Education expert seems to forget the rules

A former education secretary has spoken dozens of times in the House of Lords without declaring his interest as chairman of a chain of technical colleges. 

Lord Baker, who served in Conservative governments under Margaret Thatcher and John Major, co-founded the Baker Dearing Trust, a charity which operates 44 university technical colleges (UTCs), a type of secondary school.

This unpaid role is listed on his register of interests, but Baker frequently fails to mention it during debates in the House of Lords, including when discussing new laws. 

Since December 2019, Baker has spoken at least 68 times, mainly on educational matters. Around 30 of those interventions were on occasions when his interest was directly relevant, and another 20 on educational issues more broadly, but he has only declared an interest seven times, and not at all since June 2021. 

Baker is now 90 and the Baker Dearing Trust, founded 15 years ago, is not for profit. There is no suggestion of Baker failing to declare his role at the charity for reasons of personal interest. However, one fellow peer told Tortoise that while Baker was knowledgeable and experienced on the education sector, his failure to declare his involvement could be seen as a potential breach of the rules.

The HoL code of conduct states that members should “declare when speaking in the House, or communicating with ministers or public servants, any interest which is a relevant interest in the context of the debate or the matter under discussion… Relevant interests include both financial and non-financial interests.”

Baker did not respond to requests for a comment.