John Manzoni, the new chief executive of the civil service, will step down from his second job at a major drinks company next summer after coming under fire from more than 70 leading medical professionals and charities.
The Cabinet Office initially said he could keep the £100,000-a-year non-executive director job at SABMiller, because it was satisfied there was no conflict of interest.
It changed its stance for the first time late on Tuesday night, saying the role would be unpaid, after health experts wrote to Sir Jeremy Heywood arguing it was incompatible with UK public health goals. The brewing group behind such brands as Grolsch and Bulmers has opposed the introduction of minimum alcohol pricing.
Now the Cabinet Office has changed its stance again, saying the job would come to an end next summer, after signatories to the letter said they were still concerned about Manzoni doing even unpaid work for a major drinks producer.
“The fact that [Manzoni] is not being paid suggests that it’s charity work and I am not sure why someone would be doing charity work with SABMiller,” Professor Sir Ian Gilmore, an adviser on alcohol to the Royal College of Physicians, told the Financial Times.
“I can only interpret it as a sign that he intends to have a long-term relationship with the company … this wouldn’t alleviate my concern that he wouldn’t be unbiased on issues relating to alcohol policy.”
The original letter expressed “deep concerns” about the alcohol industry interests held by Manzoni. It argued that his continued interest in SABMiller “poses a serious threat to the perceived neutrality and integrity in the role of the UK civil service in policymaking” and calls for full disclosure of the details surrounding his appointment.
Corporate filings show Manzoni has previously taken his salary in stock, and held shares worth more than £250,000 in the company. Since taking on the job, he has put any shares he still holds in a blind trust.
Manzoni was given the £190,000-a-year position as the government’s first chief executive of Whitehall despite criticism of his safety record while an executive at BP following the Texas refinery explosion, and the fact his last company, Talisman, was fined for 50 alleged health and safety violations connected with fracking.
He left the world of business to become chief executive of the Major Projects Authority earlier this year, joining Lord Browne – his former boss at BP – in the Cabinet Office. Browne, who is the government’s lead non-executive director and the chairman of Britain’s leading fracking company, Cuadrilla, was one of six members of the appointment panel who chose Manzoni for the job, though Browne did not chair the panel.
The full Cabinet Office statement said: “John Manzoni has declared his interests to Cabinet Office officials. Following his appointment as the chief executive of the civil service he has resigned his appointments except for SABMiller, which he is doing in his own time on an unpaid basis and which comes to an end next summer.”
