Simon Case

Cabinet Office

14 April 2026

Unpaid appointment with Electric Twin: Application under the Business Appointment Rules from The Rt Hon the Lord Case CVO, former Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service at the Cabinet Office. 

The Civil Service Commission (the Commission) has considered an application for advice under the Business Appointment Rules (the Rules) from The Rt Hon the Lord Case CVO, formerly Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service at the Cabinet Office. The application is for an unpaid, part-time role as a Member of the Ethics Board at Electric Twin. Further detail on the content of the application is in the Annex. The Commission’s advice is required as Lord Case is a civil servant at SCS Pay Band 4. His last day of service was 31 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. 

The Commission’s advice¹ is that the appointment with Electric Twin should be made subject to the following conditions: 

1. Privileged information – Lord Case 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 office.
2. Lobbying – For two years from his last day in office, until 31 March 2027, Lord Case should not become personally involved in lobbying the UK Government or its arm’s length bodies on behalf of Electric Twin (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 Electric Twin (including parent companies, subsidiaries, partners and clients). 
3. Bids and contracts – For two years from his last day in the civil service, until 31 March 2027, Lord Case should not provide advice to Electric Twin on a bid or contract relating to the UK Government or its arm’s length bodies.

The Rules set out that civil servants must abide by the Commission’s advice. It is Lord Case’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. 

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

Yours sincerely, 

Kate Owen

Chief Executive

Annex A: The application

Applicant assessment

1. According to its website, Electric Twin is an AI company that specialises in developing synthetic audience insights to assist with marketing. 

2. As a Member of the Ethics Board, Lord Case will advise the company on the ethics of using AI, with meetings taking place approximately twice a year.

3. Lord Case confirmed his role will not involve contact with, or lobbying of, government. 

4. As Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service at the Cabinet Office, Lord Case advised on the running of the Cabinet and its associated committees to ensure the government reached a collective agreement on policies. As part of his duties, he was one of the Prime Minister’s senior advisers on the working of government and on major policy decisions, and had ultimate oversight of the entire Home Civil Service.

5. Lord Case stated he has not been responsible for regulatory, funding or any other decisions affecting Electric Twin at any time in his last two years in the civil service. 

The Commission’s analysis

6. Application level. As a Level 1 application for an unpaid role, the Commission’s analysis applies the principle that this category of appointment is generally recognised as posing a lower risk to government integrity. 

7. Risk of reward. Lord Case had no official dealings with Electric Twin and was not involved in policy, regulatory, or contractual decisions affecting the organisation during his time in post. The risk of the appointment being a reward for decisions made in office is therefore low.

8. Access to information. As the former Cabinet Secretary, Lord Case had access to a broad and sensitive range of information across all areas of government policy. However, the Commission noted that the passage of nearly a year since he left his government post significantly reduces the relevance and currency of the strategic information he accessed while in office. The standard privileged information ban mitigates any risks around his access.

9. Improper influence. As the former Cabinet Secretary, Lord Case would have a network of contacts in government that could provide an unfair advantage to Electric Twin. He has stated there will be no contact with the government in his proposed role. The risk of the perception of lobbying the government is mitigated by the standard conditions. 

10. Waiting period. As an SCS4 official, Lord Case is subject to a three month waiting period upon leaving government service in taking up any appointments. This is not applicable as it has been a year since he left the civil service.

1. See Advice under the Business Appointment Rules for details applying to all advice issued by the Civil Service Commission. ↩︎