Decision

Advice Letter: Stephen Oldfield, Non Executive Director, Health Innovation Manchester

Published 4 July 2023

1. BUSINESS APPOINTMENT APPLICATION: Stephen Philip Oldfield CB, former Chief Commercial Officer and Director General of Commercial and Life Sciences at the Department of Health and Social Care. Paid appointment with Health Innovation Manchester.

Stephen Philip Oldfield sought advice from the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (the Committee) under the government’s Business Appointments Rules for former Crown servants (the Rules) on an appointment with Health Innovation Manchester as a Non-Executive Director. The material information taken into consideration by the Committee is set out in the below annex.

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 Mr Oldfield’s time in office, alongside the information and influence a former Crown servant may offer Health Innovation Manchester.

The Committee has advised that 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 set out that Crown servants must abide by the Committee’s advice^{[footnote 1]}. 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 of the risks presented

The Committee[^2] noted there is a broad overlap with Mr Oldfield’s work in Health whilst at the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC). Mr Oldfield did not meet with Health Innovation Manchester while in government service; nor made any decisions specific to Health Innovation Manchester. It is also relevant that Health Innovation Manchester does not have a relationship with the Department for Health and Social Care. Therefore, the Committee considered the risk he could be seen to have been offered this role as a reward for decisions made, or actions taken in office, was low.

Given Mr Oldfield’s role as Chief Commercial Officer of the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) and Director General of Life Sciences he will have had access to sensitive information that may overlap with this role, namely life science policy and DHSC’s general commercial strategy and capability. His former department did not consider his access to information posed any particular risk in relation to this work. The nature of the organisation is also relevant; it is a public sector organisation working with industry to improve healthcare for the public in Greater Manchester and that his career before joining government in 2017 was in the private healthcare sector.

There are also risks associated with Mr Oldfield’s network gained in government service and the wider life science sector - particularly with industry bodies and manufacturers which could unfairly assist Health Innovation Manchester if used improperly to generate funding and contracts. This risk is limited given Mr Oldfield’s previous experience in the sector before joining government and the internal nature of this role. The Committee’s advice.

The Committee determined the risks identified in this application can be appropriately mitigated by the conditions below. These make it clear Mr Oldfield cannot make use of any privileged access to information, contacts or influence gained from his time in government to the unfair advantage of Health Innovation Manchester.

The Committee’s advice, under the Government’s Business Appointment Rules, that this appointment with Health Innovation Manchester should be subject to the following conditions:

• 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 Health Innovation Manchester (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 Health Innovation Manchester (including parent companies, subsidiaries, partners and clients);

• for two years from his last day in Crown service, he should not become personally involved in lobbying contacts he has developed during his time in office and in other governments and organisations for the purpose of securing business for Health Innovation Manchester (including parent companies, subsidiaries and partners); and

• for two years from his last day in Crown service, he should not provide advice to Health Innovation Manchester (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.

The advice and the conditions under the government’s Business Appointment Rules relate to your previous roles in government only; they are separate to rules administered by other bodies such as the Office of the Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists or the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards. It is Mr Oldfield’s personal responsibility to understand any other rules and regulations he 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 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.’

Please inform us as soon as Mr Oldfield takes up employment with this organisation, or if it is announced that he will do so, by emailing the office at the above address. Please also inform us if he proposes to extend or otherwise change the nature of his role as, depending on the circumstances, it may be necessary for him to make a fresh application. Once the appointment has been publicly announced or taken up, we will publish this letter on the Committee’s website, and where appropriate, refer to it in the relevant annual report.

