The Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (ACOBA) is a

non-departmental public body In the United Kingdom, non-departmental public body (NDPB) is a classification applied by the Cabinet Office, Treasury, the Scottish Government and the Northern Ireland Executive to public sector organisations that have a role in the process o ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

, which was set up in 1975 to provide advice on applications from the most senior

Crown servant The term "Crown servant" is used to denote a "person employed by the Crown". Although the term is not consistently defined, generally speaking the term encompasses all executive officials and their staffs, civil servants, police, judicial official ...

s who wish to take up outside appointments after they leave Crown service. Since 1995 it has also provided advice to former Ministers on their employment in the two years after leaving office. The committee is chaired by

Baroness Browning Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knigh ...

. It was branded "toothless" in April 2017 by the

Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Select Committee The Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Select Committee, formerly the Public Administration Select Committee, is a select committee appointed by the British House of Commons to examine the reports of the Parliamentary and Health Se ...

. The Committee's own

Secretariat Secretariat may refer to: * Secretariat (administrative office) * Secretariat (horse) Secretariat (March 30, 1970 – October 4, 1989), also known as Big Red, was a champion American thoroughbred racehorse who is the ninth winner of the Ame ...

stated in a 2018

Freedom of Information Freedom of information is freedom of a person or people to publish and consume information. Access to information is the ability for an individual to seek, receive and impart information effectively. This sometimes includes "scientific, indigen ...

(FOI) request that "ACOBA, which has no enforcement power and therefore depends upon voluntary cooperation from applicants..."

References

External links

Advisory Committee on Business Appointments
Cabinet Office (United Kingdom) Non-departmental public bodies of the United Kingdom government {{UK-poli-stub