Home Office: Consultants

(asked on 7th November 2023) - View Source

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many independent consultants her Department has appointed for the purposes of providing personal briefings for Ministers in the last three years.


Answered by
Chris Philp Portrait
Chris Philp
Minister of State (Home Office)
This question was answered on 15th November 2023

This information is not centrally held by the Department, however we are aware of two roles which fall into this category.

  1. Nick Timothy-Independent Consultant working directly to the previous Home Secretary.
  2. Independent Adviser for the Defending Democracy Taskforce and Open-Source Intelligence Hub a short term advisory role reporting to Ministers. This is a new role, with recruitment currently underway.

In line with central guidance, direct appointments can be made to short-term, advisory roles, for example to lead a government review or to advise on, or champion, a specific subject. The name and purpose of a role can vary, but each appointee is provided with terms of appointment which set out their key responsibilities.

Direct appointees are office holders. There is no contract of employment, and the expectation is that such roles are unpaid. However, in limited circumstances, if the Permanent Secretary/Accounting Officer is content, then reasonable remuneration (in line with current policy on pay levels) may be payable.

When selecting an appointee (for a direct appointment), Ministers will consider what they want the role to achieve, which is set out in a draft terms of reference document. In light of this, high level criteria for the skills and experience required for an individual to do the role are developed. Appropriate due diligence checks are carried out by the department and consideration given to any conflicts of interest with the role and whether/how these can be managed.

Direct appointments are not public appointments (which are made by ministers to non-executive roles on the bodies and offices listed in an Order in Council and therefore the process and principles of the Governance Code do not apply. Neither do these appointments fall under the remit of the independent Commissioner for Public Appointments.

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