Julia Lopez: Data is fundamental to government. Let me know your ideas to use it better
The Cabinet Office minister writes for CSW to launch a new Dragons Den-style competition to transform government data for citizens and society
Dragons Den. Photo: Paul Cunningham Alamy Stock
Fans of the Dragons Den television show may recall the record-breaking turn from Henry de Zoete – now a Cabinet Office non-executive director, but in 2018 just another contestant seeking to impress the fearsome judging panel of business investors.
Henry ended up pulling off the best result in the show’s history. He and his partner Will Hodson netted £120,000 from the Dragons in return for a 3% stake and just a year later sold the business – Look After My Bills – for an impressive £12.5m.
BBC News
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media captionLord Pickles: I hope this doesn t sound rude, but there doesn t seem to have been any boundaries at all
The rules on ministers and top officials taking jobs with private firms need urgent reform, the government s adviser on them has said.
Lord Pickles said there did not appear to be any boundaries at all between civil servants and the private sector.
It comes after news a top civil servant worked for Greensill Capital while still on the government payroll.
Lord Pickles told MPs he had warned of a scandal but this is not where I expected it come from .
PACAC launches inquiry into Greensill lobbying scandal
Pickles warns of “much wider implications” if Cabinet Office cannot detail approvals given for officials’ second jobs
Lord Eric Pickles gives evidence to PACAC today
15 Apr 2021
Parliament’s Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee is to hold an inquiry into the Greensill lobbying scandal – the third probe into the government’s involvement with the collapsed financial firm to be confirmed so far this week.
PACAC chair William Wragg announced the move ahead of an evidence session with Lord Eric Pickles, chair of the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments. Pickles told MPs of his shock at learning the government’s former chief commercial officer Bill Crothers had been cleared to take up a role at Greensill as a second job while he was still a civil servant under an internal Cabinet Office process.
BORIS Johnson was cut off by the Commons Speaker for failing to answer a question about an inquiry into the Greenshill scandal. Ministers and the Civil Service have been dragged into the row over Greensill Capital’s links with government and former prime minister David Cameron’s lobbying for the financial firm. Labour’s calls for a parliamentary inquiry intensified after it emerged that the former head of Whitehall procurement became an adviser to Greensill Capital while still working as a civil servant, in a move approved by the Cabinet Office. Correspondence between the Cabinet Office and the head of the official Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (Acoba) has revealed that Bill Crothers joined Greensill as a part-time adviser to the board in 2015.
Top commercial official worked for civil service and Greensill at same time civilserviceworld.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from civilserviceworld.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.