Sir Alex Chisholm, the former Cabinet Office permanent secretary, has joined Boston Consulting Group as a senior adviser.
The appointment was revealed in a letter from the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments, published yesterday, which noted that Chisholm led a department which has a close relationship with BCG and that his responsibilities included signing off on contracts with the firm.
The anti-corruption watchdog said the risk that the role could “reasonably be seen as a reward for decisions or actions taken in office was limited”, however, as Chisholm did not award any specific contracts to BCG and because many of BCG's contracts with the Cabinet Office were awarded before he led the department.
Acoba did, nevertheless, impose an extra condition on top of the standard restrictions which apply to high-level officials applying for roles after leaving government.
It said, given BCG’s clients and the precise pieces of work that Chisholm will undertake for the firm are unknown, Chisholm must not advise on work directly overlapping with his material role in policy, operational or regulatory matters at the Cabinet Office. It said this risk will also be limited by the fact Chisholm’s role will be focused on projects outside the UK.
The committee also warned that there are “inherent risks associated with Sir Alex’s network and potential influence within government” and that “while it is not his intention to be involved in work for government, nor to lobby the UK government, this risk must be mitigated”, taking a stronger-than-usual tone.
Chisholm, who left his role as perm sec and civil service chief operating officer last April, started in the role with BCG in November.
Sir Alastair Graham, a former chairman of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, has criticised the appointment, telling The Telegraph: "It is unacceptable that somebody who has been closely involved in awarding contracts to a consultancy should be allowed to join that consultancy, even if there are restrictions on what he can do."
Contracts between the Cabinet Office and BCG signed off during Chisholm’s time as perm sec included a £400,000 deal in 2023 for a team of subject matter experts to accelerate delivery of the cross-government digital and data strategy and £1.6m for a Covid-19 consultancy task force in 2020, the Acoba letter notes.
In its letter, Acoba said Chisholm, as chief operating officer for the civil service and Cabinet Office perm sec from 2020 to 2024, had sight of the consultancy work carried out by BCG for the Cabinet Office and met with the firm, along with other strategy consultancies, whilst in office.
It said Chisholm was not responsible for the management of the Cabinet Office’s relationship with BCG, but was one of a team of people, including ministers, who approved Cabinet Office funds for the spend on consultancy services generally – including those offered by BCG.
Chisholm told the committee that he did not make any policy or regulatory decisions specifically affecting BCG in office, but had involvement in the Cabinet Office’s relationship with BCG by virtue of his seniority.
He also told the committee that he met BCG and other strategy consultants approximately once a year – either collectively or individually – to get their views on the performance of government, in relation to Covid and innovation/efficiency, and suggestions on where the UK could learn from other governments.
The Cabinet Office told Acoba that Chisholm's limited involvement in these contracts "mitigates any risk of reward (real or perceived) here”.
The department said it was not aware of any information that Chisholm would have had access to that would offer him "a particular unfair advantage" but that he "held a wide access to government policy in development and wider strategic thinking which could be perceived to be of assistance to BCG and its clients".
Acoba contacted BCG to confirm Sir Alex’s role will be appropriately ringfenced from matters he was materially involved in office. BCG told the committee: “We have seen the draft conditions shared with Sir Alex… we are pleased to confirm that we understand and accept them. Needless to say, we will support Alex in upholding them.”
Chisholm has also recently taken up an unpaid role as a member of the European Policy Forum. The committee said this appointment did not raise any particular concerns and imposed the standard post-government job rules.
Since leaving government, Chisholm has also taken on board administration roles as chair of EDF Energy UK and as a non-executive director at BT.