Matt Hancock failed to declare family connections to company that won NHS contracts
Topwood Ltd provided waste disposal services to Health Service in 2019 when it was owned by Health Secretary s sister and mother
16 April 2021 • 1:45pm
Matt Hancock, the Health Secretary, did not declare his connections to a company owned by close family members despite it being awarded a place on a framework to provide services to the NHS in England.
Topwood Ltd secured a deal to provide waste disposal services to the Health Service in 2019 when it was owned by his sister Emily Gilruth and mother Shirley Carter, the Health Service Journal reported.
A top aide to David Cameron is one of several members of the House of Lords who also work for major lobbying firms.
Baroness Fall was deputy chief of staff to the former prime minister, now embroiled in a scandal over his contacting ministers on behalf of Greensill Capital, and was given a peerage by him.
She is a member of an international relations select committee in the Lords and was last year appointed to the Government s Cultural Recovery Board that oversees the delivery of a £1.5billion fund to save venues left on the brink by Covid restrictions.
But Baroness Fall also has a paid role at Brunswick, one of the country s biggest lobbying firms. Its website describes her as a senior adviser and executive director of Brunswick s geopolitical offer , while also mentioning her current position in the Lords and her previous role as Mr Cameron s gatekeeper for 11 years.
Matt Hancock failed to declare sister worked for company that won NHS contracts Lucy Fisher
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The Health Secretary Matt Hancock did not declare his connection to a company owned by close family members, despite it being awarded a place on a framework to provide services to the NHS in England.
Topwood Ltd secured a deal to provide waste disposal services to the NHS in 2019, when it was owned by his sister Emily Gilruth and mother Shirley Carter, the Health Service Journal reported.
Mr Hancock, who had become Health Secretary the year before, did not declare his close family links to the company in any of his ministerial declarations.
Boris Johnson today backed Lord Pickles after the government watchdog warned over a lack of boundaries in civil service links to business and said excuses are being used to avoid checks.
The PM said he thoroughly agreed after the peer, head of the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments, delivered a damning assessment of the revolving door between Whitehall and the private sector.
The former Cabinet minister said his eyebrows raised the full quarter-inch when it emerged procurement chief Bill Crothers had been allowed to join Greensill as an adviser in September 2015 alongside his £149,000 role.
The permission was given through an internal conflicts process at the Cabinet Office - meaning he was never required to run it past Acoba.
A key aide to Boris Johnson is facing accusations of a potential conflict of interest after it was claimed she still owns 35 per cent of a consultancy firm which advises governments on public sector reform.
Baroness Finn, the Prime Minister s deputy chief of staff, co-founded Francis Maude Associates (FMAP) with the ex-Cabinet Office minister Lord Maude.
The Times reported that while Lady Finn resigned as a director at FMAP before joining Number 10 she does still own a third of the firm.
Meanwhile, ITV reported that her shareholding is worth between 25 and 50 per cent.
It came amid a growing row over outside earnings in Whitehall which has been triggered by the David Cameron Greensill lobbying scandal.