Former head of the United Kingdom Public Service, Jeremy Heywood (pictured) has been named in a Parliamentary inquiry into the Greensill scandal as the “guiding hand who opened doors in Whitehall” for the collapsed finance company’s chief executive.
MPs heard Lord Heywood, who died in 2018, had regard for Lex Greensill and the businessman’s supply chain finance proposals, which helped the wealthy Australian financier avoid more robust scrutiny as he moved through Government.
The allegations were made by Bill Crothers, the former Government Chief Procurement Officer, who went on to become a Greensill board member, as he gave evidence to the inquiry into the company’s lobbying efforts.
Mr Crothers was drawn into the scandal earlier this year when it emerged he had been a paid adviser for Greensill for three months while still collecting his Public Service salary.
The revelation about “double hatting” — holding roles in Government and the private sector simultaneously — have led to inquiries by Cabinet Secretary, Simon Case and Parliament’s Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee.
In his first public comments on the scandal, Mr Crothers claimed Lord Heywood had helped approve his move to Greensill.
Following his appointment as former Prime Minister, Tony Blair’s Private Secretary in 1999, the then Sir Jeremy Heywood rose to become Britain’s most powerful Public Servant, with key roles in the Cabinet Office and as head of the Public Service.
Lord Heywood had met Mr Greensill in the mid-2000s while on a break from the Public Service and had returned to the Government determined to bring in expertise from the private sector.
It was while serving under Prime Minister, David Cameron that he began to introduce Mr Greensill to key figures in Whitehall.
Greensill, which recruited Mr Cameron as an adviser in 2018, went into administration in March after a complex arrangement with insurers and investors at Credit Suisse fell apart due to concerns over its management and exposure to risky clients.
It later emerged that the firm, which offered advances on company invoices, had deployed Mr Cameron to lobby Whitehall officials and gain access to the Government’s emergency COVID-19 loan scheme last year.
The revelations have sparked a wide-ranging lobbying scandal that has led to at least 11 Parliamentary and regulatory investigations.
London, 10 June 2021
