Baroness Stuart of Edgbaston

First Civil Service Commissioner

Civil Service Commission

 

1 Horse Guards Road, London, SW1A 2HQ

E-Mail  bars@csc.gov.uk

 

 

Department for Energy Security and Net Zero

 

 

 

 

3 November 2025

 

Paid appointment with the Manufacturing Technology Centre – The High Value Manufacturing Catapult: Application under the Business Appointment Rules from Professor Paul Monks CB, former Chief Scientific Adviser at the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.

 

Thank you for submitting an application for advice under the Business Appointment Rules[1] (the Rules) to the Civil Service Commission (the Commission) on behalf of Professor Paul Monks CB, formerly Chief Scientific Adviser at the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero. The application is for a paid role as a Non-Executive Director with the Manufacturing Technology Centre - The High Value Manufacturing Catapult. Further detail on the content of the application is in the Annex. The Commission’s advice is required as Professor Monks is a former civil servant at SCS Pay Band 3. His last day of service was 30 September 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 advice is that the appointment should be made subject to the following conditions:

 

  1. Professor Monks 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[2] available to him from his time in civil service.
  2. For two years from his last day in civil service office, until 30 September 2027, Professor Monks should not become personally involved in lobbying[3] the UK government or its arm’s length bodies on behalf of the Manufacturing Technology Centre (including parent companies, subsidiaries, partners and clients); nor should Professor Monks make use, directly or indirectly, of his contacts in the government and/or civil service to influence policy, secure business/funding or otherwise unfairly advantage the Manufacturing Technology Centre (including parent companies, subsidiaries, partners and clients).
  3. For two years from his last day in civil service, until 30 September 2027, Professor Monks should not provide advice to the Manufacturing Technology Centre on the terms of, or with regard to the subject matter of, a bid or contract with, or relating directly to the work of, 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 Professor Monks’ personal responsibility to manage the propriety of any appointment and to understand any other rules and regulations they may be subject to in parallel with the Commission’s advice.

 

Professor Monks 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, Professor Monks is obliged under the Rules to inform the Commission who will publish this letter on its website.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

 

Gisela Stuart

First Civil Service Commissioner

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Annex A: The application

Applicant assessment

 

  1. According to its website, the Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC) is a not-for-profit, research and technology organisation at the forefront of manufacturing innovation. The MTC is one of the seven centres that make up the wider High Value Manufacturing (HVM) Catapult network in the UK, a strategic research and innovation hub for industry in the UK. HVM is the largest of the UK's nine Catapult centres, a network established and supported by Innovate UK, an arm’s length body of government.

 

  1. Professor Monks explained that as Non-Executive Director his responsibilities will be to:

●      act as an independent board member;

●      promote MTC to government, industry and other stakeholders;

●      provide advice to MTC Board on Government policy and industry priorities;

●      advise the Board, Chair and Chief Executive on matters pertaining to strategy and the influence of external factors;

●      help ensure good governance of MTC; and

●      chair one or more Committees of the Board.

 

  1. Professor Monks was Chief Scientific Advisor to the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ), formally the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, between October 2020 and September 2025. In this role he said he provided independent science and engineering advice for the development and delivery of policy.

 

  1. Professor Monks said he was not responsible for regulatory, funding or any other decisions affecting the MTC at any time in his last two years in civil service.

CSC analysis

  1. Application Level: As a Level 1 application for a non-executive role at a not-for-profit, the appointment is assessed against the criteria for non-executive roles in a charitable organisation. The Commission's analysis applies the principle that this category of appointment is generally recognised as posing a lower risk to government integrity.

 

  1. Risk of reward. Professor Monks stated he was not responsible for regulatory, funding or any other decisions affecting the MTC. The risk that his appointment was made as a result of preferential decisions made in post is limited.

 

  1. Access to information. As former Chief Scientific Advisor to DESNZ, Professor Monks had access to a wide range of sensitive information. His departure less than a month ago means that this information retains a high currency, increasing its potential value to any external organisation. However, the risk of him exploiting this information to gain an unfair advantage is significantly mitigated by the non-commercial research and development focus of the MTC. Any remaining risk is mitigated by the application of standard conditions.

 

  1. Improper influence. Professor Monks said his proposed role will involve contact with his former department and government more broadly, with a responsibility to promote the MTC to government. This creates a perceived risk of improper influence or lobbying. The Commission considered the real risk low given the MTC's status as a not-for-profit, government-supported Catapult centre and the role being largely advisory in a non-executive capacity. The remaining risk is mitigated by the application of the standard condition on lobbying. This condition prevents Professor Monks from making use, directly or indirectly, of his Government and/or civil service contacts to influence policy, secure funding or business, or otherwise unfairly benefit the MTC. The ban does not, however, prevent him from having contact with the UK Government to discuss the MTC's work in line with his Non-Executive duties.

 


[1] See the Business appointment rules for Crown servants.

[2] Meaning official information to which a civil servant has had access as a consequence of his or her office or employment and which has not been made publicly available.

[3] As defined in the rules.