Last night the government finally published Lord True’s response to ACOBA (Advisory Committee on Business Appointments) Chair Lord Pickles over Dominic Cummings’ potential breaking of ‘revolving door’ rules with his Substack blog. The long and short of it is that while True thinks Cummings did break the business appointment rules by offering to help his readers “win an election” for a fee… there’s not much that can be done about it:

“… My assessment is that Mr Cummings, in this and other matters, did not follow the rules correctly. However, this case has also highlighted that once ACOBA has decided not to rule on an application, there is no mechanism for an individual to seek to remedy that breach in good faith. In that light, I agree with you that the review of business appointment rules needs to be accelerated and completed.”

True goes on to say that while “the vast majority of former Crown servants” do follow the rules – limiting how former ministers and advisers can sell their expertise after office for at least two years – ACOBA is essentially toothless when those rules are broken:

“Former officials are responsible for following the correct process for seeking advice about any appointments or employment they wish to take up within two years of leaving office, and it is vital to the integrity of government that they fulfil these responsibilities in good faith. While the vast majority of former Crown servants do so and abide by any conditions imposed, where such intentions are lacking, the current system offers too few avenues to achieve effective redress.”

He adds that the government is now at least looking at “strengthening” the rules in future…