Guidance

Business Appointment Rules: Guidance for Ministers

Updated 13 October 2025

Background

The government’s Business Appointment Rules (the Rules) apply to all ministers and all other Crown servants, including members of the Civil Service. 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, for former ministers, administered by the Independent Adviser on Ministerial Standards.

Former ministers from the Scottish and Welsh governments should consult their former departments for advice on the process to be followed. There are different Rules if you are a Crown servant (for example, a civil servant).

Under the Rules, for a period of two years after leaving office, former ministers need to submit an application form to seek the advice of the Independent Adviser on Ministerial Standards for all work they wish to take up, including paid and unpaid appointments.

Submitting an application

There are two types of application, Level 1 for unpaid and other appointments where the risks to government integrity are low and Level 2 applications for all other appointments. For Level 1 applications, it is likely that standard conditions (provided below) will be applied.

Level 1 Application Form for Ministers

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Level 2 Application Form for Ministers

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Details of the application and the advice 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.

Level 1 applications

The Government recognises that there is a range of roles that do not pose as significant risk to government integrity as others (for example: unpaid work, academic positions, or journalism roles). For such positions, a briefer Level 1 application form and a streamlined advice process will be used. Depending on the content in the application, you may be asked to provide further information. You should submit a Level 1 application form if your prospective role falls into any of the following categories: 

Role type	Notes
Unpaid roles	Roles are not unpaid if there is any reasonable expectation of remuneration – such as salary, bonuses and share options – including where the remuneration will be waived or donated to charity or other recipients in lieu of you receiving it
Non-executive charitable roles – e.g. trusteeships	Working for a charity in an executive capacity does not fall into this category
Academic roles, such as teaching, research or peer review	Working in non-academic roles in educational institutions does not fall into this category
Journalism and media appearances – e.g. writing a newspaper column, series of television, radio or podcast appearances	Corporate or management roles in media organisations do not fall into this category One-off media appearances do not require any application – see below
Joining speaking agencies	One-off speaking engagements do not require any application – see below

Level 2 applications

For all other paid roles, including proposals to establish consultancies, a Level 2 application must be made.

When completing your Level 2 application form, you need to provide clear evidence that the prospective role you wish to undertake is appropriate for someone who held your position in government. This includes full, detailed information about the role and any involvement you had in matters relating to the role during your time as a minister. Relevant government departments will be asked to verify this information and provide a view on appropriate mitigations.

The steps in the process are set out in greater detail at the end of this document.

Timing

If you are unsure about whether you need to make an application or which type of application you should submit, please contact the Independent Adviser Secretariat at ind.adviser.BARS@cabinetoffice.gov.uk. Early approaches are encouraged and the Independent Adviser can provide advice at any stage in the recruitment/offer process as long as it is before the role is announced or taken up.

As a guide, the Independent Adviser aims to provide advice within four weeks of receipt of your application and in many cases is able to provide advice more rapidly. However, the complexity of some applications, and the need to seek information from departments, means that it may not be possible to meet this timeframe. The Independent Adviser Secretariat will contact you if this is the case.

You must not enter into any contractual agreement with a potential employer or client until you have received the Independent Adviser’s final advice. It is a breach of the Rules to take up or announce a role before the Independent Adviser has provided their full and final advice.

What to expect

The steps in the Level 2 application process are set out at the end of this document. Following receipt, your application will be considered by relevant government departments and the Independent Adviser. You will be provided with provisional advice before this is finalised by the Independent Adviser. Any role taken up will be subject to the standard conditions, which are detailed below.

Standard waiting period for former Cabinet ministers

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 minister was a member of Cabinet. 

Standard conditions

As set out in the Ministerial Code, there are a set of standard conditions that all former ministers can expect to be required by the Independent Adviser. These include:

• Privileged information condition - You can draw on skills and experience gained from your time in office. However you must not, at any time, draw on (or disclose for the benefit of yourself or others) 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.
• Contracts and bids condition - You must not work or advise on any bids to secure governmental funding or contracts. You may only work on or advise on the subject matter of existing contracts the organisation may have with the government (or related matters), provided you do not draw on any privileged information or contacts from your time in office (as per the condition above).

Additional conditions 

Where an application gives rise to greater risks under the Business Appointment Rules, further conditions will be considered. For example, if there is a strong overlap between an applicant’s former ministerial responsibilities and the role they are seeking to take up.

Examples of the conditions the Independent Adviser may apply in more complex cases include waiting periods before taking up a role; restrictions on the use of contacts gained whilst in office; and conditions preventing working on specific subject areas.

There may be circumstances where the risks presented by a role cannot be mitigated. In such cases the Independent Adviser will advise that it is inappropriate for an applicant to take the position during the two-year period in which the Business Appointment Rules apply.

There are generally lower risks where applicants are returning to a former profession / career and this will be taken into consideration.

