Decision

Advice Letter: Patricia Hayes, Consultant, Baringa Partners

Updated 11 June 2024

1. BUSINESS APPOINTMENT APPLICATION: Patricia Hayes CB, former Second Permanent Secretary at the Home Office. Paid appointment with Baringa Partners. 

Ms Hayes 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 taking up a role with Baringa Partners (Baringa) as a Consultant. 

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 made during Ms Hayes’ time in office, alongside the information and influence she may offer Baringa. The material information taken into consideration by the Committee is set out in the annex.

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 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 took into account that there is a contractual relationship between Baringa and the Home Office and contracts were awarded to  Baringa while Ms Hayes was Second Permanent Secretary. The Home Office and Ms Hayes confirmed she was not responsible for appointing Baringa and had no direct involvement in the commercial tender or sign-off process.  Neither was Ms Hayes responsible for policy decisions of specific relevance to Baringa. Nonetheless, it is relevant to the Committee’s consideration that the Home Office has a commercial relationship with Baringa and as Second Permanent Secretary she held responsibility for the Home Office.

Ms Hayes was privy to significant amounts of policy and departmental information  across the Home Office. Given the overlap between her time at the Home Office and Baringa’s work in the public sector, there is a particular risk her access to information could unfairly advantage Baringa and its clients. The  Committee agreed with the department there are mitigating factors. Notably, it has been seven months since Ms Hayes left Crown service and the Home Office confirmed that the  sensitive information Ms Hayes  had access to has significantly moved on since she left her role and last had access to information and decision making.

Despite the time that has passed the Committee considered there remained a risk under the Rules - most likely to arise should she advise Baringa on matters directly related to her time in government. For example, though Ms Hayes notes she will rely on open source material,  she may offer, or be reasonably seen to offer, some unfair insight into policy  on police and crime.

More generally, the Committee noted there is a risk Ms Hayes’ influence and contacts gained from her time in office could assist Baringa unfairly. This is especially relevant as Ms Hayes noted her role may involve bid development support and quality assurance for Baringa. 

3. The Committee’s advice

Given the risks associated with Ms Hayes responsibilities in office and Baringa’s unknown clients, the Committee^{[footnote 2]} considered it would be appropriate to advise that she is prevented from advising Baringa or its clients on policy she had specific involvement in or responsibility for in her recent time in government. 

The Committee noted the Home Office’s recommendation that there should be a gap between her leaving office and taking up this role, given its commercial relationship with Baringa. The Committee recognised the opportunity for Ms Hayes to offer an unfair advantage is limited, given the restrictions preventing her from advising the company on matters she had involvement in whilst she was Second Permanent Secretary and from drawing on privileged information. The Committee considered the seven months that have already passed was sufficient in addressing the risks in this case.

The Committee would also draw Ms Hayes’ attention to the standard restrictions below that prevent her lobbying government and providing advice on the terms of a bid or contract relating directly to the work of the UK government - which means that any work on bid development must not involve government contracts. 

Taking these factors into account, in accordance with the government’s Business Appointment Rules, the Committee’s advice is this appointment with Baringa Partners be subject to the following conditions: 

• she should not draw on (disclose or use for the benefit of herself or the persons or organisations to which this advice refers) any privileged information available to her from her time in Crown service;

• for two years from her last day in Crown service, she should not become personally involved in lobbying the UK government or its arm’s length bodies on behalf of Baringa Partners (including parent companies, subsidiaries, partners and clients); nor should she make use, directly or indirectly, of her contacts in the government and/or Crown service to influence policy, secure business/funding or otherwise unfairly advantage Baringa Partners (including parent companies, subsidiaries, partners and clients); 

• for two years from her last day in Crown service, Ms Hayes should not undertake any work with Baringa Partners (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 or its arm’s length bodies; and

• for two years from her last day in Crown service, Ms Hayes should not advise Baringa Partners or its clients on any work with regard to any policy she had specific involvement in or responsibility for as Second Permanent Secretary at the Home Office nor where she had a relationship with the relevant business during her time as Second Permanent Secretary at the Home Office.

