Guidance

ACOBA's correspondence to all departing ministers - a brief guide to ACOBA

Published 1 December 2023

1. Chair of ACOBA to Departing Ministers

I am writing to you in my capacity as Chair of the independent Advisory Committee on Business Appointments, as I do to all ministers on leaving government. 

Government is committed to introducing a ministerial deed, alongside other changes, to increase public confidence in the government’s Business Appointment Rules (the Rules).  The Rules seek to manage potential conflicts that can arise when ministers leave office and take up work outside government.

Whilst that deed has yet to come into effect, as a former minister you are nonetheless obligated to seek ACOBA’s advice on all outside appointments, and to strictly observe the Seven Principles of Public Life in your search and approach to any future roles outside government.  Paragraph 7.25 of the Ministerial Code states ministers must ‘…seek advice from the independent Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (ACOBA) about any appointments or employment they wish to take up within two years of leaving office. Former Ministers must ensure that no new appointments are announced, or taken up, before the Committee has been able to provide its advice’.  This same paragraph also states former ministers must abide by ACOBA’s advice.

To ensure all ministers understand the process and know what is expected of them, I have included a brief guide on ACOBA’s process in the annex below.

ACOBA treats all approaches to it in strict confidence^{[footnote 1]} until an appointment is taken up or announced, when: details of an application; ACOBA’s consideration; and the advice provided will be published on the government’s website.  Failures to follow the government’s Rules or ACOBA’s advice will also be published in line with our commitment to transparency. 

If you would like to know more about the workings of ACOBA, seek early guidance, or ask about the government’s Rules more generally-  please do not hesitate to email the secretariat at acoba@acoba.gov.uk.

Rt Hon Lord Pickles

2. Annex A- Guidance to former ministers on making an application for advice to ACOBA

3. Background

The government’s Business Appointment Rules^{[footnote 2]} (the Rules) apply to all ministers and Crown servants.  The Rules seek to protect the integrity of government, while enabling individuals to move to roles outside of government.  The Rules are owned by the Cabinet Office and administered by the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (ACOBA) at the most senior level and by departments in all other cases. 

It is important to understand that the integrity of government is the sole focus of ACOBA, and it will express a view only on this single issue. Any advice letter published does not endorse the venture or its remuneration as a suitable one for a former official or former minister -  that is a matter for the individual to justify publicly.

Under the Rules, former ministers and senior Crown servants (DG level and above) need to seek ACOBA’s advice for all work they wish to take up after leaving government, this includes paid and unpaid appointments. Unpaid appointments will usually only receive standard conditions.

4. When to approach ACOBA

If an applicant is unsure whether an application is required in a particular case, please contact ACOBA.  Early approaches are encouraged and ACOBA can provide advice at any stage in the recruitment/offer process as long as it is before the role is announced or taken up.

When completing the application form, applicants are expected to provide clear evidence to demonstrate that the role is appropriate for someone who held their position in government. This includes detailed information about the role they wish to take up and their involvement in relevant matters in office.  Applicants must provide sufficient information for ACOBA to offer advice.  Relevant government departments will be asked to verify this information and provide a view on appropriate mitigations. The various steps in the process are clearly set out at the end of this document.

All material information will be put into the public domain, once the role is taken up or announced.  Until that point, information will be treated in strict confidence.

Applicants must not enter into any contractual agreement with a potential employer or client until they have received the final decision. It is a breach of the government’s Rules to take up or announce a role before ACOBA has provided its full and final advice.  In such circumstances, ACOBA will terminate consideration of the application and immediately declare a breach.  When a breach of the Rules occurs, ACOBA will publish its correspondence on the matter and report breaches to the government to consider next steps, as owner of the Rules.

5. What to expect - ACOBA’s advice

This section sets out the risk profile of certain work and the type of conditions ACOBA will advise to mitigate the risks under the Rules. 

