Decision

Summary of business appointments applications - Sir John Kingman

Updated 2 October 2017

Sir John Kingman left his role as Second Permanent Secretary, HM Treasury in July 2016.

1. Chairman, Legal & General

Sir John Kingman sought advice from the Committee on a role as Chairman of Legal & General.

When considering this application, the Committee noted that although during his time at HM Treasury Sir John had occasional dealings with Legal & General, he was not in frequent contact with them and the main relationship with HMT had been managed elsewhere in the department. The Committee also noted that Sir John had some involvement in policy that will have affected Legal & General. However, they took into account the comments of Cabinet Office and HMT that he played no direct role in most policies that affected the company, which were carried out by other teams in the department; and that policies he was directly involved in were strongly pro-consumer.

The Committee noted that Sir John had limited contact with Legal & General’s competitors, primarily through general industry discussions, and therefore no access, either formally or informally, to any competitively sensitive information about Legal and General, or its competitors. The Committee was also aware that none of Legal & General’s competitors raised any concerns about this prospective appointment.

The Committee took into account the particular circumstances in this case, including the fact that Sir John had agreed, in the public interest, to stay on at HMT as acting Permanent Secretary to prevent there being a gap at a critical time. They also noted that as soon as he was approached about the role with Legal & General, he declared it to his department, and arrangements were put in place to ensure he stood aside from any related issues.

The Prime Minister accepted the Committee’s advice that there was no reason why Sir John should not take up this position, subject to the following conditions:

• He should not take up this post until 22 October 2016;
• He should not draw on (disclose or use for the benefit of himself or the organisation to which this advice refers) privileged information available to him from his time in Crown service; and
• For two years from his last day in service, Sir John should not become personally involved in lobbying the UK Government on behalf of Legal & General or its clients, or make use, directly or indirectly, of his contacts in Government and/or Crown service to influence policy or secure business on behalf of Legal & General (to avoid any perception of improper influence on Sir John’s part, this should include him recusing himself from attending the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s meetings with the Chairs of the major insurance companies during this period).

The letter containing the final advice was sent in October 2016 and the appointment was announced that month.

2. Trustee and Chair of the Finance and Audit Committees, the National Gallery.

Sir John sought the Committee’s advice on taking up an unpaid, part-time role as a Trustee and Chair of the Finance and Audit Committees at the National Gallery.

When considering this application, the Committee took into account that arrangements were in place within HM Treasury to ensure that Sir John had no involvement in arts-related matters due to him being a Trustee of the Royal Opera House. The Committee also took into account that HM Treasury has raised no concerns about the appointment.

The Prime Minister accepted the Committee’s advice that, in accordance with the Government’s Business Appointment Rules, this appointment be subject to the following conditions:

• he should not draw on (disclose or use for the benefit of himself or the organisations to which this advice refers) privileged information available to him from his time in Crown service; and
• for two years from his last day in service, he should not become personally involved in lobbying the UK Government on behalf of the National Gallery.

The letter with the Committee’s final advice was sent in March 2017 and the appointment was announced the following month.

3. Senior Adviser, Rothschild & Co

Sir John Kingman sought advice from the Committee in relation to taking up an appointment as Senior Adviser at Rothschild & Co (Rothschild), an investment bank.

When considering this application, the Committee took into consideration that:

• Sir John said it would be a paid role involving around one day of work a week.
• Sir John described the role as helping teams working on investment banking assignments; and with client relationships.
• Sir John confirmed he will not be working on assignments involving the UK Government and is unlikely to have likely to have contact or dealings with HMT or Government more widely.
• It recognised that this role is within the same sector for which Sir John had responsibility whilst he was in Crown Service. However, Sir John has had a career in finance across both public and private sectors. He previously worked at Rothschild, between 2010 and 2012, before returning to Government as Second Permanent Secretary at HMT in 2012.
• 12 months have now passed since Sir John left Crown Service.
• Sir John said he had no direct contractual dealings with Rothschild as Second Permanent Secretary and Acting Permanent Secretary at HMT - though he did have responsibility for those who did.
• HMT confirmed that Rothschild has a contractual relationship with HMT and that contracts are awarded through a competitive process. HMT told the Committee that during Sir John’s time as Second Permanent Secretary and Acting Permanent Secretary there was only one relevant contract, which related to advice on the potential split of Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) into a good bank and bad bank, in 2013. The contract was worth £850,00 and HMT said RBS had agreed to cover the costs. Sir John told the Committee that, due to his previous involvement with Rothschild he had no involvement in awarding the contract. HMT confirmed this was the case and that his recusal from the process was made public at the time.
• The Committee noted that once the process of awarding the contract had finished and Rothschild had been appointed, Sir John did work on the project.
• Sir John told the Committee he also had had some dealings with Rothschild and competitors whilst he was in post, at various industry events; and in relation to issues around the regulation of the financial sector. He told the Committee this was of a general nature and he did not believe there was anything that materially affected Rothschild.
• HMT considered that any any sensitive information around government policy of HMT’s holdings would now be out of date, and of no material commercial value given the time that has passed since Sir John left office.
• HMT did not consider that Sir John’s appointment could be seen as a reward; and raised no concerns about this appointment subject to: him not working on UK Government assignments; and the usual ban on lobbying Government.

The Prime Minister accepted the Committee’s advice that, in accordance with the Government’s Business Appointment Rules, this appointment be subject to the following conditions:

• he should not draw on privileged information available to him from his time in Crown service;
• for two years from his last day in Crown service he should not involve himself in work for Rothschild & Co, or its subsidiaries, that is related to UK Government assignments; and
• for two years from his last day in service, Sir John should not become personally involved in lobbying the UK Government on behalf of Rothschild & Co or its clients or subsidiaries; nor should he make use, directly or indirectly, of his contacts in Government and/or Crown service to influence policy or secure business on behalf of Rothschild & Co or or its clients or subsidiaries.

The letter with the Committee’s final advice was sent in July 2017 and the appointment was taken up in October 2017.