Ministers to lose cash under lobbying curbs
Lobbying scandals and perception of ‘toothless’ policing of Whitehall concerns Downing Street
FORMER ministers who break lobbying rules would be required to return a proportion of their taxpayer-funded pay-offs, as part of plans being drawn up to crack down on sleaze.
The Cabinet Office is working up proposals for a series of “improvements” to the system governing the activities of ex-ministers and civil servants. The plans include clawing back a proportion of the £16,000 severance pay given to Cabinet ministers when they leave office. A Whitehall source said the payoffs were “one of the few levers we have”.
The disclosure comes after The Sunday Telegraph revealed that Lord Hammond, the former Chancellor, had written to one of his former senior officials to advocate on behalf of a bank he was paid to advise – prompting accusations that he broke the ministerial code.
This newspaper understands that Lord Pickles, who chairs the advisory committee on business appointments, which monitors jobs taken up by exministers, is writing to the former chancellor asking him to account for his actions. The move could lead to a public rebuke of Lord Hammond.
The ex-MP insists no rules were broken as the bank, OakNorth, was offering a product to the Treasury “free of charge”. However The Sunday Telegraph understands Treasury officials do not recall OakNorth making clear the product would be free or subject to a charge.
This newspaper has also obtained an email from David Cameron to Lord Prior, the NHS chairman, as he sought to lobby the health service on behalf of Lex Greensill. Mr Cameron said he found it “reassuring to know that there is such an experienced and safe pair of hands at the helm” of the NHS. A spokesman said Mr Cameron “acted in good faith at all times, and two reports have confirmed that he broke no rules”.
FORMER ministers’ taxpayer funded pay-offs could be clawed back if they break lobbying rules, under a shake-up designed to counter a growing perception of sleaze engulfing the Government.
Downing Street is considering plans to recoup a proportion of the severance payments that ministers receive when they leave office if they are later found to have breached the ministerial code. The code sets out clear rules, including a standard two-year ban on lobbying, but there is mounting concern the regime for policing former ministers and advisers is “toothless”.
The new proposals are being drawn up by the Cabinet Office to pre-empt two independent reviews that are expected to recommend tougher rules.
A Whitehall source said there was a recognition that for any reforms to be effective, “there needs to be some degree of sanction”. Clawing back a proportion of pay-offs, which amount to £16,000 for most Cabinet ministers, is “one of the few levers we have”, according to a second Whitehall source.
Ministers fear the Government has been damaged by disclosures of David Cameron’s extensive lobbying on behalf of Greensill, the financial technology firm that collapsed earlier this year. The former prime minister is not believed to have broken any existing rules.
There is also discussion under way about extending the two-year ban on ministers joining lobbying firms to five years, and changing civil servants’ contracts to require them to follow the guidance of the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (Acoba),. Senior figures are concerned that junior civil servants do not have to seek advice from Acoba when they leave Whitehall.
Meanwhile, The Sunday Telegraph understands Lord Pickles, the chairman of Acoba, is writing to Lord Hammond over this newspaper’s revelations that the former chancellor contacted one of his former senior officials to advocate on behalf of a bank he was paid to advise.
The move could lead to a public admonishment of Lord Hammond, who has been accused by Labour of breaching the ministerial code by contacting the Treasury on behalf of OakNorth Bank, which wanted to offer the Government a “toolkit” it had developed to assess borrowers. Lord Hammond insists no rules were broken because OakNorth was offering its toolkit “free of charge”.
A government spokesman said ministers would be “carefully considering” recommendations due from the investigation of the Greensill affair, “alongside considering related recommendations made by other interested parties in the fields of lobbying, business appointments and transparency policies.”