The advice and the conditions under the government’s Business Appointment Rules relate to an 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 3]}. 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/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.”

Ms Hayes must inform us as soon as she takes up this work or if it is announced that she will do so.  Similarly, she must inform us if she proposes to extend or otherwise change her role with the organisation as depending on the circumstances, it might be necessary for her to seek fresh advice. 

Once this appointment has been publicly announced or taken up, we will publish this letter on the Committee’s website.

4. Annex - Material Information 

4.1 The role 

Baringa Partners is a management consultancy firm, with hubs across Europe, the US, Asia and Australia. The company states it operates in services such as consumer products and retail, energy and resources, financial services, government and the public sector, pharmaceuticals and life sciences as well as technology media and telecoms. 

Baringa has a contractual relationship with HMG including Ms Hayes’ former departments: the Department for Transport and the Home Office. 

1. Ms Hayes wishes to take up a paid, part-time role with Baringa Partners as a Consultant. Ms Hayes described her responsibilities as:

• Providing strategic support in the evolution of the public sector part of their business -with a focus on transport.   Baringa has expressed an interest in learning more about the crime and policing landscape as part of its market development, but this would be a relatively small part of her work. She added that given that she had not directly led work on crime and policing issues for more than two years,  any such work would rely on open source rather than any privileged information.

• Providing strategic advice on transport sector governance  building understanding of national and sub-national governance structures and roles and responsibilities across public and private sectors.
• Offering thought leadership on transport and wider public policy. Helping Baringa to build its understanding of societal trends shaping the future of transport,  energy transition and the technical infrastructure required to meet climate change targets.  Helping to shape a compelling client offer bringing together decarbonisation, integration and personalised mobility. 
• Sharing understanding of the evolving crime and policing landscape across the UK.  
• Supporting bid development  and quality assurance in relation to the areas above.
• Coaching and mentoring senior leaders (especially female senior leaders and the female talent community) across Baringa on career development.
• Coaching and mentoring the team at Baringa on how the public sector and the civil service operates at system level including on the role of ministers, civil servants and special advisers.

She has agreed with Baringa that she will not take on any work which relates to the work of the Home Office on the migration and borders system given the focus of her responsibilities as Second Permanent Secretary.

Ms Hayes stated it is not a client facing or representational role, but intended to support Baringa to improve its skills and knowledge so that it can be a more effective partner to clients in both the private and public sectors.   She has confirmed she will not have contact with government in this role.

4.2 Dealings in office

Ms Hayes advised the Committee that she was not involved in any policy, regulatory or commercial decisions specific to Baringa. She noted the Home Office awarded Baringa a contract in 2021. She confirmed she had no involvement in the awarding or management of this contract, though she did oversee some of the product of the work delivered.

Ms Hayes stated she met Baringa on a small number of occasions in relation to its work for Border Force on the modelling of border performance through and beyond COVID-19 and its impacts. On two occasions, Baringa hosted stakeholder events for the Home Office, Border Force and their industry partners. She stated she has also worked with the Partner at Barninga responsible for government and public sector on the Civil Service Awards, for which Baringa has been a sponsor.

Ms Hayes stated she has had contact with other management consultancies during her time as Second Permanent Secretary at the Home Office. Those she worked with most closely included Deloitte (as delivery partners for the Emergency Services Network programme), KPMG (on accommodation options for asylum seekers), Newton (on asylum case working productivity), & EY (on asylum system transformation).  

4.3 Departmental Assessment 

The Home Office and Department for Transport confirmed the details Ms Hayes provided on her application. 

The departments confirmed Ms Hayes was not involved in policy, regulatory or commercial decisions specific to Baringa during her time in post. 

