Douglas Carswell's Blog

Whitehall's revolving doors - still spinning

Is there a revolving door between big business and big government?

We all know that when a top civil servant wants to leave to work in the private sector, their appointment must normally be approved by a committee of Whitehall grandees – the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments.  

But what I want to know is do they then pop back into their old departments to, like, well, you know .... meet people. 

So a few months back, I looked down the list of those approved to go private, and submitted Freedom of Information requests to see who has been nipping back into their old departments.  

After several threats to raise the matter directly with the minister on the floor of the Commons, I’ve managed to get some answers. Here are some of the initial responses:

• Ministry of Defence – here and here and here (part a, b, c). Lots of meetings, some minutes.  
• Department of Health – Some meetings (part a and b), but no minutes.
• Department of Energy and Climate Change here – again meetings, but no minutes.

Still stalling are the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, Foreign Office and Cabinet Office (aren’t they supposed to be leading the way on transparency?).

Of course, none of this implies any wrong-doing whatsoever. It is within the rules, one might say. 

I just think the public has a right to know that former senior officials who have left to work in the private sector do return to meet with their old departments.

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