Summary of business appointments applications - Gareth Jones
Published 30 March 2016
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Gareth Jones left his role as Director General, Welsh Government, in September 2015.
1. Strategic Adviser, Enterprise Registry Solutions
Gareth Jones sought advice on accepting a position as a Strategic Adviser for Enterprise Registry Solutions (ERS), an IT development and maintenance company specialising in registry services.
When considering this application the Committee noted that Mr Jones had no dealings with ERS in his last post, although he had some limited contact with them during his time as Registrar and Chief Executive of Companies House, a position he held from 2007-2012. However, that contact had been limited to broad strategic discussions and, as the UK registry is developed and maintained in-house, Mr Jones had never been involved in awarding contracts/grants in the field. The Committee noted that all of Mr Jones’s dealings with the registry sector had taken place nearly four years ago.
The Committee took into account the views of the Welsh Government and BIS, Mr Jones’s former department, neither of which raised any concerns about this appointment. However, given Mr Jones’s prior roles, the Committee believed that a lobbying ban covering both the Welsh and UK Government was appropriate.
The First Minister accepted the Committee’s advice that there was no reason why Mr Jones should not take up this role, subject to the following conditions:
- For two years from his last day of service he should not become personally involved in lobbying the Welsh Government or UK Government on behalf of ERS or its clients; and
- He should not draw on privileged information available to him from his time in Crown service.
The Committee provided its advice on this application in February 2016 and Mr Jones took up the role in March 2016.