Matt Hancock made 'minor breach' of ministerial code, watchdog report finds

THE health secretary failed to declare that a family firm he held shares won an NHS contract, but a watchdog in its report has said it to be a "minor' breach of the ministerial code.

In March this year, Matt Hancock declared in the MPs' register of interests that he owns 20 per cent of shares in Topwood Limited, a firm owned by his sister and other close family members. The company deals in secure storage, shredding and scanning of documents.

According to a report by the Health Service Journal (HSJ), the firm in 2019 won contracts to provide services to English NHS as well as NHS in Wales, after Hancock was appointed to his Cabinet brief in July 2018.

Lord Geidt, an independent adviser on ministerial standards, said the awarding of the contract to Topwood could be seen to "represent a conflict of interest". He added the failure to declare the link that time was a "technical" breach of the rules.

This conclusion from the watchdog report adds up to the health secretary's pressure, who was accused this week by prime minister's former aide, Dominic Cummings of lying and failing to protect care homes at the outset of the coronavirus pandemic.

In his 10-page report, Lord Geidt has said: "Given that Topwood Ltd had secured the award of a framework contract with NHS Shared Business Services, a company in which the legal personality of the Secretary of State is a shareholder, I believe there to be a danger that a reasonable person might perceive this link to represent a conflict of interest, and that it should have been declared at the time.

"In reaching this determination, I accept that the scale of NHS operations in England (for which the Secretary of State is responsible) are broad and that the activity of NHS SBS may have been very far from the Secretary of State's main focus.

"I assess this earlier failure to declare the interest was as a result of his lack of knowledge and in no way deliberate, and therefore, in technical terms, a minor breach of the ministerial code.

"I have advised the Prime Minister accordingly.

"In coming to this finding, I recognise that Mr Hancock has acted with integrity throughout and that this event should in no way impugn his good character or ministerial record."

Also, in the same report, Lord Geidt found Boris Johnson of not breaking any code in relation to funding for the renovation of his Downing Street flat, however, criticised him for failing to take a "more rigorous" interest in the process.