Reform: A Full Account of a Free Market Think Tank

This is a roundup of all the research carried out by Social Investigations on the free market think tank, Reform. They are increasingly influential, listened to by the neo cons and promote the dismantling of public service into the hands of corporations that fund them and so many of our parlimentarians. This has been the most indepth look at the think tank thus far with some more to come in the future.

1. The Telegraph, the Think Tank and a Very Dodgy Business: Click "And the whole sequence of Telegraph articles and editorials on the importance of the Government not going soft on public service reform, including some strong pieces on health, is something I have been orchestrating and working with Reform to bring about.’

2. Reform - Setting the Agenda with Unknown Others  - Click - Chatham House Rules are a useful tool for discussions that hide the attendees. Reform, regularly use it for meetings that should be in the public domain.

3. Reform - a voice for corporations (series) - Reform has many corporations who are partners. They pay Reforn, and in return get to be in the same room as our lawmakers, lobby, contribute papers policy ideas that aim to persuade MPs. Policies that will benefit big business. Aviva, BMI Healthcare, G4S, Bupa.

4. Reform: A Charity or a conduit for privatisation? Click - Reform were at the conferences with sponsored corporations in tow, providing access to decision-makers.

5. MPs and Lord's Financial Links to Free Market Think Tank - Click - A well connected think tank, with multiple companies who also pay our Lords and MPs

6. Privatising Probation: What Reform says – Government does - Click - If you want to know what future government policy is going to be, don’t bother asking your government because they won’t tell you until it’s too late. Instead, turn your eyes to a right-wing think tank masquerading as a charity.

7. Reform think tank and their links to the Conservative Party - Click - they are a charity yet they have a clear bias towards the Conservative party - here are all their links to the right.

8. Complaint Over Think Tank 'Charity' Sent to Charity Commission - Click - based on the evidence, Reform appear to be in breach of the Charity Commission rules, so Social Investigations sent in a complaint.

9. Charity Commission Refuses to Investigate Complaint Regarding Charity's Links to the Conservative Party - Click The Charity Commission said there was 'no evidence to support the allegations that the Reform Research Trust has links with or promotes the aims and objectives of any political party.' They clearly are not bothering to look, despite being sent the clear links. Another organisation with a set of rules that are not fit for purpose. 

10. Charity Commission apologises for misleading statement on Reform's connections to the Conservative party - Click

Charity Commission Refuses to Investigate Complaint Regarding Charity's Links to the Conservative Party

The Charity Commission have refused to investigate further a complaint placed by Social Investigations into connections between the Charity Reform and the Conservative party, which brings into question their independence. 

The refusal stated that: 'In 2007, the Commission considered a complaint about the charity from a Member of Parliament that contained information which is very similar to the information provided in your email. 

We considered the evidence provided by the MP and undertook a thorough investigation. Our findings were that there is no evidence to support the allegations that the Reform Research Trust has links with or promotes the aims and objectives of any political party. We therefore decided not to take any action in regard to these matters.'

The idea that Reform does not have links with the Conservative party are absurd.

• All of the co-founders have links to the Conservative party.
• Reform is recognised as part of the Conservative party movement by multiple medium including the Conservativehome. 
• Two MPs to emerge from Reform both belong to the Conservative party
• Two of the trustees have provided money to individuals in the Conservative party
• Two of the trustees and a director have advised two Conservative MPs

The full list of links to the Conservative party are here, and highlight clearly the entire powerbase as being linked to the Conservative party. The free market think tank, which promotes, privatisation and the outsourcing of public services to the private sector, are partners with many corporations who gain from the outsourcing and which are linked to many of our Lords and MPs. 

In fact, the only people who do not seem to recognise Reform as part of the Conservative party is the Charity Commission itself, whose reputation is damaged by allowing such organisations to remain as charities. 

A further complaint will be sent to the Charity Commission about their decision and how they can possibly come to the conclusion that they can find 'no evidence' of links to the Conservative party.

Complaint Over Think Tank 'Charity' Sent to Charity Commission

Over the last month Social Investigations has researched the free market think tank, Reform, which to the discredit of the Charity Commission rules, is also a charity. The findings led to the conclusion that a complaint to the Charity Commission was justified under both misleading the public and questioning their political independence.

