Decision

Advice letter: Charlie Stickland, Chairman, REACT

Published 30 September 2025

1. BUSINESS APPOINTMENT APPLICATION: Lieutenant General Sir Charlie Stickland KCB OBE RM, former Chief of Joint Operations for the Permanent Joint Headquarters at the Ministry of Defence. Unpaid appointment with REACT. 

Lt Gen Sir Charlie Stickland approached the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (the Committee) under the government’s Business Appointment Rules for Former Crown Servants (the Rules) seeking advice on taking up an appointment as Chairman of REACT.

The purpose of the Rules is to protect the integrity of the government. The Committee has considered the risks associated with the actions and decisions taken during Lt Gen Sir Charlie’s time in office, alongside the information and influence he may offer REACT. The material information taken into consideration by the Committee is set out in the annex below.

The Committee’s advice is not an endorsement of the appointment – it imposes a number of conditions to mitigate the potential risks to the government associated with the appointment under the Rules.

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 of the risks presented

When considering this application, the Committee[footnote 2]  took into account that this appointment as Chairman of REACT is unpaid.[footnote 3]  Generally, the Committee’s experience is that the risks related to unpaid roles are limited. The purpose of the Rules is to protect the integrity of the government by considering the real and perceived risks associated with former Crown servants joining outside organisations. Those risks include using privileged access to contacts and information to the benefit of themselves or those they represent. The Rules also seek to mitigate the risks that individuals may make decisions or take actions in office in expectation of rewards on leaving government. These risks are significantly limited in unpaid cases due to the lack of financial gain to the individual.

During his time in office, Lt Gen Sir Charlie would have had access to information on defence matters and strategic engagement with humanitarian and disaster response organisations – though no commercial dealings. Lt Gen Sir Charlie’s connections within the defence sector could also feasibly help REACT by assisting in the recruitment of military veterans as volunteers, facilitating coordination with the UK MOD in operational theatres, and supporting  government-sponsored humanitarian networking.

The Committee agreed with the MOD that the risk associated with offering REACT any unfair advantage given its humanitarian purpose, and the unpaid nature of this work ,was low.

3. The Committee’s advice

The Committee did not consider this unpaid appointment to raise any particular concerns under the government’s Business Appointment Rules. The standard conditions below sufficiently mitigate the risks. These seek to prevent Lt Gen Sir Charlie from making improper use of privileged information, contacts and influence to the unfair advantage of the organisation.

In accordance with the government’s Business Appointment Rules, the Committee advises that this appointment with REACT be subject to the following conditions:

  • Lt Gen Sir Charlie 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 its arm’s length bodies on behalf of REACT (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 to influence policy, secure business/funding or otherwise unfairly advantage REACT (including parent companies, subsidiaries, partners and clients); and

  • for two years from his last day in Crown service, he should not undertake any work with REACT (including parent companies, subsidiaries, partners and clients) 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, the Ministry of Defence or its trading funds.

The advice  and the conditions under the government’s Business Appointment Rules relate to the 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 4]  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 ‘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.’

Lt Gen Sir Charlie  must inform us as soon as he takes up this role, or if it is announced that he will do so, and we will publish this letter on our website. He must 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.

4. Annex – Material Information

4.1 The role

REACT is a humanitarian disaster-response charity that holds a pool of responders to deploy to crises at home and overseas. The model centres on the rapid deployment of small, self-sustaining expert teams in response to crises to save lives, link with local charities and authorities and conduct rapid needs assessments to then call forward more REACT experts, and enable larger ‘cluster’ charities. It also supports UK resilience – e.g. flood support. REACT states on its website that it ‘repurposes the skills and experience of military veterans and turns them into exceptional humanitarians’. It is also an affiliate of the Cabinet Office-run UK Resilience Academy.

Lt Gen Sir Charlie wishes to take up a part-time, unpaid role as Chairman. He told the Committee that key responsibilities of his role will involve chairing the Board of Trustees, and guiding and directing the Senior Leadership Team of the charity. Responsibilities will also include future planning, funding and fundraising, organisational development, and networking into the humanitarian and disaster response community.

Lt Gen Sir Charlie stated that there will be no contact with government in this role.

4.2 Dealings in office 

Lt Gen Sir Charlie said that he did not make any policy, regulatory or commercial decisions specific to REACT. He also stated that he did not have access to any privileged information that could be considered to offer an unfair insight/advantage to REACT. 

4.3 Departmental assessment 

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) confirmed that Lt Gen Sir Charlie did not make any policy, regulatory or commercial decisions specific to REACT during his time in office.

The MOD stated that as Chief of Joint Operations, he had strategic-level interactions with humanitarian and disaster response organisations. However, his involvement did not extend to commercial dealings with these organisations. Therefore, the risk of perceived unfair disadvantage to other humanitarian organisations due to his appointment is low.

The Ministry of Defence also noted that given his defence background and connections with defence leaders, Lt Gen Sir Charlie could help REACT with its recruitment of military leavers as volunteers, coordination with UK MOD in theatres of operations, and in government sponsored humanitarian networking. It said the risk of this offering REACT any undue advantage is low given its humanitarian purpose.

The MOD recommended the standard conditions.

  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; Michael Prescott; and The Baroness Thornton.  

  3. By unpaid the Committee means that no remuneration of any kind is received for the role. Applicants must declare where it is agreed or anticipated they may receive remuneration or some other compensation at some stage in the future. 

  4. 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 Commissioner for Standards, in the case of MPs, or the Registrar of Lords’ Interests, in the case of peers.