Lex Greensill did have 'some form of contract' while working for David Cameron, senior civil servant tells MPs

• David Cameron’s former advisor Lex Greensill did, in fact, have a contract while working inside the UK government, the Cabinet Secretary has said.
• Simon Case had previously suggested that Greensill was not a contracted employee.
• However, he now says he has seen appointment letters that suggest “some form of contract” was drawn up.
• Greensill’s role as an unpaid advisor is at the centre of inquiries into lobbying by the former Prime Minister.
• See more stories on Insider’s business page.

Simon Case, the UK government Cabinet Secretary, has told Members of Parliament that the financier Lex Greensill did have some form of government contract while working for former Prime Minister David Cameron, despite previously suggesting no such contract existed.

Greensill, the Australian billionaire founder of the now-collapsed Greensill Capital, is at the center of a series of inquiries into the lobbying of senior ministers by Cameron on behalf of Greensill Capital.

One such inquiry is the Boardman Review, investigating the nature and circumstances of the unpaid advisory role held by Greensill in Downing Street and the Cabinet Office in the early 2010s. 

In a letter to the chair of PACAC, William Wragg MP, published Tuesday, Case sought to clarify comments he and fellow civil servant Darren Tierney, director-general of propriety and ethics at the Cabinet Office, had made to the committee on April 26. 

Case wrote: “Since we gave evidence to the Committee, we have seen signed appointment letters that cover the period from April 2012 to March 2014. As Darren Tierney said to the Committee, the letter of appointment did contain provisions about Mr Greensill’s conflicts of interest and duties on him regarding conduct, propriety and confidentiality.

“However, my initial assessment of these letters suggests to me that some form of contract was in place whilst he was working for the Cabinet Office.”

Tierney had previously told the committee that civil servants had not found a contract. He said: “What we have found so far are an appointment letter and then subsequent reappointment letters, which set out some conditions on his appointment—things like the Official Secrets Act, confidentiality, using the Business Appointment Rules when he leaves—but so far we have been unable to identify the contract.”

A business card for Greensill, obtained by the Labour Party, described Greensill as a “Senior Advisor” in the Prime Minister’s office, including a Downing Street email address and direct landline. Tierney told the committee that Greensill had a pass for the Cabinet Office and Number 10. 

In the committee meeting of April 26, PACAC member David Jones MP asked Tierney if it was possible that Greensill may have acquired “information that would have been of assistance to him in deciding the basis upon which he would offer commercial services to the Government” while working in Downing Street. Tierney described this as a “potential conflict of interest.”

Jones suggested it looked like a “screaming, glaring conflict of interest”. Tierney replied: “Yes, it does.”

In his letter, Case told Wragg that as the Boardman Review is ongoing, it was not possible to publish the appointment letters. When asked about the potential to publish the appointment letters or provide them to the committee, Case had previously told the committee that “I cannot think why not, but if there is a reason why not we will let you know.”

A source on the committee told Insider that the letters have not yet been provided to them.

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