Concerns have been raised that the Government has too “cosy” a relationship with oil companies after it emerged Foreign Office staff were working for Shell.
Two Foreign Office employees have been formally seconded to Shell since May 2010 as government relations advisers for periods of between one and two years, with their salary costs met by Shell, a Freedom of Information request showed.
Environmentalists said the Government should not be so close to oil companies which are increasingly targeting fragile environments such as the Arctic, when the world needed to shift away from fossil fuels to tackle climate change.
But Shell said the arrangement built “trust and understanding” between Government and businesses.
Green MP Caroline Lucas said: “This apparent revolving door between the Government and big fossil fuel companies is deeply worrying.
“As well as seconding its own staff to the Government, I’m sure Shell are delighted to have staff with inside knowledge of the workings of the Foreign Office on their payroll.
“It’s simply wrong for the fossil fuel giants to have such cosy relationships with government departments.
“These companies are lobbying the Government on issues like Arctic drilling at a time when we urgently need to be reducing our reliance on fossil fuels.”
Friends of the Earth’s head of campaigns Andrew Pendleton said: “This should pose serious questions to a Foreign Office whose Secretary of State, William Hague, has called climate change ’perhaps the 21st century’s biggest foreign policy challenge’.
“To tackle climate change we need to sever the often hidden ties that bind Government and the dirty fossil fuel industry together, and usher in an age where we have an open, competitive and clean energy market.”
A Shell spokesman said: “We support initiatives from the UK Government to second people into the private sector.
“This builds trust and understanding between government and business, and helps to develop the careers of civil servants. Any suggestion that there is anything inherently wrong with such arrangements is completely misplaced.”
A spokesman for the Foreign Office said: “The Foreign and Commonwealth Office encourages staff to develop new skills and to broaden their experience through secondments to the private sector and other external organisations to further improve our efforts to promote UK objectives overseas, including building Britain’s prosperity by increasing exports and investment, opening markets, ensuring access to resources, and promoting sustainable global growth.
“All staff taking up secondments are required to ensure they adhere to the Business Appointment Rules, which are designed to uphold the core values of the Civil Service Code.”
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