Revolving door just keeps on spinning!
Treasury mandarin is favourite for £340k job at insurance giant
THE Treasury’s most senior mandarin has emerged as a contender for one of the most powerful jobs in the City, reigniting concerns about the revolving door between Whitehall and the private sector.
John Kingman, who is acting permanent secretary at Number 11 and masterminded the bank bailouts during the financial crisis, is said to be the favourite to become chairman of insurance giant Legal & General.
The job carries huge influence as L&G runs around £750billion of investments and pensions, making it the biggest investor in the UK. The three-day-a-week job comes with a £340,000 salary – more than doubling his £160,000 pay package at the Treasury.
The Bank of England’s Prudential Regulation Authority has been asked to approve the appointment, but insiders stressed the selection process is still ongoing with several other candidates still in the running.
L&G’s swoop for Mr Kingman is particularly controversial because the Treasury is responsible for regulating the financial services industry, including insurance.
Last night MPs voiced concern that Whitehall officials are being targeted by blue chip companies because of their ‘inside knowledge’ of government and high level contacts – giving the corporate sector even more power in the corridors of Westminster.
Other high profile figures in the Treasury who have sealed lucrative jobs in the City recently include Sir Danny Alexander, the former Liberal Democrat Treasury chief, and Rupert Harrison, George Osborne’s chief of staff.
An investigation by the Daily Mail last month revealed that scores of ministers and officials are cashing in on their time in office by picking up lucrative jobs in the private sector. Since 2008, 371 ex-ministers and civil servants have applied to the appointments watchdog Acoba – the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments – about taking jobs in the private sector. Two thirds chose posts in fields they used to regulate.
Despite rules against the use of insider information, not one application for clearance was turned down by Acoba.
US technology giant Google has been particularly enthusiastic about hiring Whitehall staff, raising concerns over the scale of its political influence. A study by campaign group the Google Transparency Project this week revealed that 28 officials have crossed over between Google and Whitehall or political parties over the last decade.
Responding to Mr Kingman’s potential move to L&G, Margaret Hodge, the Labour MP and former chairman of the Commons Public Accounts Committee, said: ‘The revolving door between Whitehall and the private sector is worrying.
‘One suspects one of the reasons Mr Kingman is being offered this job is because of his contacts and inside knowledge of how government works. There need to be tougher rules when people move from the public sector to the private sector.’
MPs, including Tory David Davies, have suggested that it should be mandatory for senior public sector servants to spend two years in purdah before taking a top job in a related field in the private sector.
This idea was backed last night by Mrs Hodge and John Mann, a Labour member of the Treasury Committee. Mr Mann said: ‘This is becoming all too common, particularly in the financial sector. Mr Kingman is a very talented man and it is no surprise that a big company wants him. But a culture has emerged of people moving between jobs too quickly. This is affecting people’s judgement and means senior civil servants have an eye out for future career possibilities.’
Mr Kingman’s arrival at L&G would certainly boost the insurance giant’s close relations with the Treasury. The 47-year-old said in April he would leave the Treasury at the end of July after he failed to secure the top job of permanent secretary – losing out to his colleague Tom Scholar.
The Treasury and L&G declined to comment.
THE revolving door which whirls ministers and officials into lucrative private sector jobs in the very areas for which they were responsible in government continues to turn at high speed.
The latest likely beneficiary of this unseemly practice is John Kingman, one of the Treasury’s top civil servants, who is being lined up to become chairman of Legal & General, Britain’s largest savings institution – a three day a week job on a salary of £340,000.
Nice work if you can get it, and as this newspaper recently reported, Acoba, the appointments watchdog which is supposed to vet applicants for such plums, has never yet been known to turn anyone down.
Since 2008, no fewer than 17 of the Treasury’s most senior officials have moved to jobs in banking or big business. Public service has ceased being an end in itself, and become a mere prelude to private enrichment. To end such frequent and nauseating displays of avarice, we need a watchdog with teeth.