Decision

Advice Letter: Simon Case, establishing an independent consultancy

Updated 2 October 2025

1. BUSINESS APPOINTMENT APPLICATION: Dr Simon Case CVO, former Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service at the Cabinet Office. Application to establish an independent consultancy. 

Dr Case sought advice from the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (the Committee) under the government’s Business Appointment Rules for Former Crown Servants (the Rules) to establish an independent consultancy. 

The purpose of the Rules is to protect the integrity of the government. Under the Rules, the Committee’s remit is to consider the risks associated with the actions and decisions made during Dr Case’s time in government service, alongside the information and influence a former Crown servant may offer his potential clients. The material information taken into consideration by the Committee is set out in the annex.

The Committee has advised that a waiting period and a number of conditions be imposed to mitigate the potential risks to the government associated with this appointment under the Rules. This is not an endorsement of this appointment in any other respect.

The Rules^{[footnote 1]} set out that Crown servants must abide by the Committee’s advice. It is an applicant’s personal responsibility to manage the propriety of any appointment. Former Crown servants are expected to uphold the highest standards of propriety and act in accordance with the 7 Principles of Public Life.

2. The Committee’s consideration

In his application, Dr Case stated his independent consultancy will involve offering advisory work on senior leadership and strategy questions, including sectors such as technology, financial services and education. 

This is an application for Dr Case to establish his independent consultancy and the Cabinet Office confirmed that he was not involved in any regulatory or policy decisions of relevance.

It would not be improper for Dr Case to operate a consultancy which draws on generic skills and experience he gained from his time in government. The risks in this case are hard to quantify given the potentially broad and wide ranging nature of the consultancy. 

Whilst he cannot know what decisions will be made in the future, Dr Case did have privileged insight into government’s policy options that were being considered until relatively recently.  The Committee^{[footnote 2]} considered that there is risk associated with his access to information and a risk he could offer a potential unfair advantage over competitors – whether in relation to seeking new clients, or in providing them with advice. It is also relevant that with the passage of time, his access to information  will become less salient.

Given his seniority, there is a risk associated with the contacts that Dr Case gained during his time in government service. Specifically, the risk that his time as Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service may be seen to offer him access to privileged contacts that could now be used to gain business and/or access to government for his consultancy and its clients. 

3. Future commissions

This advice provides Dr Case consent only to set up a consultancy as described, subject to a number of conditions. It does not give him consent in relation to any possible future clients. He must seek advice in relation to each client, so that risks can be assessed and it will need to be demonstrated by himself and the Cabinet Office that the work would be appropriate under the Rules. 

Dr Case must seek advice from the Committee for each commission he wishes to accept. Whether the conditions set out below can sufficiently mitigate the risk presented by any future commission he proposes to take up will depend on the specific details of each piece of work. Any failure to seek advice before accepting work would be a breach of the Rules and treated as such – including reporting breaches to government. 

The main risk is the broad nature of Dr Case’s access to sensitive information at the very heart of government. There is therefore the potential for overlap with any of the sectors that he wishes to work in, and the risk of being perceived to be leveraging his time in office to gain clients. To mitigate the risks, the Committee recommends a gap between his access to information and responsibilities in office. The Committee determined that a six-month gap from his last day in government service office would be proportionate. 

The risks under the Rules will be most significant where Dr Case seeks to provide advice on matters where he made decisions or had privileged insight on– these applications will need close scrutiny. The Committee will want to carefully consider the suitability of this work, and may advise that a further waiting period is required. Where conditions and a suitable waiting period cannot appropriately mitigate the risks, the Committee may advise the work is unsuitable to take up within the two years the Rules apply. The Committee will consider such risks on a case-by-case basis.

