Greensill: Loophole needs closing over civil servants’ jobs, peer says

The sun starts to set behind the Houses of Parliament (AP)
The sun starts to set behind the Houses of Parliament (AP)

A loophole needs to be closed on top civil servants gaining approval from the appointments watchdog for work in the private sector, a former Cabinet Secretary told the Standard today.

However, Lord Butler, Britain’s top civil servant under Margaret Thatcher, Sir John Major and Tony Blair, also warned contacts between civil servants and business should not be severed in the wake of the Greensill scandal.

His comments came after it was discovered that former head of government procurement Bill Crothers began working for Greensill Capital as a part-time adviser in September 2015, a move approved by the Cabinet Office, but did not leave the Civil Service until November that year.

When he took up a director job with the finance firm in late 2016, he did not need seek approval from the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (Acoba). Lord Butler said: “What happened with this civil servant just seems to be a loophole in the regulations and that does need to be tightened up.”

Mr Crothers says he did not believe Acoba approval was needed as his new director role was not a “substantial change” from his previous one.

Getty Images
Getty Images

However, Acoba chairman Lord Pickles said the case highlighted “a number of anomalies within the system”.

Cabinet Office Permanent Secretary Alex Chisholm said the “obligation” to seek Acoba consent was on Mr Crothers if his role changed “substantially”.

The storm erupted after it emerged David Cameron lobbied Chancellor Rishi Sunak and other ministers on Greensill’s behalf as it sought access to a Covid finance scheme.

The firm subsequently filed for insolvency, putting at risk thousands of UK steelmaking jobs.

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