21 December 2004

I am writing to you, as I do to other Ministers who leave the Government, to advise you how to contact the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments if you wish to seek our advice on any appointment outside Government.

You may recall that the Ministerial Code - A code of conduct and guidance on procedures for Ministers (July 2001) - states that “on leaving office Ministers should seek advice from the independent Advisory Committe on Business Appointments about any appointments they wish to take up within two years of leaving office, other than unpaid appointments in non-commercial organisations or appointments in the gift of the Government ...” (paragraph 140).

In offering its advice to a former Minister, the Committee draws on the Guidelines on the acceptance of appointments or employment outside Government by former Ministers of the Crown. I enclose a copy, which includes a request form setting out the information that we will need before we can offer advice.

I chair the Committee. The members are Lord Maclennan of Rogart, Lord Morris of Aberavon, Lord Wilson of Tillyorn, Sir John Blelloch, Admiral Sir Kenneth Eaton, and Sir Bryan Nicholson.

We are normally able to clear most requests for advice in correspondence — and we try to do so within fifteen working days — but we may on occasion wish to invite a former Minister to discuss an appointment at a meeting.

If you would like to know more about the system or, at any time, wished to discuss a particular appointment informally before seeking the Committee’s advice, please do not hesitate to ring Tony Nichols in our secretariat.

From Lord Mayhew to Mr Blunkett

2 March 2005

I wrote to you on 21 December to let you know how to get in touch with us if you wished to consider taking up any employment after leaving the Government. I enclose a copy of my letter for convenience.

The system under which former Ministers can seek our advice about outside appointments is a voluntary and advisory one, although the Ministerial Code does state that they should do this. However, having had the article in the most recent Mail on Sunday drawn to my attention (copy attached), I am writing to you again because there seemed to me a possibility (as has been the case with others once or twice in the past) that you had believed that the recording of your appointment with Indepen in the Register of Interests constituted its approval by the independent Advisory Committee on Business Appointments. That is not so, however, and in accordance with our Guidelines we would normally expect a former Cabinet Minister to wait at least three months before taking up an outside appointment.

We shall shortly be completing our annual report which contains a list of appointments, if they have been taken up, on which we have advised. We are also required under our Guidelines to publish the advice we gave on them. In view of the possibility of a misunderstanding on your part in this case, I thought it right to let you know that, if asked about your appointment with Indepen, we would need to say that we had not been consulted about it.

The Committee is always prepared to offer advice retrospectively, but it would be clear from our report that it was not sought until after the event.

Please do not hesitate to get in touch with me, or Tony Nichols, the Committee’s Secretary, if you would like any other information about the scheme.

From Mr Blunkett to Lord Mayhew

3 March 2005

Dear Patrick

Thank you for your letter dated 2nd March. You are indeed right that there has been a misunderstanding. It was my belief that I should seek your advice if I had any doubt about the nature of the employment and its connection with my role as a Government Minister. My apologies for not realising that, on a voluntary basis, I should have consulted you irrespective of this.

Whoever drew your attention to the Mail on Sunday may not have realised that the references they made were to events, in one case the year before I was Home Secretary and in another to contact with Indepen two years after I had left the Department of Education and Employment a successor department to which the references referred.

If there is a problem I would happily meet you but I am also please (sic) to take any advise (sic) on whether you believe I have broken the rules.

Whilst writing could I clarify whether an educational charity falls within your remit.

With best wishes

David.

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