Recommendation 6

The appointment of Lex Greensill as a “Senior Adviser on Supply Chain Finance” in the Cabinet Office, including the means by which he was managed and his conduct regulated, are key areas about which we would have been particularly keen to hear from Sue Gray. Had she not been prevented from giving evidence to our inquiry, Propriety of Governance in Light of Greensill: An Interim Report 25 amongst other things, we would have liked to have asked her about the way Lex Greensill was managed, any limits on the types of work he could do as a consultant, and his relationship with the Civil Service, including whether he had any formal authority over them. We would also have asked her whether it was normal for an unremunerated consultant in the Cabinet Office to have been given unescorted access to Downing Street, as well as a business card and email address for the Prime Minister’s Office. We would also have wished to explore the issue of his apparent endorsement by Lord Heywood. Her evidence on these matters would have been particularly valuable as we were told that she became “uncomfortable” with Lex Greensill’s position and that part of the motivation behind his move to become a Crown Rep was to resolve the issue of his status.

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