Jobs after government: rules for ex-ministers and civil servants

What is the Independent Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (ACOBA)?

ACOBA advises ministers and senior officials on whether jobs they take on after leaving government comply with the ‘business appointment rules’. It is an advisory body with no basis in law. It is chaired by Lord Pickles, the former Conservative cabinet minister, and its members are drawn from the public and private sectors. They include businesspeople, peers, former MPs and lawyers. ACOBA is sponsored by the Cabinet Office but it is independent of government. ⁴⁰ GOV.UK, Advisory Committee on Business Appointments, www.gov.uk/government/organisations/advisory-committee-on-business-appointments

Recently it has advised former prime minister Boris Johnson on whether he could become a presenter for the GB News television channel. ⁴¹ Advisory Committee on Business Appointments, Advice Letter: Boris Johnson, Presenter and Contributor, GB News, 27 October 2023, www.gov.uk/government/publications/johnson-boris-secretary-of-state-foreign-and-commonwealth-office-acoba/advice-letter-boris-johnson-presenter-and-c…  ACOBA advised that he could take up this position as long as he did not lobby the government for two years after leaving and did not draw on privileged information gained during his time in government.

ACOBA also advised Tom Scholar, former permanent secretary to the Treasury, on whether he could take up a position as non-executive chair of financial services company Nomura Europe Holdings. It set various conditions on his appointment, including that he should have no direct engagement with the government on behalf of Nomura. ⁴² Advisory Committee on Business Appointments, Scholar, Tom, His Majesty’s Treasury - ACOBA advice, 1 December 2023, www.gov.uk/government/publications/scholar-tom-permanent-secretary-his-majestys-treasury-acoba-advice

What are the rules for ministers taking on new jobs after they leave government?

The ministerial code states that once they leave office, ministers are not allowed to lobby government for two years. They must also seek advice from ACOBA about any employment they wish to take up within two years of leaving office. ⁴³ Cabinet Office, Ministerial Code, GOV.UK, 20 September 2010, www.gov.uk/government/publications/ministerial-code

ACOBA provides more guidance for ministers of the UK, Scottish and Welsh governments on what jobs they can take after leaving government. Each minister’s case is considered individually to ensure that it does not raise suspicion that the minister has been offered the job because of their decisions during their time in government, or that their new employer could make ‘improper use’ of information that a minister has from their time in government. ⁴⁴ Advisory Committee on Business Appointments, Government's Business Appointment Rules for Former Ministers, gov.uk, 21 December 2016, www.gov.uk/government/publications/business-appointment-rules-for-ministers

If the committee judges that there may be public concern about a minister taking up a role, they may advise that the minister delay taking up the role or does not take part in certain activities such as commercial dealings with their former department(s). These conditions can last up to two years from the time the minister leaves government.

In exceptional circumstances, the committee may advise that a minister does not take up a particular role.

What are the rules for civil servants taking on new jobs after they leave government?

There are similar rules in place for civil servants working in the UK, Scottish and Welsh governments, although they differ based on the grade of the individual leaving government. ⁴⁵ Advisory Committee on Business Appointments, Government's Business Appointment Rules for Civil Servants, 21 December 2016, www.gov.uk/government/publications/governments-business-appointment-rules-for-civil-servants/governments-business-appointment-rules-for-civil-servants

Permanent secretaries and directors general, the two most senior ranks of the civil service, must also seek advice from ACOBA before taking up external employment. Permanent secretaries are also expected to wait three months between leaving the civil service and taking up outside employment, because of their access to a wide range of sensitive information. Permanent secretaries and directors general are also banned from lobbying the government for the first two years after they leave the civil service. Similar restrictions apply to special advisers.

Civil servants below director-general level only need to apply to ACOBA for advice if their circumstance meets certain conditions, including if their new role will draw on commercially sensitive information from their civil service role or if they have made regulatory decisions affecting their new employer. Otherwise, their case is dealt with by their departmental HR team. 

How are these rules enforced?

The rules for ministers’ and civil servants’ post-government jobs are set by the government of the day. The rules are not based on statute and they do not include sanctions for non-compliance. Apart from noting non-compliance, ACOBA has no means to independently enforce the rules – it can only set out the facts to Cabinet Office ministers, who then determine what action to take. ⁴⁶ Cabinet Office, Strengthening Ethics and Integrity in Central Government, CP 900, July 2023, assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1172005/CP_900_-_Strengthening_Ethics_and_Integrity_in_Central_Government_Accessible.pdf, p. 10

ACOBA is responsible for making sure all ministers receive a letter when they leave office reminding them of the need to ask for advice on all applications during the first two years after their time in government, but it has no means to ensure they do so and limited investigatory powers. ⁴⁷ Advisory Committee on Business Appointments, Written evidence from ACoBA (ACB 08), Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee, October 2016, assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/561609/ACOBA_written_evidence_PACAC.pdf

If ministers or officials do not apply to ACOBA for guidance, the committee will write to the individual for failing to submit an application in time and express its concerns publicly, but cannot force individuals to apply for guidance. Former health secretary Matt Hancock was found to be in breach of the rules for failing to seek ACOBA’s advice before appearing on reality television series I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here. ⁴⁸ Advisory Committee on Business Appointments, Letter reporting breach of the rules, 21 December 2022, www.gov.uk/government/publications/hancock-matt-secretary-of-state-department-of-health-and-social-care-acoba-advice/letter-reporting-breach-of-the-r…

If ACOBA issues conditions on taking up employment, it has no ability to ensure these conditions are followed.

Former ACOBA chair Baroness Browning told a parliamentary committee in 2016 that ”compliance is quite good” ⁴⁹ Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee, ‘Oral evidence: The role and effectiveness of ACoBA and the Independent Adviser on Ministers’ Interests’, HC 252, 25 October 2016, retrieved 30 March 2021, data.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/committeeevidence.svc/evidencedocument/public-administration-and-constitutional-affairs-committee/the-role-and-effectiveness-of-acoba-and-the-independent-adviser-on-ministers-interests/oral/42072.html  but acknowledged that the committee is not able to investigate people who do not ask them for guidance.

What changes has the government committed to?

As part of its ethical standards commitments in July 2023, the government committed to strengthening enforcement of the business appointment rules for ministers and civil servants. This included making clear in civil service contracts the rules around post-government jobs – officials entering government on these new contracts will have to consult the rules and their contract to understand what they can and cannot do after leaving government, rather than applying to ACOBA for advice. The government will also develop a ‘Deed of Undertaking’ to legally commit ministers to the rules around post-government jobs, ⁵⁰ Cabinet Office, Strengthening Ethics and Integrity in Central Government, CP 900, July 2023, assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1172005/CP_900_-_Strengthening_Ethics_and_Integrity_in_Central_Government_Accessible.pdf, p. 4  though this deed has not yet come into effect. ⁵¹ Advisory Committee on Business Appointments, ACOBA’s correspondence to all departing ministers – a brief guide to ACOBA, 1 December 2023, www.gov.uk/government/publications/acobas-correspondence-to-all-departing-ministers-a-brief-guide-to-acoba

The government has suggested these changes will allow it to “explore further sanctions, such as financial penalties” in cases where the rules are broken – but these sanctions would be decided by the Cabinet Office, rather than ACOBA itself. In a speech to the Institute for Government, Angela Rayner suggested that Labour’s proposed independent Integrity and Ethics Commission would have the power to decide sanctions against former ministers found to have broken the rules. ⁵² Helm T, ‘Ministers will be fined if they break lobbying rules under Labour plan’, The Guardian, 9 July 2023, www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/jul/09/ministers-fined-lobbying-rules-labour-plan-angela-rayner