Matt Hancock’s ‘sorry saga’ shows new rules needed for appointing advisers, says ex-cabinet secretary

‘I’m afraid changes are needed in light of this sorry saga,’ says former head of the civil service

The government has been urged to change the way ministers appoint advisers to their department in the wake of Matt Hancock’s resignation over his affair with aide Gina Coladangelo.

Lord Bob Kerslake, former head of the civil service, said the way non-executive directors are hired must change following the scandal, as questions over Ms Coladangelo’s role remain.

Mr Hancock personally appointed Ms Coladangelo as non-executive director at the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) last September – but there was no public record of the process.

“The problem really with the current model is about really the appointment process, how it is overseen and indeed clarity about what that role is supposed to be,” the former cabinet secretary told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

“I’m afraid changes are going to be needed in light of this sorry saga,” said Lord Kerslake – referring to Mr Hancock’s exit as health secretary after he was pictured kissing Ms Coladangelo at work.

Lord Kerslake said ministers should still be able to hire non-executive directors – so-called “Neds” – but the process needed to be made fair, transparent and tightly regulated.

The former civil service chief added: “I think the secretary of state should appoint, as they do for permanent secretaries because actually this is their board, they chair it, and they need to have people on there that they think will help them do their role.

“But the process by which that happens needs to be properly open, fair and transparent – not just the minister waking up one morning and saying, ‘I would like to have X on my board’.”

Mr Hancock hired Ms Coladangelo – whom he has known since they were friends at Oxford University – as an aide last March. She was then given a non-executive director role at the DHSC in September, and paid £15,000-a-year for only 15 to 20 days’ work.

A government spokesman has said her appointment “followed correct procedure”, but justice secretary Robert Buckland raised questions about a possible conflict of interest on Monday.

“I don’t know when this particular relationship began, but I expect those looking at the process would indeed ask those questions to make sure that this appointment, like thousands made every year, would stand up to scrutiny,” said Mr Buckland.

Gina Coladangelo pictured with Matt Hancock last month (PA)

Non-executive directors are supposed to be appointed through “fair and transparent competition” and have experience of managing “complex organisations” to give government departments better oversight.

Labour’s shadow Cabinet Office minister Fleur Anderson said: “The government must publish all documents relating to the appointment of Gina Coladangelo.

“The role of a non-executive director is to challenge and scrutinise the minister. We need to know if the nature of their relationship was declared and whether the recruitment process was carried out in a fair and transparent way.”

It is not yet known when Mr Hancock and Ms Coladangelo’s relationship began, but the leaked camera footage of their passionate embrace was from 6 May.

The Tory MP has reportedly left his wife of 15 years, and his relationship with Ms Coladangelo is understood to be serious.