Advisory Committee on Business Appointments

Membership

At its closure, ACOBA had nine members. They were appointed by the Prime Minister. Three members were nominated by the main political parties. The remaining members were independent. Members served a single non-renewable five year term.

Role

ACOBA was responsible for the administration of the government's Business Administration Rules, which aimed to prevent former civil servants and ministers profiting from their knowledge of or contacts within Whitehall, and to prevent them from being brought into perceived disrepute.

The Ministerial Code prohibits ministers from lobbying the government for two years after leaving office. Former ministers who wished to take up employment or an appointment within two years were required to seek ACOBA advice, completing and submitting an official application form.

Compliance with ACOBA advice was voluntary, with no power to sanction those who breached advice provided. The Committee's Secretariat reiterated this in a 2018 Freedom of Information (FOI) request, "ACOBA ... has no enforcement power and therefore depends upon voluntary cooperation from applicants..."

Criticism

Criticism stemmed from the powers ACOBA held, which were limited to activities such as recommendations against future appointments and honours. The committee had been the source of several enquiries into its effectiveness. In 2022, the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Select Committee (PACAC) recommended that ACOBA be put on a statutory basis with legal powers to enforce its recommendations, after branding the committee in its current form as "toothless" in April 2017.

In April 2024, Lord Pickles - chair of the committee - wrote to the Cabinet Office setting out the belief of ACOBA that current business rules were outdated and relied overly on a “good chaps” model of government. Pickles called for a new “modern framework” to update the business appointment rules, including measures such as removing low-profile cases from the remit of the committee to focus resources and stronger sanctions for non-compliance. In January 2025, he continued to raise awareness of his concerns about ACOBA's effectiveness.

References

References

1. "Isabel Doverty appointed as the interim Chair of the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments.".
2. "Written statements - Written questions, answers and statements - UK Parliament".
3. (2025-10-10). "ACOBA’s closure: the new process and contact details for applications under the Business Appointments Rules as of Monday 13 October 2025".
4. Crerar, Pippa. (2025-07-21). "Keir Starmer to replace post-ministerial jobs watchdog with tougher regime". The Guardian.
5. "ACOBA Register of Interests".
6. Markson, Tevye. (2025-08-08). "Revolving-doors shakeup: How will Acoba’s abolition affect civil servants?".
7. "HoC Library report into Business Appointment Rules".
8. (2025-10-13). "UK ends ACOBA: Civil Service Commission steps in".
9. (7 December 2018). "First-tier Tribunal, Information Rights, Appeal Reference: EA/2016/0055". Advisory Committee on Business Appointments.
10. Dyer, Henry. (2025-07-21). "Acoba axed: how the post-ministerial jobs watchdog proved ‘next to useless’". The Guardian.
11. (20 July 2017). "More ex-ministers take private sector jobs amid 'revolving door' claims".
12. (19 April 2024). "Letter from ACOBA to the Cabinet Office regarding breach of the Rules (Daily Mail)".
13. Johnston, John. (2025-01-23). "UK ethics watchdog warns next big government scandal is coming".