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Reform are important because they dream up policy for selling off our public assets like the NHS and the police and the Conservative party make policy based on their research. Their corporate partners are major global and UK corporations and scooping the financial rewards from the privatisation dreamed up by Reform.

Reform is seen by many organisations on both sides of the political spectrum as being an arm of the Conservative party, everyone recognises this except it would seem, the Charity Commission.

The Research revealed:

·      All the founders are linked to the Conservative party

·      Three out of the five trustees have direct links to the Conservative party

·      There are multiple companies who are Reform’s corporate partners who are linked to Lords and MPs

·      They were involved in lobbying to maintain ‘competition’ in the health and Social Care bill

·      They promote privatisation in all public sector areas

·      They make a claim on their website that is misleading

·      They hold meetings with ministers and corporations where no minutes are held using Chatham House Rules

·      The Conservatives have launched two policies at Reform

The Complaint sent to Charity Commission

Reform Research Trust – Charity Number: 1103739

The complaint against Reform centre on two areas:

·      Misleading the public

·      Political independence

1. Misleading the public

Misleading statement

Reform state on their website: 'We are keen to involve corporate organisations in our research because their expertise is often left out of the Whitehall policy discussion.'

I am providing a selection of files on three companies that are corporate partners to Reform in order to provide evidence that Reform’s statement on their site regarding the above statement is at best misleading and at worst deception.

In addition to the same point above, I am providing a list of the corporate partners with their links to MPs and Lords and a list of what area each company influences government policy.

The companies I have selected are:

·      Aviva

·      BMI Healthcare

·      G4S

I chose three simply because I didn’t want to inundate your organisation with files on all the companies that make up their corporate partners to make the point. The files represent those companies only, although the same would apply to all the other corporate partners and I would be happy to supply more if required.

Reform currently has 31 corporate partners; many of them represent some of the most powerful companies in the UK.

Current members are:  ABI, Aviva, Balfour Beatty, Benenden Healthcare Society, Bevan Brittan, BG Group, BVCA, Cable & Wireless, Capita, CH2M Hill, Clifford Chance, Citigroup, The City of London, Ernst & Young, GlaxoSmithKline, G4S, GE, General Healthcare Group, HP, ICAEW, KPMG, Maximus, McKesson, MSD, Optical Confederation, PA Consulting Group, Serco, Sodexo and Telereal Trillium.

These companies are not left our of Whitehall policy. As the files will show, they are often involved at various levels helping to develop policy.

Many of these companies are financially linked to Lords and MPs from all parties, although largely the Conservatives and in many cases they are in leading positions: Please see File titled Reform MP company links.

In one particular case, the director Andrew Haldenby specifically speaks up for and on behalf of G4S as it mentions in the G4S file.

Reform receives money from donations and sponsorship. Companies often sponsor an event so that they can lobby. The policy that these companies influence ends up creating more wealth for the companies and is not for the charitable aims of delivering economic prosperity to the people it claims to do. Not once in their summary return do they mention promoting privatisation, and yet through their corporate sponsorship, and work, this is exactly what they are doing.

2. Political independence.

The next complaint looks at their political independence.- See links to Conservative party here.

‘The guiding principal of charity law is that charities should be, and be seen to be, independent from party politics.’

Based on the statement above, Reform is not within charity law as their powerbase is almost totally towards the Conservative party.

I have produced a separate file for this titled: ‘Reform links to the right’.

Reform think tank and their links to the Conservative Party

Reform calls itself independent. However the research below brings this claim into question in what appears to be the breaking of the Charity Commission rules for all charities to remain politically independent. Download as PDF

The 'charity’s' claim to independence is based on having one Liberal Democrat (Jeremy Browne) and two Labour members (Lord Warner and MP Frank Field) and a Conservative MP, (Julian Smith) on their advisory team. These however do not represent the overall dominance of the organisation towards the Conservative party, which can be seen by the powerbase, of the founders and trustees. The bullet points below represent a list of these connections.

• All of the co-founders have links to the Conservative party.
• Reform is recognised as part of the Conservative party movement by multiple medium including the Conservativehome. 
• Two MPs to emerge from Reform both belong to the Conservative party
• Two of the trustees have provided money to individuals in the Conservative party
• Two of the trustees and a director have advised two Conservative MPs

Founders:

Three people set up Reform Research Trust in 2002: All have links to the Conservative party.

