Skip to main content
Search
HomeBusiness Appointment RulesCommission with Accenture under his independent consultancy

Commission with Accenture under his independent consultancy

Date
27 May 2026
People
Matthew Rycroft
Download the letter

Case details

Cabinet Office 

 21 April 2026

Application from Sir Matthew Rycroft KCMG CBE, former Permanent Secretary at the Home Office, for a paid commission with Accenture (UK) Limited as a client of his independent consultancy.

Thank you for submitting an application for advice under the Business Appointment Rules (the Rules) to the Civil Service Commission (the Commission) on behalf of Sir Matthew Rycroft KCMG CBE, former Permanent Secretary at the Home Office.  The application is for a commission with Accenture (UK) Limited (Accenture) to be a client of his independent consultancy. Further detail on the content of the application is in the Annex. The Commission’s advice is required as Sir Matthew is a former civil servant at SCS Pay Band 4. His last day of service was 28 March 2025.

The purpose of the Rules is to protect the integrity of the government. They aim to avoid any reasonable concerns that: a civil servant may be influenced in their official duties by the risk of reward; a civil servant may improperly exploit access to information; and an organisation may gain an improper influence through the employment of a civil servant.

In line with the conditions applied to Sir Matthew’s independent consultancy, the Commission’s advice1 is that this commission with Accenture should be subject to the same conditions: 

  1. Privileged information – Sir Matthew should not draw on (disclose or use for the benefit of himself or the persons or organisations to which this advice refers) any privileged information available to him from his time in the civil service.
  2. Lobbying – For two years from his last day in the civil service, until 28 March 2027, Sir Matthew should not become personally involved in lobbying the UK government or its arm’s length bodies on behalf of Accenture (including parent companies, subsidiaries, partners and clients). He should also not use, directly or indirectly, his contacts in the government and/or civil service to influence policy, secure business/funding or otherwise unfairly advantage Accenture (including parent companies, subsidiaries, partners and clients). 
  3. Bids and contracts – For two years from his last day in the civil service, until 28 March 2027, Sir Matthew should not provide advice to Accenture (including parent companies, subsidiaries, partners and clients) on a bid or contract relating to the UK government or its arm’s length bodies.

In addition, Sir Matthew’s commission with Accenture should be subject to the following condition:

  1. Limitation to the role – For two years from his last day in the civil service, until 28 March 2027, Sir Matthew is prevented from advising Accenture or its clients on work regarding any policy or operational matter that he had a material role in developing or determining, or where he had a material relationship with the relevant client, during his time as Permanent Secretary at the Home Office. 

As a reminder, for two years from his last day in the civil service, until 28 March 2027, Sir Matthew should continue to seek advice before accepting new work for his consultancy, in line with the conditions outlined in the initial approval issued by the Commission2. 

Sir Matthew and Accenture confirmed to the Commission his intention to fully comply with the lobbying ban that applied to him. Accenture also confirmed its understanding of, and adherence to the remaining conditions that apply to Sir Matthew’s role. 

The Rules set out that civil servants must abide by the Commission’s advice. It is Sir Matthew’s personal responsibility to manage the propriety of any appointment and to understand any other rules and regulations he may be subject to in parallel with the Commission’s advice. 

Sir Matthew must seek advice if he proposes to extend or otherwise change his role with the organisation. Once this appointment has been taken up, the letter will be published on the Civil Service Commission’s website.

Yours sincerely, 

Gisela Stuart

First Civil Service Commissioner

Annex A: The application

Applicant assessment 

  1. In line with the description provided within his initial independent consultancy, Sir Matthew’s consulting work is focused on providing advisory work on topics including foreign affairs, geopolitics, risk, government relations, organisational design and leadership. 
  1. Accenture is a global multinational professional services company that specialises in information technology services and management consulting. Accenture has several ongoing contracts across UK Government departments and agencies, including with the Home Office. 
  1. Sir Matthew stated his role as a ‘luminary’ would involve advising Accenture leadership and teams, predominantly in the public sector practice. He stated he would be excluded from any work or potential work for the Home Office and would not be involved in representing the interests of Accenture or its clients to government. Sir Matthew stated his work with Accenture will not involve lobbying of government.
  1. As Permanent Secretary of the Home Office, Sir Matthew’s role involved overall oversight of the department’s functions in national security and public safety functions including policing, counter-terrorism, immigration, and passports. He was also the principal adviser to the Home Secretary, and reported to Parliament on the department’s performance. Sir Matthew was the department’s Principal Accounting Officer, where he was ultimately accountable for all departmental contracts, and had oversight of staff involved in contractual dealings. 
  1. Sir Matthew confirmed he personally had no direct contractual involvement with any specific Accenture contracts. However, he did have occasional meetings with representatives from Accenture and other major consultancies regarding their work for the Home Office. He had similar oversight of supplier relationships in his previous roles as Permanent Secretary of the Department for International Development (2018–2020) and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (2011–2014)

Correspondence with Accenture

  1. Accenture confirmed its understanding of, and adherence to the Commission’s advice and the conditions imposed on Sir Matthew’s appointment. The company confirmed his role will not constitute lobbying of government. 

