An anti-corruption watchdog has said that UK ministers could be banned from lobbying for up to five years after leaving office, and also face possible penalties if found breaking rules. Chair of the committee on standards in public life, and former MI5 Lord Jonathan Evans made the proposal in an emergency review published in the aftermath of the David Cameron-Greensill scandal.
The intervention comes as a response to claims that the rules continue to be flouted by former ministers, special advisers and senior civil servants once they leave office. Lord Evans' report demands an overhaul of the rules that allow them to use their contacts and expertise for private gain. Under current rules, ministers and senior civil servants are in effect banned from lobbying their former colleagues for two years after leaving their post.
The committee also raised concerns that the system of appointing to public bodies may be leaning towards ministerial patronage and away from “merit”. No 10 is expected to wait until the final report from the committee later this year before saying which recommendations it might accept. The report names former prime minister David Cameron and concludes that the current rules are inadequate, and ministers should disclose informal lobbying over WhatsApp and text messages in future.
Cameron told MPs last month there was “absolutely no wrongdoing” in his lobbying attempts, but accepted that former prime ministers must “act differently”. The report forms part of the committee’s “landscape review of standards”.
The committee also proposes introducing anti-lobbying clauses into the employment contracts of ministers, special advisers and civil servants; designing a system of possible civil penalties for rule-breakers; banning ministers from taking jobs for two years in sectors over which they had direct responsibility in office; and giving the appointments watchdog the power to apply tailored restrictions, including banning ex-ministers from taking certain jobs for up to five years “where appropriate.”
It also calls for new rules so that the government releases details of lobbying every four weeks, rather than quarterly; and regulating the appointment of non-executive directors to Whitehall departments amid fears politicians are appointing “cronies”.
In a foreword to the report, Evans says, “We have found that four areas of standards regulation require significant reform: the ministerial code and the independent adviser on ministers’ interests, the business appointment rules and the advisory committee on business appointments (Acoba), transparency around lobbying, and the regulation of public appointments.”
