July 2025 to September 2025 business appointment rules
Updated 16 December 2025
Applies to England
© Crown copyright 2025
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dfe-business-appointment-rules-advice/july-2025-to-september-2025-business-appointment-rules
July to September 2025
This page provides information about outside appointments or employment taken up by former members of the Department for Education.
It covers former staff at senior civil service levels SCS1 and SCS2 and equivalents that fall within the scope of the business appointment rules. It also covers special advisers of equivalent level.
Full name of applicant: Jeremy Benson
Title of former Civil Service role: Curriculum Deputy Director
Date left or retired from the Civil Service: 30 September 2025
New employer: AQA
New appointment or employment (including when taken up): Senior Assessment Adviser, 1 October 2025
Department’s decision on application (including details of any waiting period or other conditions or restrictions applied): Approved with the following conditions:
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Jeremy should not draw on (disclose or use for the benefit of himself or the organisation) any privileged information available to his from his time in Crown service
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he should only advise on policy matters from his time in office that have already been determined and made available publicly
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for 2 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 his new employers, nor should he make use of any contacts in the government and Crown service contacts to influence policy, secure business or funding or otherwise unfairly advantage his new employers
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for 2 years from his last paid day of service, Jeremy should only use official channels to contact government, thus mitigating the risk of improper use of government contacts