§ Mr. CousinsTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence which former officials of the Department have asked for permission to join(a)PricewaterhousemCoopers, (b) Deloitte & Touche, (c) Ernst & Young and /(d) KPMG. [156898]
§ Mr. CaplinThe Rules on Acceptance of Outside Appointments by Crown Servants (the "Business Appointment Rules"), which are set out in section 4.3 of the Civil Service Management Code, require MOD officials within two years of leaving to obtain permission, in the circumstances defined in paragraph 7 of the rules, before taking up new employment.
It is not our policy to discuss individual applications. Only the most senior officials, whose applications are considered by the Prime Ministers' Advisory Committee on Business Appointments, are required to inform their former Department when they take up such appointments. This information is published in the Committee's annual report.
Since 1 January 2001, four former MOD officials have applied for permission to join PricewaterhouseCoopers; two to join KPMG; and two to join Ernst & Young. All applications were approved unconditionally. No applications have been received to join Deloitte & Touche.