Andrew Haldenby, Nick Herbert and Patrick Barbour.

Andrew Haldenby: Director was formerly head of the Conservative Research Department (1995-1997), finishing up as Head of the Political Section with responsibility for briefing the Shadow Cabinet and Leader for key media interviews and appearances. Mr Haldenby is considered by the Telegraph to be the 59^th most influential person on the right.[1]

Nick Herbert: MP is founder of Reform and a member of the Conservative party. Mr Herbert is considered by the Telegraph to be the 86^thmost influential person on the right. [2]

Patrick Barbour: (No longer part of Reform) but politically active on the Eurosceptic right of the Conservative Party since at least the early nineties when he helped to fund the Bruges Group.  Patrick Robertson, The patriotic 'pipsqueak' of Bruges, The Sunday Times, 16-June-1991 – Gave the Conservative Central party £7,000 in 2005 and has since gone on to become a donor of UKIP. 

Trustees:

The Trustees of Reform according to their website are:

Stephen Hargrave, James Palmer and Jeremy Sillem. In the 2011 Full accounts, additional trustees were Rupert Darwell and Oliver Pawle.[3]

Rupert Darwall: Noted as a trustee in the 2011 full annual accounts is a Consultant Director of Reform, a freelance strategy consultant. He was previously Special Adviser to the Conservative Chancellor of the Exchequer Norman Lamont. [4]

Oliver Pawle: Currently the Honorary Treasurer. In the 2011 Full accounts it says: One of ‘The trustees who held office during the year’ was ‘Oliver Pawle’. Mr Pawle gave money to Dr Liam Fox for £5,000 on 2^nd November 2009 to help run his office.[5]Mr Pawle is down as a trustee during this period. In 2009, he attended a Conservative premier dinner at the Dorchester.[6]In addition Mr Pawle advised Francis Maude on the possible structures and duties of the non-executive directors in a new structure to governance structures. [7]

Stephen Hargrave: Trustee and director, who according to the Electoral Commission gave £5,000 to Conservative MP David Davis in 2001 for a leadership candidate, this was prior to Reform becoming a charity.

MPs who worked for Reform before becoming MPs

Nick Herbert founded Reform and is now the Conservative MP for Arundel and South Downs.

Elizabeth Truss was a deputy director of Reform in 2008 and is now the Conservative MP for South West Norfolk

Other

Nick Boys Smith, consultant director - adviser on welfare policy to Conservative MP Peter Lilley when he was Secretary of state for Social Security before working at McKinsey & Co. [8]

Media stating Reform as part of Conservative movement

In July 2009, Cameron gave a speech to Reform think tank launching the Conservative policy on culling quangos.[9]

In July 2011 - David Cameron launched his plans for public service privatisation programme at the Think Tank Reform.[10]No other party launches policy from Reform

In January 2008 the Telegraph listed the top twelve think tanks in its opinion. It said of Reform: 'Political links. Good relations with Tories. Nick Herbert, Shadow Justice Secretary helped set it up.'[11]

In 2009, ConservativeHome.Com who are supporters of the Conservative party produced an article that talked about the ‘growth of Britain’s conservative movement’.  Reform is included in list of list of organisations they see as Conservative.[12]

In their 2011 report, Reform have a quote from journalist George Monbiot which says on their transparency: ‘The only right-wing think tank that did well was Reform.’[13]

In February 2012 - Will Heaven as Acting Deputy Comment Editor of The Daily Telegraph wrote: 'Today the think tank Reform, one that informs Conservative policy, pleads with the Government to "renew the commitment to NHS reform".'[14]

Reform had meetings "meetings of “leaders of the conservative movement … sharing ideas to try to pave the way to a new Tory government."

