Decision

Advice letter: Jo Churchill, Chair, National Pig Association

Updated 1 April 2026

1. BUSINESS APPOINTMENT APPLICATION: Jo Churchill, former Minister of State (Minister for Employment), Department for Work and Pensions – Paid appointment as Chair, National Pig Association

Thank you for your application, under the Government’s Business Appointment Rules for Former Ministers (the Rules), for my advice on taking up the role of Chair for the National Pig Association.  

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 the National Pig Association, 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 the National Pig Association (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 the National Pig Association (including its related parties).

• Contracts and bids condition – For two years from your last day in office, you should not undertake any work with the National Pig Association (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.

• Engagement restriction – For two years from your last day in office, you should not initiate any engagement with the UK Government or its arm’s length bodies on behalf of the National Pig Association (including its related parties).

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 governing the registration of consultant lobbyists, from the Code of Conduct and Rules of the House of Commons and from the House of Lords Code of Conduct. 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 role as Chair of the National Pig Association (NPA), the representative trade association for British commercial pig producers. The NPA  represents the pig sector through lobbying efforts across the UK Government, industry organisations and the supply chain, with the purpose of influencing policy, trade and regulation.

As Chair, you will, among other things, be responsible for developing and implementing the NPA’s strategic direction. This includes communicating key policy matters and representing the interests of the NPA to its stakeholders, which includes the UK Government. 

2.2 Dealings in office

You said that you were neither involved in any policy, regulatory or commercial decisions specific to the NPA, nor had access to any information that could grant it an unfair advantage.

2.3 Departmental assessment

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) confirmed the details you provided, adding that, as Minister for Employment, you had meetings with the National Farmers’ Union, with which the NPA is affiliated. DWP confirmed, however, that these discussions were not related to the NPA or pig industry more broadly, and recommended the standard conditions. 

2.4 My consideration of the risks 

As minister, you will have had access to general privileged information that could be of interest to the NPA. However, you made no policy, regulatory or commercial decisions specific to the NPA, and DWP has no concerns over your access to privileged information. 

You previously held the role of Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) until July 2022, which would have provided general insight into the sector in which NPA operates. However, you stated that you had no dealings with the NPA and your portfolio at the time did not cover livestock. The risks related to your access to information at DEFRA are significantly 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. 

There are particular risks associated with the nature of the government contact involved in the role, which includes communicating on policy matters and representing the interests of the NPA. This risk is, to a degree, limited by the fact that the NPA has an existing relationship with government under an established framework. It is also significant that the NPA has provided written confirmation of its agreement to comply with the advice and that your role will not involve any lobbying.  

Nonetheless, there remains a risk of perception that a former minister employed by the NPA could provide unfair access and influence on behalf of the organisation. In view of this, I have applied a restriction preventing you from initiating any direct engagement with the UK Government on behalf of the NPA. This restriction does not prevent you from engaging with government at its request, nor does it restrict you from fulfilling the other duties as described.