4. The Committee’s advice

All potential clients must be notified of this advice, and when seeking work/new clients, Dr Case must adhere to the conditions below. Under the government’s Business Appointment Rules, the Committee advises that this independent consultancy should be subject to the conditions set out below: 

• a waiting period of 6 months from his last day in government service; 

• he should not draw on (disclose or use for the benefit of himself or the persons or organisations to which this advice refers) any privileged information available to him from his time in Crown service;

• for two years from his last day in Crown service, he should not become personally involved in lobbying the UK government or any of its arm’s length bodies on behalf of those he advises under his independent consultancy (including parent companies, subsidiaries, partners and clients); nor should he make use, directly or indirectly, of his contacts in the government and/or Crown service contacts to influence policy, secure business/funding or otherwise unfairly advantage those he advises under his independent consultancy (including parent companies, subsidiaries, partners and clients); 

• for two years from his last day in Crown service, he should not provide advice to or on behalf of those he advises under his independent consultancy (including parent companies, subsidiaries, partners and clients) on the terms of, or with regard to the subject matter of, a bid with, or contract relating directly to the work of the UK government or any of its arm’s length bodies; 

• for two years from his last day in Crown service, he should not become personally involved in lobbying contacts he developed during his time in office and in other governments and organisations for the purpose of securing business for his independent consultancy; and

• for two years from his last day in Crown service, before accepting any commissions for his independent consultancy and or/before extending or otherwise changing the nature of his commissions, he 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 Business Appointment Rules. 

The advice and the conditions under the government’s Business Appointment Rules relate to an applicant’s previous role in government only; they are separate from rules administered by other bodies such as the Office of the Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards and the Registrar of Lords’ Interests^{[footnote 3]}. It is an applicant’s personal responsibility to understand any other rules and regulations they may be subject to in parallel with this Committee’s advice.

By ‘privileged information’ we mean official information to which a minister or Crown servant has had access as a consequence of his or her office or employment and which has not been made publicly available. Applicants are also reminded that they may be subject to other duties of confidentiality, whether under the Official Secrets Act, the Ministerial Code/Civil Service Code or otherwise.

The Business Appointment Rules explain that the restriction on lobbying means that the former Crown servant/minister ‘should not engage in communication with Government (Ministers, civil servants, including special advisers, and other relevant officials/public office holders) – wherever it takes place – with a view to influencing a Government decision, policy or contract award/grant in relation to their own interests or the interests of the organisation by which they are employed, or to whom they are contracted or with which they hold office.’

Dr Case must inform us as soon as he takes up this work or if it is announced that he will do so. Similarly, he must inform us if he proposes to extend or otherwise change his role with the organisation as depending on the circumstances, it might be necessary for him to seek fresh advice.

Once this appointment has been publicly announced or taken up, we will publish this letter on the Committee’s website.

5. Annex – Material Information 

5.1 Independent consultancy

Dr Case said he wishes to start an independent consultancy – advising on senior leadership and strategy questions. Clients might, for example, be in the technology sector, education sector, financial services and charitable sector, but this is speculative at this stage.

5.2 Departmental assessment 

This is an application for Dr Case to establish his independent consultancy and the Cabinet Office confirmed that he was not involved in any regulatory or policy decisions of relevance. 

The Cabinet Office stated that Dr Case was undoubtedly privy to a wide range of sensitive and detailed information. The department stated that whilst Dr Case had an overview of all of the government’s priorities, policy plans and upcoming deliverables, this information will become less salient as time passes. Without knowing what, if any, clients may be taken forward, it is not possible to know what information could be particularly valuable or sensitive and the risk relating to his access to information will be considered per commission, in line with ACOBA’s standard approach in such cases. 

The Cabinet Office noted Dr Case’s duty to maintain the confidentiality of any retained knowledge of privileged information during his time in Crown service. 

The Cabinet Office recommended the standard conditions that apply to an independent consultancy apply to appropriately mitigate the risks considered.

1. Which apply by virtue of the Civil Service Management Code, The Code of Conduct for Special Advisers, The King’s Regulations and the Diplomatic Service Code. ↩

2. This application for advice was considered by Isabel Doverty; Hedley Finn OBE; Sarah de Gay; Dawid Konotey-Ahulu CBE DL; The Baroness Thornton; and Michael Prescott. ↩

3. All Peers and Members of Parliament are prevented from paid lobbying under the House of Commons Code of Conduct and the Code of Conduct for Members of the House of Lords. Advice on obligations under the Code can be sought from the Parliamentary Commissioners for Standards, in the case of MPs, or the Registrar of Lords’ Interests, in the case of peers. ↩