The Times claimed Reform had meetings of “leaders of the conservative movement … sharing ideas to try to pave the way to a new Tory government." [15]

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[1] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/conservative/9589957/Iain-Dales-Top-100-most-influential-figures-from-the-Right-2012.html

http://reformscotland.com/index.php/about/advisory-board/andrew-haldenby

[2] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/conservative/9589957/Iain-Dales-Top-100-most-influential-figures-from-the-Right-2012.html http://www.redpepper.org.uk/tory-think-tanks-tangled-web/

[3] http://www.charity-commission.gov.uk/Accounts/Ends39%5C0001103739_ac_20111231_e_c.pdf

[4]http://www.reform.co.uk/content/6675/reform/our_people/executive_team/rupert_darwall

[5]http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm/cmregmem/100927/fox_dr-liam.htm

[6] http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/analysis-and-features/dinner-at-the-carlton-the-new-tory-power-brokers-1793736.html

[7] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/election-2010/7683214/General-Election-2010-City-bosses-on-standby-to-join-Tory-departments.html

[8]http://www.reform.co.uk/content/6674/reform/our_people/executive_team/nick_boys_smith

[9] http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/jul/07/michael-white-david-cameron-quangos

[10] http://www.publicfinance.co.uk/news/2011/07/cameron-to-launch-public-service-reform-plans/

[11] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/1576447/The-top-twelve-think-tanks-in-Britain.html

[12] http://conservativehome.blogs.com/centreright/2009/03/the-growth-of-b.html

[13]http://www.reform.co.uk/content/13777/reform/annual_review/annual_review

[14] http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/willheaven/100136500/of-all-people-why-are-tory-right-wingers-setting-themselves-against-nhs-reform/

[15] http://www.johnmannmp.com/complaints_to_charity_commission 

MPs and Lord's Financial Links to Free Market Think Tank

As part of a series of investigations looking into the free market think tank Reform, the financial links between our so-called public servants, corporations and Reform has brought into question whether Reform should be stripped of their ‘charity’ status.

Now Social Investigations has revealed the list of companies that give money to Reform in either donations or sponsorship who also are employing or have financial connections to our so-called public servants in key sectors of our society.

So far we have found out:

• Reform’s involvement in promoting‘competition’ in the Health and Social Care bill during the ‘listening exercise’

• Promoting the outsourcing of NHS hospitals

• The use of Chatham House Rules to hold high-level meetings on matters of promoting public service reform without minutes or knowing who was in attendance

• Providing a voice for Aviva and BMIHealthcare and their other corporate partners

Now below we can see the list of companies and their connections to MPs and Lords who also pay money to Reform and the amounts they paid in 2011. The amounts, though small for a corporation their size, allows them additional access to MPs and Lords at events, seminars, policy lunches, fringe conference events and promotion of policies in articles often via the Daily Telegraph and other media outlets.

The time has surely come to end their charity status.

Corporations; Links to MPs/Lords and amounts paid to Reform in 2011.

