Summary of business appointments applications - Sir Hugh Robertson
Published 27 May 2015
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Sir Hugh Robertson left his role as Minister of State in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in July 2014.
1. Head of the London Office and Director of International Relations for Falcon and Associates
Sir Hugh sought advice on accepting an appointment as Head of the London Office and Director of International Relations for Falcon and Associates.
When considering this application the Committee took into account that Sir Hugh had no official contact with Falcon and Associates while in ministerial office and had stated that this role would not involve lobbying the UK Government. The Committee took into account that, unusually, the UK Government overtly supported a bid by Dubai (for Expo 2020) that Falcon and Associates was at the core of. However, this was a decision made by the Foreign Secretary and was before Sir Hugh took up any role in the FCO, so they do not believe that this fact gives rise to any concerns in this case.
The Committee advised Sir Hugh that it saw no reason why he should not accept this appointment subject to the conditions that:
• for two years from his last day in ministerial office he should not become personally involved in lobbying the UK Government on behalf of Falcon and Associates or its clients; and
• he should not draw on any privileged information available to him from his time in Government.
The Committee wrote its advice letter to Sir Hugh in January 2015 and he took up the role in May 2015.