Decision

Summary of business appointments applications - Richard Blakeway

Published 7 December 2016

Richard Blakeway left his role as Special Adviser to the Prime Minister in July 2016.

1. Independent Consultancy and subsequent commissions

Richard Blakeway sought advice on establishing a consultancy service, providing strategic advice. He also sought permission to accept a commission with Willmott Residential.

Willmott Residential is a subsidiary of Willmott Dixon. The Committee took into account that Mr Blakeway had no dealings with the firm while he was a Special Adviser. The Committee noted that he did have some contact with the sector while in office, as he was present at two roundtable meetings: one with the British Property Federation on 22 June 2016, and one with the Home Builders Federation on 12 July 2016, which was organised by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG).

The Committee considered the views of Mr Blakeway’s former department, the Cabinet Office who noted the relatively short period of time he spent as a Special Adviser and they confirmed they had no concerns about the application. Due to the specific policy area involved, DCLG were also consulted and had no concerns about the application.

The Permanent Secretary accepted the Committee’s advice that this application, in accordance with the Government’s Business Appointment Rules, be subject to the following conditions:

• that he should not draw on (disclose or use for the benefit of himself or the organisation 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 service, he should not become personally involved in lobbying the UK Government on behalf of his clients or those he advises;
• for 12 months from his last day of service he should not undertake any work as a consultant which involves providing advice to any company or organisation on the terms of a bid or contract relating directly to the work of Cabinet Office; and
• once he has received approval to set up as an independent consultant, he must seek confirmation from the Committee directly that each subsequent individual commission is permissible under the terms of her consultancy before taking it up. If, after enquiry, the Committee takes the view that a commission is, or may be, outside the terms of the consultancy he will be expected to submit a fresh application.

The letter was sent in October 2016 and he took up the new role and commission in November.

Since establishing the consultancy, he has taken up commissions with:

• Barrat Developments PLC (November 2016)
• British Property Federation; Iceni Projects; Jones Lang Lasalle (January 2017) and Policy Exchange (April 2017)
• BexleyCo