Department assessment 

  1. The Home Office and Cabinet Office stated that as Permanent Secretary, Sir Matthew had oversight of all the department’s contracts with major consultancy firms, including Accenture, Deloitte, EY, KPMG and McKinsey. However, the departments stated that he had no direct influence over contractual decisions, nor had any personal involvement in the commercial process. Therefore, the Home Office considers there is a limited risk that the offer of work with Accenture could be perceived as a reward for decisions made in post. 
  1. The departments noted that as Permanent Secretary, Sir Matthew would have had access to unannounced government policy. However, they consider the risk relating to his access to information to be limited, as he has been out of government for eleven months, which is likely to have diminished the currency of such information, and the standard waiting period of three months has already passed.
  1. The departments said they did not have concerns with Sir Matthew’s commission with Accenture, provided it is subject to the standard conditions. Recognising the risk posed by Accenture’s unknown clients, the departments also recommended a limitation to the role preventing Sir Matthew from advising Accenture or its clients on work regarding any policy or operational matter that he had a material role in developing or determining, or where he had a material relationship with the relevant clients, during his time as Permanent Secretary at the Home Office.

CSC analysis

  1. Risk of reward. Given Sir Matthew’s seniority and broad involvement in decisions affecting the Home Office, including high-level oversight of commercial frameworks relevant to Accenture and other major consultancy suppliers, there is a perception that the commission could have come as a result of an unfair advantage or a reward for actions taken in post. However, Sir Matthew and the departments confirmed he had no direct involvement in commercial contracts, funding, or specific policy decisions that provided an unfair advantage to Accenture. The Commission agreed with the department’s assessment and considered the risk of this commission with Accenture as a reward for decisions in post to be limited.
  1. Access to information. As Permanent Secretary, Sir Matthew had access to a wide range of information that may benefit Accenture. This risk is reduced to an extent as the departments do not consider Sir Matthew to possess sensitive information that may provide the company with an unfair advantage. Further, in the eleven months since Sir Matthew left the civil service, some of the information he was privy to has been published and is now in the public domain. New departmental strategic and funding objectives have been set since his departure. These include:
  • The 2025 Spending Review3 and the Home Office’s Main Estimates Memorandum4, which publicly sets out the department’s financial, funding and policy priorities for the next year. 
  • The Home Office’s 2025-2026 Priorities and Structural Reforms5, where Sir Matthew’s successor publicly outlined the priorities and structural reforms intended for the department for the current financial year.  
  • The National Security Strategy 20256 published by the Cabinet Office, which outlines the strategic framework for all aspects of national security and international policy facing the UK. 
  • The Home Office’s Research, Development and Innovation Strategy 2025 to 20307, which sets out the department’s five-year strategy and commitments on these areas. 
  • The Home Office’s 2030 Digital Strategy8, which outlines how the department will use digital, data and technology in the next five years.
  1. Limitation to the role. Accenture is a management consultancy operating in various sectors with unknown clients. Although the risk relating to Sir Matthew’s access to information is general, the risk becomes more acute should he advise the company on matters that overlapped with his official responsibilities. To mitigate this risk, the Commission agreed with the department’s recommendation that Sir Matthew be prevented from advising Accenture or its clients on work regarding any policy or operational matter that he had a material role in developing or determining, or where he had a relationship with the relevant client, during his time as Permanent Secretary of the Home Office. 
  1. Improper influence. There are risks associated with a former senior civil servant joining an organisation that has existing commercial relationships with  government and that may seek to further expand its commercial presence. It would be improper for the former Permanent Secretary to be involved in Accenture’s relationships with government or in advising on work/bids related to government. This is prevented by the standard conditions. The Commission also considered it significant that Accenture confirmed Sir Matthew’s role will  not involve lobbying of, or contact with, government. 
  1. Return to the Commission. Sir Matthew has submitted a request to the Commission for approval of his work with Accenture. This is in accordance with the condition of his initial independent consultancy requiring approval for each new piece of work. This excludes work in certain categories outlined in his original advice. In these cases, the other conditions outlined in his initial independent consultancy will still apply. 
  1. Waiting period. As an SCS4 official, Sir Matthew is subject to a three month waiting period before taking up any appointments. This has now passed. 
  1. See Advice under the Business Appointment Rules for details applying to all advice issued by the Civil Service Commission. ↩︎
  2. Civil Service Commission, ‘Rycroft, Matthew – Permanent Secretary, Home Office – CSC Business Appointment advice’ 
    https://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/2026-02-10-CSC-BARs-Final-Advice-Letter-MR-Independent-Consultancy-2-2.pdf
    ↩︎
  3. HM Treasury ‘The 2025 Spending Review’, June 2025: 
    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/spending-review-2025-document/spending-review-2025-html ↩︎
  4. UK Parliament, ‘The Home Office’s Main Estimates Memorandum’, May 2025 https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/48120/documents/251943/default/ ↩︎
  5. UK Parliament, ‘The Home Office’s 2025-2026 Priorities and Structural Reforms’, November 2025: 
    https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/50117/documents/270334/default/
    ↩︎
  6. The Cabinet Office, ‘The National Security Strategy 2025;, August 2025: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-security-strategy-2025-security-for-the-british-people-in-a-dangerous-world ↩︎
  7. Home Office, ‘The Home Office’s Research, Development and Innovation Strategy 2025 to 2030’, March 2025: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/home-office-research-development-and-innovation-strategy#:~:text=Our%20vision%20for%20research%2C%20development,Office%20Published%2010%20March%202025 ↩︎
  8. Home Office, The Home Office’s 2030 Digital Strategy’, July 2025 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/home-office-2030-digital-strategy ↩︎

Back