Mark Mans
Lieutenant General Sir Mark Mans KCB CBE DL is a former high-ranking British Army officer who retired in December 2012 after 38 years in the military.
Mans now holds non-executive positions in various companies, is a Deputy Lieutenant of Hampshire, and is currently the Chief Royal Engineer.
Contents
Career
Mans was commissioned into the Corps of Royal Engineers in 1974 and saw regimental and operational service worldwide. He held a variety of high-level appointments, including Deputy Commanding General Multi-National Corps – Iraq, Military Secretary and Adjutant General.
He was a Member of the Defence Infrastructure Board until 2011. [1]
Concern over post army career conflicts of interest
In 2014 it emerged that Mans, a former member of the Defence Infrastructure Board had landed a lucrative non-executive director appointment with Capita Defence Services three months after retiring from the military. According to the Independent:
- The company is leading one of three consortia shortlisted for the £400m contract to run the Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO), which manages a budget of billions, and thousands of Ministry of Defence properties.[2]
In September 2016 Spinwatch and Unlock Democracy flagged Mans' case in written evidence to the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee inquiry into ACOBA and the ongoing problem of the revolving door.
- A number of public officials have also taken up roles which require contact with their former departments. Lieutenant-General Sir Mark Mans, Adjutant-General to the Forces from 2009-2012 applied to ACoBA for approval to take up posts with Allocate Software and Capita Defence Services. Both have contracts with the MoD and would require contact with his former department. This represents a serious conflict of interest. Although ACoBA may prevent former public officials from lobbying, the Business Appointment Rules state that ‘the lobbying ban need not prevent communications with government’. The line between communication and lobbying can be fine and the presence of contacts and the ‘friendly faces’ of former colleagues could prevent neutrality in dealings regarding contracts. As well as improving ACoBA’s definition of lobbying, we recommend extending the maximum lobbying ban period to five years, to be used in the most high-risk cases.' [3]
Affiliations
He is also a Patron of Veterans in Action, a Patron of the Defense Medical Welfare Service, a Vice Patron of the Ulysses Trust, and a Trustee of the Nuffield Trust.
Resources
- Campaign Against the Arms Trade, Mark Mans, Meetings, Political influence Database.
Notes
- ↑ [*Political influence Database, Mark Mans, Meetings, Campaign Against the Arms Trade, accessed 12 September 2017
- ↑ Jonathan Owen, Fury as Army chiefs land jobs with UK defence companies, The Independent, Tuesday 11 February 2014
- ↑ House of Commons, Written evidence from Unlock Democracy and Spinwatch to the House of Commons Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee: The role and effectiveness of ACoBA and the Independent Adviser on Minister’s interests, Data.parliament.uk. (2017), Submitted September 2016, accessed 12 Sep. 2017
