Deliveroo chief ’s key job at heart of Whitehall
After Greensill row fuels anger over business’s access to Government...
THE chairwoman of online delivery firm Deliveroo has been handed a key job at the Government department overseeing a crackdown on digital companies, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.
Claudia Arney has been given a senior position on the board of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS).
It comes just weeks after the DCMS oversaw the launch of a digital regulator to stamp out ‘unfair practices’ and anti- competitive behaviour in technology markets.
As a DCMS board member, Ms Arney will gain access to sensitive policy documents which could include information about the regulator’s new rules for controlling tech companies such as Amazon, Deliveroo’s largest shareholder.
She can also attend regular meetings with Ministers, is able to give policy advice to Secretary of State Oliver Dowden, and will have access to top officials she works with on departmental projects.
There is no suggestion that she has used any information gleaned from her new role inappropriately.
Ms Arney’s appointment comes amid growing concerns about business leaders being drafted in to Whitehall to give advice, and the need for transparency. It follows intense criticism about the access granted to disgraced financier Lex Greensill, who was given an adviser role in Whitehall while promoting his business, and lobbying on Greensill’s behalf by former Prime Minister David Cameron.
Ms Arney was named Deliveroo chairwoman in November 2020. She was appointed as the most senior non-executive at DCMS on April 15. Mr Dowden is spearheading the creation of the new regulator that aims to tackle the dominance of internet giants such as Amazon, Facebook and Google. The Digital Markets Unit regulator has pledged to block damaging takeovers that allow tech giants to operate unchallenged in the market.
Mr Dowden will start a consultation on its role and powers later this year. His department is already receiving sensitive updates about how officials will combat bullying tactics by big online companies.
The Digital Markets Unit, which is part of the Competition and Markets Authority regulator, was set up to start preparatory work on April 7. It will only receive powers to punish the tech giants when legislation passes through Parliament ahead of an official launch in 2022.
One former senior civil servant said: ‘Non-executive board members for Government departments have very good access indeed and are seeing – as indeed boards should – the most sensitive papers on the key policy issues, not just setting institutional direction.’
Alex Thomas, programme director at the Institute for Government think-tank, said such appointments do ‘raise questions of conflicts of interest if you are deliberately bringing in people with business backgrounds to departments that are regulating businesses interests that they have’.
On Ms Arney’s appointment, he added: ‘This feels like quite a big conflict to me. DCMS would need to give confidence that decisions are being made free from commercial influence.’
Ms Arney has in-depth knowledge of takeovers after sitting on the Takeover Panel, an independent body in the City that regulates company mergers. She also sits on the board of Screwfix owner Kingfisher and housebuilder Derwent London.
A spokesman for DCMS said: ‘ There is no conflict of interest regarding this appointment and due process was properly followed.’
It also i nsisted: ‘ The Digital Markets Unit is independent of the Government and sits within t he Competition and Markets Authority.’
Deliveroo declined to comment.