Decision

Advice letter: Guy Opperman, Senior Adviser, ONG 1 Ltd

Updated 1 April 2026

1. BUSINESS APPOINTMENT APPLICATION: Guy Opperman, former Minister for Roads and Local Transport, Department for Transport – Paid appointment as a Senior Adviser, ONG 1 Ltd 

Thank you for your application, under the Government’s Business Appointment Rules for Former Ministers (the Rules), for my advice on joining ONG 1 Ltd as a senior adviser. 

The purpose of the Rules, as you will be aware, is to protect the integrity of government and to avoid any suspicion that those who have served in government might profit improperly from that experience or that an employer might gain unfair advantage through privileged access to government. To achieve these aims, I designate conditions that former ministers must follow. 

The material information and my consideration are set out in the annex. In light of this, I consider the following conditions to be appropriate, recognising that it is your responsibility to ensure that these are demonstrably applied in practice:

• Privileged information condition – You should not draw on (disclose or use for the benefit of ONG 1 Ltd, including its related parties) any privileged information available to you from your time in ministerial office. This is an ongoing duty irrespective of the time elapsed since you left office.

• Lobbying condition – For two years from your last day in office, you should not become personally involved in lobbying the UK Government or its arm’s length bodies on behalf of ONG 1 Ltd (including its related parties); nor should you make use, directly or indirectly, of your contacts in the government and/or ministerial office to influence policy, secure business/funding or otherwise unfairly advantage ONG 1 Ltd (including its related parties).

• Contracts and bids condition – For two years from your last day in office, you should not undertake any work with ONG 1 Ltd (including its related parties) that involves providing advice 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 its arm’s length bodies.

I would be grateful if you would note the following points:

• My advice is not an endorsement of the appointment.
• The advice relates solely to your previous role in government; it is 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. It is your personal responsibility to understand any other rules and regulations you may be subject to in parallel with my advice.
• By ‘privileged information’, I mean official information to which you had access as a consequence of holding office and which is not publicly available. You are also reminded that you may be subject to other duties of confidentiality, whether under the Official Secrets Act, the Ministerial Code or otherwise.
• By ‘related parties’, I mean any parent companies, subsidiaries, clients and/or other partners as may be relevant.
• As set out in the Rules, the lobbying restriction means that former ministers ‘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’.

As soon as you take up the appointment, or if it is announced that you will do so, you are obliged under the Rules to inform my secretariat who will then publish this letter. You must also inform us if you propose to extend or otherwise change the nature of your role as, depending on the circumstances, it may be necessary for you to make a fresh application.

Yours sincerely,

Sir Laurie Magnus CBE

Independent Adviser on Ministerial Standards

2. Annex – Material information and consideration of the risks 

2.1 The role

You wish to take up a paid, part-time role as a senior adviser with ONG 1 Ltd, a financial management company that owns and operates its own infrastructure assets. You stated in your application that this is an internal advisory position. The role involves offering the company insights and understanding regarding pensions and financial services, as well as assisting in the development of non-retail financial products.

You confirmed that you will have no contact with government in this role. 

2.2 Dealings in office

You confirmed that you neither met with, nor made any policy, regulatory or commercial decisions specific to, ONG 1 Ltd. You stated that you had no access to information that could unfairly advantage the company.  

2.3 Departmental assessment

The Department for Transport (DfT) confirmed the details you provided. It had no concerns and recommended the standard conditions. 

2.4 My consideration of the risks 

You made no policy, regulatory or commercial decisions specific to ONG 1 Ltd, and DfT has no concerns over your access to privileged information.

You previously held the roles of Minister for Employment at Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) until November 2023, and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Pensions and Financial Inclusion at DWP until September 2022, which will have some relevance to the areas on which you will be advising ONG 1 Ltd. However, the risks related to your access to information at DWP are limited given the passage of time – more than two years. Further, the Rules do not prohibit you from utilising your general skills, knowledge, experience, and any publicly available information. I therefore consider the risks associated with your access to information as minister to be appropriately mitigated by the standard conditions. 

As a financial management company, ONG 1 Ltd could have a general interest in government policy. You confirmed that you will not have contact with government, and I note that the role is internal advisory and does not involve client engagement. In view of this, the risks here are appropriately mitigated by the standard lobbying and contracts and bids conditions.