6. Unpaid and lower risk work

There are certain types of work that, in ACOBA’s experience, have limited risks. The purpose of the Rules is to protect the integrity of government by considering the real and perceived risks associated with former ministers and officials joining outside organisations. Those risks include: using privileged access to contacts and information to the benefit of themselves or those they represent.  The Rules also seek to mitigate the risks that individuals may make decisions, or take action in office, in expectation of rewards on leaving government. These risks are significantly limited in unpaid cases due to the lack of financial gain to the individual, for example in the following type of roles:

6.1 Unpaid roles^{[footnote 3]}

• Academic roles, such as teaching , research or peer review.  Applications to work in non-academic roles with educational institutions do not fall into this category

• Journalism and other transparent roles including making a series of media appearances e.g. television, radio or podcasts

• Joining speaking agencies, or making a series of speeches.

These cases will normally be subject to the standard conditions set out below, after confirming the details of your application with the relevant department.

7. Standard waiting period

The Rules state that a minimum waiting period of three months from the date of leaving office to taking up an appointment or employment will be expected when the former official was a Cabinet Minister / Permanent Secretary or equivalent, and may also be applied to other applicants if ACOBA believes this to be warranted by the circumstances of the individual case.

8. Standard conditions

There are a set of conditions that individuals can expect ACOBA to apply in all cases, as set out below:

• Privileged information conditions - You can draw on skills and experience gained from your time in office. However you must not, at any time, draw on any privileged information gained in office.

• Lobbying condition - Any contact with the government, directly or indirectly must only be where it could not reasonably be perceived as lobbying. More information on this condition is provided below.

• Contracts and bids condition - You must not work or advise on any bids to secure governmental funding or contracts.  There may be circumstances where you can advise on the subject matter of the organisation’s work with the government (or related matters) - if you can demonstrate it could not reasonably be perceived you offer an unfair advantage through your access to information and influence from your time in government.

*Standard waiting periods - The government’s Rules set out standard waiting periods of a minimum of three months for former Permanent Secretaries, Cabinet Ministers and equivalents.

9. Lobbying condition - what does this mean?

Lobbying in the context of the Rules means that you should not engage in communication with government (including ministers, special advisers and officials/public office holders) – wherever it takes place - with a view to influencing a government decision, policy or award of contract/grant in relation to your own interests, or the interests of the organisation you represent, or to whom you are contracted or with whom you hold office. Contact with former colleagues in government is permissible where it is clearly unrelated to lobbying, including at a social or party political level.

The Rules allow for communication as a routine part of the role where such activity would not be improper.  Communication which is likely to be considered in keeping with the lobbying ban may include: sharing factual information transparently (reporting via published research, opinion pieces, reports, annual reports, or through formal consultation); and using existing and therefore already agreed frameworks for contacts within government (not making use of privileged networks) for routine communication, such as: to ask for/provide factual information/updates and responding to requests from the government - e.g. to take part in a roundtable or be invited to a meeting. 

Routine communication will be considered lobbying if it involves: making contact with government on behalf of the organisation to make introductions or ask for meetings; asking the government to make a decision, or take account of the organisation’s position on matters - unless being done through a formal consultations process or another process initiated by government.

It is also expected that applicants will not take up roles that involve ‘in-house’ lobbying or join a lobbying firm without a clear separation from its lobbying work and a commitment from the employer demonstrating how the applicant’s work will be separated from lobbying.

10. Setting up an independent consultancy

Seeking advice on setting up an independent consultancy is just the first step in the process. Each and every client must be submitted to ACOBA for advice. All applications to set up an independent consultancy will therefore have a condition applied to return for advice:

Before accepting any commissions for the independent consultancy and or/before extending or otherwise changing the nature of any commissions, you should seek advice from the Committee. The Committee will decide whether each commission is consistent with the terms of the consultancy and consider any relevant factors under the government’s Business Appointment Rules.

11. Working for an advisory/consulting firm

Where the employer has unknown clients and ACOBA cannot adequately assess all the risks associated.  ACOBA will normally apply a restriction to limit the scope of the role due to the potential conflicts with their responsibilities in office that may arise.

12. Business development though contacts made in office

Where there are risks associated with contacts an applicant has developed in commercial organisations or foreign governments whilst in office, applicants must not lobby any such contacts for the purposes of securing business.