Lloyds – Lord Blackwell (Con): Non Executive director of Lloyds Banking Group plc Henry Bellingham (Con) – MP for North West Norfolk, Jonathan Djanogly MP (Con) for Huntingdon, Dominic Grieve, MP for Beaconsfield (Con) – all former members of Lloyds. Lord Leitch (Lab): Deputy Chairman, Lloyds TSB bank plc; advisor of Lloyds Banking Group plc; Trustee, Lloyds TSB Foundation for England and Wales. Baroness Scott of Needham Market (Lib Dem) Member, Lloyds Register Advisory Committee (unremunerated)	£50,000.00
McKesson - Lord Carter: (Lab) The head of the increasingly influential Competition and Cooperation Panel, is also the Chair of McKesson Information Solutions Ltd, which delivers I.T to “virtually every NHS organisation”	£42,500.00
Sky – Lord Wilson of Dinton (Crossbench; Con) – Non-Executive director of BSkyB) Mary MacLeod MP for Brentford and Isleworth (Con) received £7,000 sponsorship for Hounslow Volunteering Awards organized by the MP. Lord Howard of Rising (Con), Baroness Noakes Shares in BSkyB. Conservative party as a whole tried to get BSkyB bid passed.	£42,000.00
DANONE – Lord Lucas (Con) - Member, Pre and Probiotics Information Panel, Danone UK	£30,000.00
Aviva – Lord Sharman (Con) Is the chairman of Aviva, has directorship and Shareholdings in Aviva plc	£24,500.00
General Health Group: (GHG) were purchased by Apax Partners  in 2006. Labour Peer, Lord Warner (Lab), was a former advisor to Apax Partners in 2007 when Apax had taken over GHG. Lord Warner is also a member of the Advisory Council for think tank Reform. The think tank received money from GHG for sponsorship and whose health policy for 2011 was stated as looking at: ‘The implications of greater efficiency for healthcare infrastructure, in particular hospitals.’	£24,500.00
Microsoft – Baroness Kingsmill (Lab) Member, Microsoft European Policy Council. Lord Watson of Richmond (Lib Dem) Non-executive Chairman, ICOMP and consultant to Microsoft.	£24,000.00
Serco – Lord Filkin (Labour) Public Affairs Advisor	£21,500.00
Prudential Lord Turnbull (Crossbench) Non-Executive director and shares	£20,000.00
KPMG - Lord Harris of Haringey (Lab) is a Senior Adviser and Lord Hastings (Crossbench) is the Global Head of Citizenship and Diversity for Global Tax.	£17,500.00
PA Consulting – George Freeman MP for Mid Norfolk (Con) Between November 2010 and November 2011 he provided strategic support to their Technological practice.	£15,000.00
PWC – Lord Ribeiro (Con) Adviser on hospital reorganization to PwC	£15,000.00
Telereal Trillium – Lord Griffiths of Fforestfach (Con) Category 2: Remunerated employment	£15,000.00
Airwave – Lord Harris of Haringey (Lab) Chair of Toby Harris Associates, whose clients include: Airwave Solutions	£12,500.00
G4S – Lord Condon (Crossbench) - Non-executive Deputy Chairman & Senior Independent Director. Lord Reid of Cardowan (Labour) Director Regional management.	£12,500.00
BG Group – Baroness Hogg (Con) - Senior Independent Director and holds shares.	£7,500.00
Cable & Wireless – Lord Robertson of Port Ellen (Lab) is a Senior International Adviser and has shares in the company	£7,500.00
GlaxoSmithKline 19 Lords and MPs have shares in GlaxoSmithKline.	£7,500.00
McKinsey – David Milliband MP for South Shields (Lab) received £10,000 from McKinsey and Co for a speech at a Global Business Leaders Summit in February last year. Also received a sum of £10,044 from the same company for travel expenses and accommodation in Singapore in March 2011. McKinsey & Co drew up loads of proposals that were accepted into the Health and Social Care bill. The consultancy giant also proposed the £20 billion cuts to the NHS accepted by the Coalition government. David Bennett the head of Monitor the new NHS regulator is a former employer.	£7,500.00
BP – Lord Jones of Birmingham (Crossbench) – Advisor. Lord Patten of Barnes - Member, International Advisory Board. Lord Robertson of Port Ellen - Deputy Chairman of Board & Chairman of Audit Committee, TNK-BP (Moscow-based joint venture in oil/gas) and an Adviser, BP plc. The Member receives a limited amount of secretarial assistance from BP plc. Lord Watson of Richmond is a consultant for BP plc.	£5,000.00
Circle – Mark Simmonds MP (Con) Special advisor. Baron Higgins of Worthing, a Conservative, holds in excess of £50,000 of shares in Lansdowne UK Equity Fund, backers of private hospital group Circle Holdings. Lord Watson is the Chairman of Havas Media UK, an integrated agency, 100% owned by Havas Media. In April 2011 - MPG Media Contacts won the integrated media planning and buying account for Circle Health. The account is worth just under £1m, according to MPG Media Contacts. Circle recruited Christina Lineen as head of communications following a two-year period as an advisor to Andrew Lansley. It is possible she is returning to government as an advisor to the new Secretary of State for Health Jeremy Hunt. Christina Lineen replaced Nick Seddon who is now a deputy director of Reform who has been heavily promoting the outsourcing of hospitals largely through the Telegraph. As well as being a member of NHS Partners Network, Circle has given money to Reform via sponsorship.	£5,000.00

Download the PDF here.

Reform – who do they represent? BMI healthcare

As part of an ongoing analysis of Reform as a ‘charity’, this time the focus is on BMI healthcare.

Articles in relation to Reform already exist here on the meetings with senior officials using Chatham House rules which are an affront to transparency. Another article looked at their role in supporting the aims of Aviva, one of their corporate partners. This time the focus is turned to BMI Healthcare.

