Summary of Business Appointments - Aileen McLeod
Published 12 July 2018
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Dr Aileen McLead left her position as Minister for Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform in the Scottish Government in May 2016.
1. Member of the Advisory Council, WWF Scotland
Dr McLeod sought the Committee’s advice about taking up an unpaid, part-time appointment with WWF Scotland.
The Committee noted Dr McLeod was seeking to take up an appointment in a sector that overlaps with the responsibilities she had as Minister for Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform in the Scottish Government and with an organisation that she had contact with while in office. This combination of factors can often be a cause for concern, however; in this case, the Committee was satisfied that the risks under the Business Appointment Rules in relation to this appointment are low.
The Committee considered the appointment is unpaid; and that while Dr McLeod approved two grants to WWF whilst a Minister, this was consistent with an ongoing partnership between the Scottish Government and WWF Scotland that predated her time in office and has continued afterwards.
The Committee also took into account that almost two years had passed since she left office; and the Permanent Secretary’s assessment that any information that she had access to while in post, will now be out of date. The Committee also notes that she does not expect to have contact with Government.
Taking into account these factors, in accordance with the Government’s Business Appointment Rules, the Committee advised Dr McLeod that the appointment be subject to the following conditions:
- she should not draw on (disclose or use for the benefit of herself or the organisation to which this advice refers) any privileged information available to her from her time in Ministerial office; and
- for two years from her last day in Ministerial office, she should not become personally involved in lobbying the Scottish Government on behalf of WWF Scotland or the wider WWF network, or make use, directly or indirectly, of her contacts in Government and/or Crown service to influence policy or secure funding or business on their behalf.
The Committee sent its advice letter in March 2018.