Gavin Williamson lands £50,000-a-year education role
Sir Gavin Williamson has landed a £50,000-a-year role as an advisor to an education firm.
The South Staffordshire MP, who was sacked as Education Secretary last September, has taken on a second job with Harrow-based company RTC Education Ltd.
His role is to provide strategic advice on expansion plans for the firm, which describes itself as an "education, real estate management and investment organisation that owns and manages independent schools, higher education colleges and an investment business".
He will also chair board meetings for the firm's Regent Advisory Panel during an estimated 80 hours of work per year.
The post is detailed in a letter from the Office of the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (ACOBA), which imposed a series of conditions on Sir Gavin taking the job.
Chair Lord Pickles said any risk arising from Sir Gavin being party to sensitive information while in government was "limited" given eight months had passed since he left office.
He added that the Department for Education considered the information he had access to "would no longer be sufficiently up to date to be of use to the organisation".
Among the conditions imposed was a ban on Sir Gavin lobbying ministers on RTC Education’s behalf.
He has also been told not to make use of any contacts made for two years from the date he left office, and not to use any "privileged information" he may have gained.
The letter said RTC Education would "undoubtedly gain" from the "profile, skills and experience" Sir Gavin gained while in government.
The appointment follows a row over MPs second jobs after former North Shropshire MP Owen Paterson was found to have breached lobbying rules.
Currently, MPs are allowed a second job providing they do not hold a ministerial position.
Last year more than 200 MPs across the Commons received earnings on top of their £82,000 annual salary, with former Attorney General Sir Geoffrey Cox taking home around £900,000 through his work as a lawyer.
Sir Gavin recently restated his commitment to South Staffordshire after moving to dispel rumours he was planning to step aside and allow Mr Johnson to stand for the seat at the next general election.