13. Where applications give rise to greater risks under the government’s Business Appointment Rules, further conditions will be considered.

Where there is a strong overlap between an applicant’s responsibilities in office and the role they seek to take up, significant risks are more likely to arise.

Where the applicant has made decisions affecting the organisation directly, or has access to sensitive information that may offer an unfair advantage to the organisation, it is expected that applicants will not work in the sector for which they held regulatory or commercial responsibility

There are exceptions where individuals and departments can demonstrate how any such proposed role could be undertaken without any reasonable cause for concern under the Rules.

It is also ACOBA’s experience that there are lower risks where applicants are returning to a former profession/ career. This is due to the experience gained by applicants in the sector before joining office. Therefore, where an applicant is returning to a former profession/ career this will be taken into consideration as a mitigating factor. 

14. Further conditions ACOBA may impose in more complex cases

• Restrictions - where there are risks associated with information and contacts gained in office, conditions which prevent working on specific matters will likely be considered.  For example, reducing the scope of a proposed role in specific sectors and/or subject or policy areas.

• A waiting period - to put a gap between access to information from an applicant’s time in office and taking up a role. 

• Suitability - if conditions cannot mitigate the risks. For example, where an applicant has commercially sensitive information from their time in government, it is not always possible to mitigate the associated risks by applying conditions or a delay. In such cases, ACOBA will advise that it is inappropriate for an applicant to take up such a role.

15. One-off engagements

ACOBA does not regard ‘one-off’ activities such as speeches, broadcasts, or newspaper articles as ‘appointments or employment’ under the government’s Rules.  It is nonetheless expected that applicants uphold the highest standard of propriety, including acting in accordance with the Seven Principles of Public Life and their ongoing duty of confidentiality in undertaking such activities.

If applicants intend to enter into a longer term arrangement, e.g. to join a speakers’ agency, plan a series of remunerated speeches or write a regular newspaper column, they should submit an application before accepting this work. If an applicant is unsure whether an application is required in a particular case, please contact ACOBA in the first instance.  Early approaches are encouraged and ACOBA can provide advice at any stage in the recruitment/offer process as long as it is before the role is announced or taken up.

16. Confidentiality and transparency

It is ACOBA’s practice to publish its advice letters once the relevant appointment has been taken up or announced; and to publish any breaches of the government’s Rules -  by placing details on its website.

ACOBA handles personal information in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). More detail on how we handle your personal information can be found in our privacy statement.  

ACOBA responds to requests for information held that is not already published in accordance with the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

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17. Annex - The process for former ministers

1. Applicant completes application form and sends to ACOBA
2. ACOBA consults the Permanent Secretary of applicant’s former department(s). Where appropriate, other relevant departments will also be contacted
3. ACOBA considers information provided and makes any necessary additional requests for information
4. ACOBA considers the application; and comes to a majority view on the appointment and conditions that should be applied to the appointment under the government’s Business Appointment Rules
5. ACOBA provides applicant with provisional recommendation
6. The applicant is asked to confirm if they are content to accept and abide by the provisional advice: the conditions attached to the appointment. This is an opportunity for the applicant to ask questions or provide further information where relevant
7. ACOBA’s final advice is sent to the applicant, once they have confirmed they are content to accept and abide by the advice
8. ACOBA informs prospective employer of ACOBA’s advice
9. Applicant is asked to inform ACOBA if/when the appointment is taken up/announced
10. If notified or made aware the appointment is taken up, ACOBA’s advice is published on its website

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1. ACOBA publishes its advice letters once the relevant appointment has been taken up or announced, by placing details on its website. ACOBA responds to requests for information held that is not already published in accordance with the provisions of the FOI Act. ↩

2. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/579754/Business_appointment_rules_for_former_ministers.pdf ↩

3. ACOBA considers ‘unpaid’ work to be where no remuneration of any kind is received for the role.  Applicants must declare where it is agreed or anticipated they may receive remuneration or some other compensation at any stage in the future - such applications will not be treated as unpaid. ↩