published the exchange of letters between itself and Lovegrove, it has no formal powers to block any appointments under the remit handed to it by parliament.
According to Acoba, Lovegrove wrote back to say he “shared the committee’s frustration” that the appointment was announced “before the committee had been given time to consider it”.
“The Department was not aware of the announcement when it forwarded Sir Andrew’s application to the Committee,” Acoba said. “MoD policy is clear that applicants should not announce or take up appointments covered by the Business Appointments Rules until the approval process has been completed.”
According to the latest annual report from the watchdog, there were five cases of former ministers or officials failing to seek the Acoba’s advice last year before taking up a new job.
While Acoba has refused to approve Sir Andrew’s appointment after the fact, it notes that the full-time, paid role was offered to the former MoD HR chief “following an open application process”.
It notes that Sir Andrew “had no contractual dealings” with the charity while at the defence ministry, and says his former department “would expect Sir Andrew to refrain from becoming directly involved in contractual negotiations with the MoD on behalf of his new employer”.
Acoba adds: “The committee would wish to draw Sir Andrew’s attention to the normal restrictions it imposes prohibiting lobbying and the misuse of privileged information obtained while in public office.”
The latest batch of Acoba returns also sheds light on the post-Whitehall careers of a number of other former senior officials.
Ex-Treasury permanent secretary Lord Macpherson has been approved for six days’ work a year as a non-executive director of the Scottish American Investment Trust, while Dr Felicity Harvey — formerly the Department of Health’s director general for public and international health — is to become a non-exec for Guy’s and St Thomas’s NHS Foundation Trust.
Natalie Ceeney, the former chief executive of HM Courts and Tribunal Service, has meanwhile been cleared to set up an independent consultancy focusing on “business transformation, regulatory compliance in financial services and alternative dispute resolution”.