皇冠体育app

1. BUSINESS APPOINTMENTS APPLICATION FOR ADVICE: Air Chief Marshal Sir Michael Wigston CBE, former Chief of the Air Staff. Unpaid appointment with King鈥檚 College London, University of London.聽

Air Chief Marshal (ACM) Sir Michael sought advice from the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (the Committee) under the Government鈥檚 Business Appointments Rules for Former Crown Servants (the Rules) on an unpaid role he wishes to take up with King鈥檚 College London as a Visiting Professor in the War Studies Department.

皇冠体育app purpose of the Rules is to protect the integrity of the government. 皇冠体育app Committee has considered the risks associated with the actions and decisions made during ACM Sir Michael鈥檚 time in office, alongside the information and influence he may offer King鈥檚 College London. 皇冠体育app material information taken into consideration by the Committee is set out in the annex.

皇冠体育app Committee鈥檚 advice is not an endorsement of the appointment - it imposes a number of conditions to mitigate the potential risks to the government associated with the appointment under the Rules.

皇冠体育app Rules set out that Crown servants must abide by the Committee鈥檚 advice^{[footnote 1]}.聽 It is an applicant鈥檚 personal responsibility to manage the propriety of any appointment. Former Crown servants are expected to uphold the highest standards of propriety and act in accordance with the 7 Principles of Public Life.

2. 皇冠体育app Committee鈥檚 consideration of risks

When considering this application, the Committee^{[footnote 2]} took into account this appointment as Visiting Professor is unpaid^{[footnote 3]}. Generally, the Committee鈥檚 experience is that the risks related to unpaid roles are limited. 皇冠体育app purpose of the Rules is to protect the integrity of the Government by considering the real and perceived risks associated with former ministers joining outside organisations.聽 Those risks include: using privileged access to contacts and information to the benefit of themselves or those they represent.聽 皇冠体育app Rules also seek to mitigate the risks that individuals may make decisions or take action in office to in expectation of rewards, on leaving government. 皇冠体育appse risks are significantly limited in unpaid cases due to the lack of financial gain to the individual.聽聽

As the former Chief of the Air Staff, the Committee noted there could be a perceived risk ACM Sir Michael would have had access to a range of particularly sensitive information.聽 However, given the academic and unpaid nature of the role, there is a low risk he could be seen to use this information for personal gain.聽

3. 皇冠体育app Committee鈥檚 advice

皇冠体育app Committee did not consider this appointment raises any particular propriety concerns under the government鈥檚 Business Appointment Rules. 皇冠体育appre are inherent risks associated with聽 access to sensitive information and contacts.聽 皇冠体育app standard conditions below, which seek to prevent ACM Sir Michael from drawing on his privileged information and using his contacts to the unfair advantage of King鈥檚 College London, will sufficiently mitigate these risks.

Under government鈥檚 Rules, ACM Sir Michael is also subject to a three month waiting period due to his seniority in government and the range of information he would be exposed to.聽

Taking into account these factors, in accordance with the government鈥檚 Business Appointment Rules, the Committee advises this appointment with King鈥檚 College London be subject to the following conditions:

• a waiting period of three months from his last day in post as Air Chief Marshal;聽

• he should not draw on (disclose or use for the benefit of himself or the persons or organisations to which this advice refers) any privileged information available to him from his time in Crown service;

• for two years from his last day in Crown service, he should not become personally involved in lobbying the UK government or its arm鈥檚 length bodies on behalf of King鈥檚 College London (including parent companies, subsidiaries, partners and clients); nor should he make use, directly or indirectly, of his contacts in the government and/or Crown service contacts to influence policy, secure business/funding or otherwise unfairly advantage King鈥檚 College London聽 (including parent companies, subsidiaries, partners and clients); and

• for two years from his last day in Crown service, he should not provide advice to King鈥檚 College London (including parent companies, subsidiaries, partners and clients) on the terms of, or with regard to the subject matter of, a bid with, or contract relating directly to the work of the UK government and its arm鈥檚 length bodies.

皇冠体育app advice and the conditions under the government鈥檚 Business Appointment Rules relate to your previous role in government only; they are separate to rules administered by other bodies such as the Office of the Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists or the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards/House of Lords Commissioners for Standards. It is an individual鈥檚 personal responsibility to understand any other rules and regulations they may be subject to in parallel with this Committee鈥檚 advice.

ACM Sir Michael must inform us as soon as he takes up employment with this organisation, or if it is announced that he will do so and we will publish this letter on our website. Any failure to do so may lead to a false assumption being made about whether he had complied with the Rules.

ACM Sir Michael must inform us if he proposes to extend or otherwise change the nature of his role as, depending on the circumstances, it may be necessary for him to make a fresh application.

Once the appointment has been publicly announced or taken up, we will publish this letter on the Committee鈥檚 website.

4. Annex - Material information

4.1 皇冠体育app role聽

ACM Sir Michael said he wishes to take up an unpaid, part-time role with King鈥檚 College London where he will be a Visiting Professor in the War Studies Department.

ACM Sir Michael said his role will involve occasional lecturing and mentoring of students. He said his role will have no contact with government.

4.2 Dealings in office

ACM Sir Michael advised the Committee that he did meet with King鈥檚 College London where he interacted with the Freeman Air and Space Institute, lecturing and on discussion panels as Chief of the Air Staff. He also stated there is a departmental relationship, as members of the Department of War Studies have also supported Royal Air Force conferences. However, he stated he did not make any policy or regulatory decisions specific to King鈥檚 College London.聽

4.3 Departmental Assessment聽

皇冠体育app MOD confirmed the details ACM Sir Michael provided and stated that:聽

• he did not make any decisions specific to King鈥檚 College London, his involvement in the relationship with King鈥檚 College London was limited to non-contractual interchange at the academic / thought leadership level;

• he had interaction with a number of think tanks and academic institutions as part of his role as Chief of the Air Staff. This has been limited to exchange of expertise on thought leadership in Air and Space, rather than in specific commercial negotiations; and

• it has a broad relationship with King鈥檚 College London which includes a contractual element - KCL are under contract to the MOD to support provision of education at the Defence Academy, but this is in a different area (UK Strategic Command) than the part of the MOD that Sir Michael had responsibility for (Air Command) and was not involved in this procurement. King鈥檚 College London is one of a consortium of partners that supports training at the Joint Services Command and Staff Course and Royal College of Defence Studies of the Defence Academy.

皇冠体育app MOD stated that:鈥楥learly Sir Mike has the highest level of connections and insights across the RAF and MOD. However the risk that this appointment could be perceived to give his new employer undue advantage can be restricted by standard conditions on lobbying, sharing of sensitive information, and involvement in bids relating to the MOD.鈥