3. Annex - Material information

3.1 The role

Mr Oldfield said Health Innovation Manchester is “…a partnership which brings together the NHS, Greater Manchester’s (GM) 4 universities and 10 local authorities, and industry innovators, with a shared vision to transform the health of GM’s 2.8m citizens through the discovery, development and rapid deployment of healthcare innovations.” The website states it was ‘formed in October 2017, Health Innovation Manchester brought together the former Greater Manchester academic health science network (GM AHSN) and Manchester Academic Health Science Centre (MAHSC) under a single umbrella’ . It said its mission is to become a recognised ‘…international leader in accelerating innovation that transforms the health and wellbeing of our citizens. We work with innovators to discover, develop and deploy new solutions, harnessing the transformative power of health and care, industry and academia working together to address major challenges and tackle inequalities.’

Mr Oldfield said as a member of the Board, the role is to help shape and drive HInM vision and strategy, ensure accountability to Health Innovation Manchester’s members and stakeholders, and exercise effective and constructive oversight of delivery. As a Non-Executive Director, he said he will work with other Non-Executive Directors, the Chair and the Executive Directors, as an equal member of the Board of Directors, and sub-committees of the Board. He said in summary his key functions are:

• Help shape the strategic direction of Health Innovation Manchester through fostering challenge and debate

• Bring fresh perspectives and ideas, including those of stakeholders

• Hold the executive to account on budgets

• Ensure that controls and risk management are of the highest standards

• Uphold the organisation’s value and promote equality and diversity.

He said his appointment would not involve contact with government.

Before joining government in 2017 he held a career in the private sector, principally in pharmaceuticals. His previous roles include:

• Chief Operating Officer for PGT Healthcare, a consumer-health joint venture between Procter & Gamble and Teva

• UK Managing Director for Sanofi and Teva

• Vice President, Global Head of Cardiovascular Medicine

• Managing Director in Thailand, South Korea and Mexico

3.2 Dealings in office

Mr Oldfield said he did not meet with Health Innovation Manchester while in service and made no policy or regulatory decisions affecting Health Innovation Manchester. He said he did not meet with competitors of Health Innovation Manchester as it does not have ‘Competitors because this is a partnership of willing organisations focused on promoting the development and adoption of innovation in Greater Manchester for the benefit of the population of the region, and no other organisation does the same thing’.

He provided some general context around his work in government for the last five years in the Govt Commercial Organisation (GCO) as Chief Commercial Officer at DHSC, where he has had contact with the field of health, the NHSE executive, the Life Sciences Industry (including manufacturers and Industry Bodies) and the broader health ecosystem. He provided his relevant specific involvement on the topic of “Innovation”, none of which can be said to have had any material impact on the business results of HInM or its competitors:

• DG responsible for (the DHSC interests in) the Office for Life Sciences (OLS) (until Dec 2021)

• Member of the Accelerated Access Steering Group (AAC) (until Dec 2021): this body, led by a Chief Executive reporting to the NHSE, was responsible for creating a strategy to encourage rapid uptake of the most impactful and cost-effective innovations by the healthcare system. These policies were generally pro-innovation, seeking ways to encourage ground-breaking inventions in the scientific arena.

• Chair of the “Innovation Steering Group” (Mar-Dec 2021): this was an internal discussion group as a forum for informal exchange on suggestions to improve UK health innovation. It was not responsible for any external policy or recommendations and thus had no material impact on the market.

• DG responsible for the Medicines Directorate: one of the functions of this directorate was as senior sponsor for the Medical and Health Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

He stated he had no access to sensitive information affecting Health Innovation Manchester.

3.3 Departmental assessment

The Government Commercial Organisation confirmed the details provided by Mr Oldfield.

The department confirmed Mr Oldfield is familiar with the sector that Health Innovation Manchester operates in, but said it is important to note that he has not had any direct contractual dealings with them, nor access to sensitive information during his time as Chief Commercial Officer of DHSC.

The department said it has no concerns and recommended the standard conditions.

[^2:] This application for advice was considered by Jonathan Baume; Andrew Cumpsty; Isabel Doverty; Sarah de Gay; Dr Susan Liautaud; The Rt Hon Lord Pickles; Richard Thomas; Mike Weir and Lord Larry Whitty.

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 ↩