Sunak's cabinet faces fines of up to £19,000 if it breaks lobbying rules after the government

The move follows repeated warnings about 'toothlessness' Whitehall lobbying watchdog Photo: Simon Walker/No. 10 Downing Street

Rishi Sunak's cabinet faces fines of up to £19,000 if it breaks lobbying rules after leaving government.

All current ministers are expected to do so. sign a mandatory «binding instrument» committing them to rules governing the work they can do on behalf of private sector companies after serving in Whitehall.

The new regime was previously thought to be announced within weeks – will only apply to ministers appointed after its introduction this autumn.

But the Prime Minister is understood to be preparing to insist that all current ministers must also sign an act committing them to new appointment rules as the Conservatives seek to steal the march on Labour's plans to tackle sleaze after a series of scandals.

If the Tories lose the election expected next year, all 124 ministers will be subject to new rules when they look for work after losing their government jobs.

At the same time, the government is developing revised civil service contracts containing specific «restrictions on future employment» as part of its plans to enforce lobbying rules.

Financial penalties will be imposed

The disclosure comes as Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden suggested that Rupert MacNeil, the government's former communications chief, could be barred from receiving honors or any future government jobs after it is found that he committed «multiple breaches» of lobbying rules when he approached four cabinet ministers as well as senior officials on behalf of his new employers.

The move would amount to the first sanctions imposed by the government for breaking existing rules on the work ministers and officials can do when they leave Whitehall. Mr McNeil, whose case was revealed in The Sunday Telegraph earlier this month, denies lobbying and says he did not break any rules.

The Ministerial Act will allow the Government to impose financial penalties on political appointees for flagrant breaches of the new rules It is understood that the maximum penalty is likely to be set at the same level as the severance pay the Prime Minister receives when leaving office — currently just under £19,000.

The move follows repeated warnings about the «toothlessness» of Whitehall's lobbying watchdog, which found a number of prominent former ministers and civil servants had broken its rules but was powerless to take action against them.

In one case uncovered by this newspaper, the Business Appointments Advisory Committee (ACOBA) found that Lord Hammond, the former chancellor, breached existing rules governing former ministers when he contacted senior Treasury officials on behalf of a bank that had paid for his advice.

More recently, Boris Johnson was found to have committed a «clear and unequivocal» breach of the rules when he took up a paid position as a newspaper columnist without seeking Akoba's advice, and Matt Hancock, the former health secretary, was found to have breached rules. rules when he failed to contact the watchdog before appearing on I'm a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here!

However, last week Mr Dowden suggested media appearances, books and journalism would be exempt from the revised rules as the government seeks to free Akoba to focus on more serious matters.

Set of recommendations in 2021 review< p>The recommendation that new ministers sign a legally binding instrument was first outlined in the 2021 review by Nigel Boardman, a senior barrister who investigated David Cameron's approach to government on behalf of financial firm Greensill.

His report said: “Ministers are officials, not employees, and as such do not have a formal written contract of employment, but upon appointment, Ministers may be required to sign a legally valid Contract of Engagement that binds them to the Business Appointments Rules process. and abide by Akoba's decision at the end of their ministerial term.»

Akoba and the Committee on Standards of Public Life have also since called for stricter rules governing the positions ministers hold after leaving government. , but the government has been accused of inaction by the Labor Party, which has failed to implement recommendations since they were first made during Johnson's premiership.

Labour, meanwhile, said it would extend the current two-year ban on lobbying . for former ministers — five years and create a new independent commission on integrity and ethics.