Reform are according to their website 'keen to involve corporate organisations in our research because their expertise is often left out of the Whitehall policy discussion.’ – Reform website – corporate partners page


Reform are a charity - Dictionary definition of a charity: ‘An organisation set up to provide help and raise money for those in need’.

Background – BMI Healthcare are not a small company
BMI Healthcare is the UK’s largest hospital group. BMI, according to the not-for-profit research organisation Corporate Watch, has a network of ‘over 70 hospitals and clinics, which treat NHS patients through the Choose and Book system, and is looking to sign more contracts with NHS trusts in a range of areas in the near future.’ Adrian Fawcett, who was their CEO until May 2011, according to the book ‘The Plot Against the NHS’, by Colin Leys and Stewart Player that he wants “co-paying seen as standard, so patients pay on top of their NHS care, for medicines or for their own room with extra facilities.”

BMI are owned by the General Healthcare Group who in turn are owned by a ‘consortium of companies including private equity firms Apax Partners, London & Regional and Brockton, and Netcare, South Africa's leading hospital group, which holds a controlling, 50.1% share. They bought GHG for £2.2bn in 2006, from BC Partners, its previous private equity owners. – corporatewatch

BMI Healthcare came under the spotlight recently following a letter written by BMI Meriden Hospital’s chief executive Bernie Creaven. The letter instructedtheir doctors to delay operations intentionally so that they would be encouraged to go private.

Do they need a voice?
If Reform are concerned that BMI Healthcare are not getting their voice heard, then they can breathe a sigh of relief. A selection of evidence is represented below across the decade revealing BMI Health and General Healthcare Group have had plenty of opportunities to get their message across to parliament.

In 1999, the General Healthcare Group provided a memorandum to the Select Committee on Health. The topic was ‘The Regulation of Private and other Independent Healthcare’.

Back in September 2001, GHG gave evidenceto the Select Committee on Health, on the topic of Public Private Partnerships in the NHS. The solution they believed was that the ‘future healthcare needs could be met more effectively by further developing a regulated, mixed economy in NHS provision.’

In April 2006, BMI produced writtenevidence for the select committee on health on their clinical outcomes. In 2008, BMI Healthcare were asked to give evidenceon patient safety, and in 2012 as partof Independent Healthcare Advisory Services.

In 2009, a £250 per ticket breakfast event hostedby Reform, which included Andrew Lansley, the then shadow health secretary and other high powered health figures, also had GHG. The event titled the ‘Future of Health’, saw Fawcett sharing the stage, providing him and GHG with a perfect opportunity to lobby.  Powerbase, a fantastic resource and project of Spinwatch, the transparency campaigners, revealed that in a speech at the ReformHealth Conference in July 2010, former General Healthcare Group CEO, Adrian Fawcett, called for ‘"greater self-responsibility in healthcare", saying "it is important that those that can afford to pay for themselves should be encouraged to if that makes financial sense to the Exchequer."’

Not only this, BMI healthcare sponsored a fringe event at the Liberal Democrat conference in 2011, where Norman Lamb was heading an event titled: 'Healthy choices: Reforming the NHS.' They are there again this year, sponsoring an invitation only event with minister of state for Care services Paul Burstow and Norman Lamb: 'Reforming Health and Care'.

As a top up for their already ample ability to access power, BMI Healthcare have received the help of Reform in promoting the idea of privatising hospitals. In a sustained campaign, both Reform and the Telegraph co-operated to act as PR for the private hospital firms. This followed a press release from Circle Health who were boasting of their success 5% of the way into their 10-year tenure. The details of the story are here.

General Healthcare Group and BMI hospitals expertise is not left out of ‘Whitehall policy discussion’, as Reform's reasoning would suggest. Like Aviva, their input is requested often. Reform does however ensure the message of hospital privatisation is repeated often and loudly, the beneficiary of which are companies like BMI Healthcare and their owners the General Healthcare Group. Corporate Watch exposed GHG as owning 37 hospitals owned by 37 separate British companies currently registered for tax purposes here, but each of those British firms are in turn owned by firms in the British Virgin Islands, which would mean there could be no stamp duty to be paid by a future buyer of the land and property.

Charity indeed!

Download the BMI Healthcare PDF here.