Further evidence of collusion between ASH and government at a time when the Coalition was still consulting on plain packaging.
Last week I published a photo featuring public health minister Jane Ellison alongside Andrew Black, tobacco programme manager at the Department of Health, and Deborah Arnott, CEO of ASH. Ellison had tweeted the picture with the words:
Delighted that Luther L Terry award for Exemplary Leadership in Tobacco Control awarded to dedicated @DHgovuk team
I suggested, somewhat frivolously, that Ellison had effectively credited Arnott with being part of the "dedicated" Department of Health team.
What I hadn't spotted was that the award nominations "were reviewed by an international selection committee of previous Luther L Terry Award winners" including … Deborah Arnott.
In other words, Arnott was one of the judges.
Anyway I've just seen an interesting exchange of emails acquired via Freedom of Information.
On July 29, 2014 someone from ASH (guess who?) wrote to Professor Kevin Fenton, director of health and wellbeing at Public Health England:
Dear Kevin,
I am very pleased to hear that xxxx has been appointed Tobacco Control Programme Lead at PHE. Since secondment to PHE the feedback I've been getting about PHE's enhanced tobacco work has been without exception extremely positive at local, regional and national level. Our loss is your gain – xxxx already made a significant difference and now you have a much-strengthened tobacco team in place I am sure PHE's work on tobacco will go from strength to strength.
As you know ASH is committed to supporting effective implementation of the Tobacco Control Plan of England and will continue to do all we can to support PHE in its work. Since xxxx joined PHE you and I have not met regularly in the way we used to and the Corporate Programme Board which I sat on had been disbanded too. Now that xxxx's move is confirmed I think it might be helpful if we could start meeting again every three months, and if that's acceptable to you perhaps we can get some dates in the diary.
Best wishes,
Within two hours Fenton replied:
Hi,
I completely agree that we should ensure that we continue meeting quarterly. My assistant will lock in the times for us.
Once again, thank you so much for your help with seconding xxxx to us at a very critical and challenging time earlier this year [my italics]. We are delighted that xxxx has now joined us formally, and we recognise that his appointment will facilitate continued strong links between our organisations.
With the very best wishes,
Kevin
Now it's no secret that Martin Dockrell, former director of research and policy at ASH, moved to Public Health England last year but I'd no idea he'd been "seconded" by ASH to PHE several months earlier.
I assumed the job had been advertised, that he'd applied and been appointed following the standard selection procedure. That's how public sector jobs are filled, isn't it?
Who paid his wages while he was on secondment? Was the job at PHE advertised or was it created specially for him? Was anyone else interviewed for the role?
To put this in perspective, a taxpayer-funded organisation dedicated to further tobacco control measures (plain packaging, for example) seconded one of its most senior employees to a government body "at a very critical and challenging time" (ie while that body was lobbying government on, er, plain packaging).
He is now employed by that government body whose director of health and wellbeing agreed without quibble, when requested, to meet the CEO of ASH every three months.
Who's calling the shots here? If ASH is not running PHE's tobacco control programme then it's hugely influential.
Oh, to be a fly on the wall at those quarterly meetings. Do you think they keep minutes?
As for the Department of Health, who needs elected politicians when you've got unelected tobacco control campaigners dictating policy? If you play your cards right they may even nominate and vote for you to receive an international award.
See also: Minister's "dedicated DH team" includes CEO of ASH