One-off engagements

The Independent Adviser does not regard ‘one-off’ activities  (e.g. a single newspaper article or broadcast interview)  or standalone speaking engagements (e.g. a single speech) as “appointments or employment” under the 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 the Independent Adviser Secretariat. Early approaches are encouraged and the Independent Adviser can provide advice at any stage in the recruitment/offer process as long as it is before the role is announced or taken up.

Confidentiality and transparency

It is important to understand that the integrity of government is the sole focus of the Rules, and advice provided to applicants will express a view on this issue only. Any published advice letter does not endorse the venture or its remuneration as being suitable for a former minister - that is a matter for the individual and/or their employer to justify.

Once you have taken up, or announced your appointment, the Independent Adviser will publish their advice on GOV.UK. If you do not take up a role, the advice will not be published.

The Independent Adviser may also publish information on breaches of the Rules, on GOV.UK and in their annual report.

Personal information is processed in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). More detail on how your personal information is handled can be found in the relevant privacy statement.

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

Additional guidance

What does ‘not disclosing privileged information’ mean?

‘Privileged information’ means official information to which a minister has had access as a consequence of their work in government, which has not been made publicly available. As well as your obligation to protect privileged information, you may also be subject to other duties of confidentiality such as the Official Secrets Act as well as others. You can find further information on obligations of former ministers after leaving office in chapter 11 of the Ministerial Code.

What does the lobbying condition/restriction mean in practice?

It is a standard condition under the Rules, that former ministers should not undertake activity that could be regarded to be lobbying during the two years after they leave office. This means you should not engage in communication with government (including ministers, special advisers and officials/public office holders), wherever it takes place, to influence decisions, policies, or the awarding of contracts or funding for your own benefit or that of an organisation you represent. 

Contact with former colleagues in government is permissible where it is clearly unrelated to lobbying, including in a social or party political context.

The Rules also allow for communication with government as a routine part of a role where such activity would not be improper. Communication which is likely to be considered in keeping with the lobbying condition may include: 

• sharing factual information transparently (reporting via published research, opinion pieces, reports, annual reports, or through formal consultation); or
• using existing and therefore implicitly agreed frameworks for contacts within government (but not making use of privileged networks) for routine communication.  This includes: asking for/providing factual information/updates and responding to requests from the government (e.g. an invitation to a meeting or to participate in a roundtable).

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 
• proactively promoting the organisation’s position on matters to the Government - unless being done through a formal consultations process or another process initiated by the government.

It is also expected that applicants will not take up roles that involve ‘in-house’ lobbying or join a lobbying firm without their role being clearly ring-fenced from any lobbying work with a commitment from the employer to demonstrate how the applicant’s work will be separated from lobbying.

What if I am setting up an independent consultancy?

Seeking advice on setting up an independent consultancy is the first step in the process. You will need to submit an application for advice for each client you intend to accept so that the nature of the work you will be undertaking for the client can be assessed in light of your previous ministerial role. All applications to set up an independent consultancy will therefore have a condition applied requiring an applicant to return for advice for each commission.

• What if I am planning to work for an advisory/consulting firm which has a changing roster of clients that will not all be known at the time of my application? 

Where a prospective employer has unknown clients, the Independent Adviser will not be able to assess the risks associated with each one. In these cases a restriction will normally be applied to limit the scope of your role so as to avoid any conflicts that may arise with in relation to your former ministerial responsibilities. This will mean that you will not be required to submit an application form for each client.

I plan to write an article in a newspaper; appear in a media broadcast or podcast; or make a speech - do I need to submit an application under the Rules?

The Rules do not regard ‘one-off’ activities such as speeches, broadcasts, or newspaper articles as ‘appointments or employment’. 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.

Application process - steps

The below sets out an example of the main steps applications go through:

• 1 - Applicant completes application form and sends to the Independent Adviser on Ministerial Standards by email to: ind.adviser.BARS@cabinetoffice.gov.uk.
• 2 - The Independent Adviser consults the Permanent Secretary of the applicant’s former department(s). Where appropriate, other relevant departments will also be contacted.
• 3 - The Independent Adviser considers the information provided by departments and may request additional information where necessary.
• 4 - The Independent Adviser develops a provisional recommendation on the appointment and the conditions that should be applied under the Government’s Business Appointment Rules.
• 5 - The Independent Adviser provides the applicant with their provisional recommendation
• 6 - The applicant is asked to confirm if they are content with the provisional recommendation including the conditions attached to the appointment. This is an opportunity for the applicant to ask questions or provide further information where relevant.
• 7 - The Independent Adviser’s final advice is sent to the applicant, once they have confirmed they are content to accept and abide by the advice.
• 8 - The Independent Adviser’s office may inform the prospective employer of the advice and the conditions that are expected to be adhered to at this stage.
• 9 - The applicant must inform the Independent Adviser if/when the appointment is taken up/announced.
• 10 - Once notified or made aware that the appointment is taken up, a summary of the Independent Adviser’s advice is published on GOV.UK.