Decision

Summary of business appointments applications - Lord Bridges

Published 6 November 2017

Lord Bridges left his role as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at DExEU in June 2017.

1. Senior Adviser to the Group Executive Chairman, Banco Santander S.A (Santander)

Lord Bridges sought the Committee’s advice about taking up a role as S​enior Adviser to the Group Executive Chairman at Santander. This is a full time, paid role.

Lord Bridges said his advice would be focused on strategy at Group level and described the role as advising the Group Executive Chairman​ on issues relating to the bank’s: business practices; reputation; culture; preparedness and plans for the digital economy; and handling of regulatory issues. ​ He said that whilst Santander would be in regular contact with the UK Government around matters such as regulation, this would not be the focus of his role and he would have no personal contact with UK officials regarding the interests of Santander.

In addition, the Committee considered the following information in coming to its decision:

• DExEU confirmed Lord Bridges was responsible for departmental business in the House of Lords, stakeholder engagement and guiding strategic policy making. In relation to matters that would have directly affected Santander, they said this was limited.
• DExEU confirmed it had no objection to the appointment nor any undue concerns about Lord Bridges taking up the post.
• Given his previous role as Parliamentary Secretary, the Cabinet Office was also approached for information and it confirmed Government has no contracts with Santander currently and did not consider it could be perceived as a reward in any way; nor that Lord Bridges would offer an unfair advantage to Santander.
• DExEU confirmed Lord Bridges occasionally ​met with the Chairman of Santander UK (in her capacity as spokesperson for the European Financial Services Chairmen’s Advisory Committee) and with numerous other financial services institutions whilst in office to discuss the impact of Brexit. DExEU confirmed these discussions involved the sector as a whole, or business activities such as asset management (rather than retail/commercial banking).
• DExEU noted that formal Brexit negotiations had not started when Lord Bridges left office. It considered he would not offer an unfair advantage to Santander in terms of access to unannounced policies or sensitive information.
• Lord Bridges has a pre-existing relationship with Santander and its Group Executive Chairman outside of Government, having worked for them previously for a number of years between 2010 and 2015.

The Committee considered that whilst the role has some links to the employment Lord Bridges undertook before he entered Government, there are also links to the areas for which he had responsibility as a Minister at DExEU. In the circumstances the Committee considered that a waiting period would be appropriate to put some space between his recent role at DExEU and returning to work at Santander.

Taking into account the specific facts of the case, in accordance with the Government’s Business Appointment Rules, the Committee advised this appointment be subject to the following conditions:

• a waiting period of three months from his last day in ministerial office;
• he should not draw on (disclose or use for the benefit of himself or the organisations to which this advice refers) any privileged information available to him from his time in ministerial office; and
• for two years from his last day in ministerial office he should not become personally involved in lobbying the Government on behalf of Banco Santander S.A, or their subsidiaries (this includes any discussions between Banco Santander S.A and the UK Government on exiting the UK and its implications). Nor should he make use, directly or indirectly, of his contacts in Government to influence policy or secure business on behalf of Banco Santander S.A or its subsidiaries.

The Committee sent its advice letter to Lord Bridges in August 2017 and he took up the role in October 2017.