David Gauke says steps will be taken to avoid any conflict of interest for junior minister

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

The justice secretary, David Gauke, has defended the appointment of a former Serco lobbyist as a minister in his department and said steps would be taken to avoid any possible conflict of interest in future dealings with the outsourcing firm.



Edward Argar, a former head of UK and Europe public affairs at Serco, which runs five private prisons and a prisoner escort service, was appointed as a justice minister after Phillip Lee quit over the government’s Brexit policy.

Serco has contracts with the Ministry of Justice worth £3.6bn and is under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office over a former deal with the company relating to electronic tagging of offenders.

In a letter to the shadow justice secretary, Richard Burgon, seen by the Guardian, Gauke said: “Edward Argar’s previous employment with Serco will not affect the department’s ability to hold that or other providers to account, and he has been appointed in line with normal procedures and rules.

“Should any future procurement or contractual arrangement give rise to a conflict or perceived conflict of interest, we will of course take steps to avoid it.”

Gauke said Serco provided no services within Argar’s portfolio, which is identical to that of his predecessor.

However, Argar is responsible for female offenders and youth justice.

Serco runs a young offender institution (YOI) in Doncaster, although this relates to offenders aged 18 to 20, while Argar’s remit covers offenders under 18. The company is also responsible for the transfer of both male and female prisoners between prisons and courts, although Argar is not responsible for that contract.

Argar has already answered parliamentary questions on both YOIs and female prisoners. Lee, when he was justice minister, delivered a speech about youth offending, which covered young offender institutions.

Argar left his role at Serco nine months before he was elected as the MP for Charnwood in 2015. It is understood he was with the FTSE-100 firm for three years. He previously worked for Mouchel, another outsourcing firm that has held government contracts.

Serco runs prisons on behalf of the MoJ in Doncaster, Ashfield, Dovegate, Lowdham Grange and Thameside.

In 2013, it agreed to pay £68.5m for overcharging the MoJ on its tagging contract. It was accused of charging for monitoring people who were still in jail or, in a few cases, dead. There is no suggestion Argar was personally involved in the case.

In his letter to Burgon, dated 25 June, Gauke said: “The investigation by the Serious Fraud Office is entirely a matter for them. My department does not seek to influence them in any way. Should the SFO need any assistance from the department, that would be provided promptly, at official level.”

The government has said it wants to build 10 prisons to accommodate 10,000 new prison places. This week, the prisons minister, Rory Stewart, confirmed work was to start on two new prisons, including a privately financed jail at Glen Parva, in Leicestershire.

As part of its female offenders strategy, the government will be developing residential women’s centres, but it is unclear whether they will be open to private financing.