Alex Burghart, the shadow chancellor or the Duchy of Lancaster, has written a letter to Pat McFadden seeking answers on the government's standards overhaul, including what the abolition of Acoba means for former Conservative ministers.
The letter, seen by CSW, expresses disappointment at the lack of engagement with the official opposition “given the changes have a direct effect on Conservative ministers and special advisers of the last administration, and given the potential consequences for the party political representation on such bodies”.
Burghart’s letter to the chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster expresses concern that the independent adviser to the prime minister – who will take over Acoba's role in scrutinising ministers' post-government jobs – will be asked provide advice on former ministers of a different administration.
He also questions the logic of giving the Civil Service Commission a role in relation to special advisers.
"The Civil Service Commission’s role is to provide assurance that civil servants are selected on merit on the basis of fair and open competition, and to help safeguard an impartial civil service. They have no role in relation to special advisers (who are temporary civil servants, appointed without competition, and who are not subject to the political impartiality provisions of the civil service code)," Burghart said.
“It seems outside the commission’s experience and remit to ask them to provide advice on the external activities of former special advisers who have left Crown employment.".
Burghart was a minister in the Cabinet Office from October 2022 until Labour’s general election win on 5 July last year, and is one of many ministers to whom the rules still apply to for another 11 months.
In the letter, he asks McFadden if the changes to the business appointments regime will apply to ministers and special advisers from the last administration, saying there are "a number of legal and ethical questions – in relation to a government of a new political complexion seeking to impose changes on a previous one” and arguing it is “unlikely that unilateral retrospective changes will be lawful”.
Burghart has also sought more details on the plans to ask ministers to repay severance payments if they are found to have seriously breached the business appointment rules. The letter asks a series of questions, such as: What legal mechanism will be used to require a minister to repay severance payments? What criteria will be used to distinguish a “breach” from a “serious breach"? Will the prime minister be ultimately responsible for determining whether a former minister has seriously breached the rules for the purpose of requiring repayment of a severance payment?
Burghart said it “would seem inappropriate for the prime minister to make a judgement on a former minister of an administration of a different political colour”.
His letter also seeks confirmation that the rebranded Committee on Standards in Public Life, which is becoming the Ethics and Integrity Commission, will continue to have political members; and the same assurance over the Acoba functions that are set to move over to the independent adviser on ministerial standards and Civil Service Commission.
CSPL and Acoba have three political members each, nominated by the three largest political parties.
Burghart said it would be “beneficial to avoid any future suggestion that the government of the day may seek to take decisions in relation to politicians of a different colour for partisan advantage”.
He said political membership “acts as a check and balance in that light: now and in the future” and that “one day, current Labour ministers will be on the other side of the fence”.
“It would be in the interests of the Labour Party that such checks are retained,” he added.
The shadow minister also asked for an update on work to streamline the business appointment rules.
He said the last Conservative government had begun work to remove low-risk approvals, such as media appearances, journalism and writing books, from the scrutiny process, and that Labour ministers had pledged “an update in due course” in January “but nothing has been forthcoming”.
Announcing details of Labour's long-promised standards overhaul two weeks ago, McFadden said the the changes "will mean there are stronger rules, fewer quangos and clearer lines of accountability".
He said CSPL "has played an important role in the past three decades" and that "these changes give it a new mandate for the future".
McFadden added: "But whatever the institutional landscape, the public will in the end judge politicians and government by how they do their jobs and how they fulfil the principles of public service."
The Cabinet Office has been approached for comment.