The Home Office stated that one of her key responsibilities was line management of the operational functions of the Home Office. These are the business units of the Border Force, Immigration Enforcement, Asylum and Protection and Visas and Citizenship. It said policy and strategy for these business units was defined by the Migration and Borders Group, which was under the direct line management of the Permanent Secretary - Sir Matthew Rycroft. The policy and strategy development of these units was not under Ms Hayes’ purview. The Home Office noted that though she was aware of some work product that Baringa had delivered, particularly relating to COVID-19, this was not a close working relationship.  The department considers there could be no perception this appointment is a reward.

The Home Office confirmed the nature of Ms Hayes’ contact with Baringa and its competitors during her time in post and does not believe she has knowledge relating to Baringa or its competitors that could be regarded as commercially valuable.

The Home Office & the Department for Transport confirmed it has a departmental relationship with Baringa, as outlined below: 

• The Home Office said it draws on the services of Baringa alongside other providers of consultancy. The Home Office has had a significant contractual relationship with Baringa including during the time Ms Hayes was with the department - it had 29 contracts totaling over £27 million from February 2020 to December 2023. It noted nearly all of these contracts have come to their conclusion, with the last one ending later this year, on 31 December 2023. Ms Hayes had oversight of business units that used the services of Baringa (including Border Force), although she was not personally involved in the granting of those contracts. 
• The Department for Transport does not hold a central relationship with Baringa, but two of its arms length bodies do for project delivery/telecoms type work. HS2 Ltd had contracts with Baringa between 2016- 2020 and Network Rail  has a current contract. The maximum contract was for £1.5m, meaning none of Baringa’s contracting or procurement would have met the threshold to be cleared by DfT colleagues in the central team. The Department for Transport confirmed she did not make any funding/contractual decisions specific to Baringa during her time as Director General as the policy areas were not in her portfolio, the spend was with the department’s arms length bodies and the small amount being contracted for meant the discussions were never brought to DfT central for investment discussions.

The Home Office and the Department for Transport confirmed that given the amount of time that has passed since Ms Hayes was in government, the risk she holds any up to date information is significantly limited. Neither department considered her access to information was a particular risk.

The Home Office noted that as the former Second Perm Secretary, Ms Hayes’ role was not policy development instead it was focussed around corporate services and bigger picture work. As Second Permanent Secretary: 

• She was a member of the Home Office main Board, meaning she was involved in discussions and performance reviews covering all Home Office policy and delivery.
• She chaired several key governance processes across the Home Office. 
• She led the Home Office’s Finance and Investment Committee, looking at the financial performance of the department, improving the quality of forecasting and compliance with budgets. This Committee also controlled investment decisions for its largest and most complex and high-risk projects. 
• Her responsibilities did not include policy development either within or outside the migration or borders system. 
• She did not have any direct responsibility for any Home Office work outside corporate services and the migration and borders system. 

The Home Office added that her former duties as Director General at the Home Office, her responsibilities were different -she had responsibility for migration and borders system, crime policy, policing policy and performance, and reform of the fire system.  As Director General, she also chaired several key governance processes for the Home Office, such as the Home Office Executive Committee and the Home Office’s Performance and Risk Committee which was responsible for driving delivery of business priorities and management of risk across the whole of the organisation. However, the Home Office noted this role ended more than two years ago, limiting the risks associated with her access to information. 

The Home Office recognised that there could be a perception risk with Ms Hayes’ appointment associated with the departments contracting relationship  with Baringa and her seniority in the department.

The Home Office recommended the standard conditions, a limitation to Ms Hayes’ role preventing her from advising Baringa on matters overlapping with her time as Second Permanent Secretary. The department also considered a waiting period was necessary here in order to deal with perception risk (given its contractual relationship with Baringa). They recommended Ms Hayes take up this role in January 2024, once its last contract with Baringa has finished.

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 Andrew Cumpsty; Isabel Doverty; Sarah de Gay; The Rt Hon Baroness Jones of Whitchurch; The Rt Hon Lord Eric Pickles; and Mike Weir. ↩

3. 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 Commissioners for Standards, in the case of MPs, or the Registrar of Lords’ Interests, in the case of peers. ↩