Gas and oil giants have staff on the government payroll working in the energy department

• Firms like British Gas and npower have staff on secondment to Whitehall
• Green MP Caroline Lucas says companies will expect 'something in return'
• Officials insist it helps shape government police

The taxpayer is paying the wages of more than a dozen employees of energy giants to work for the government.
Staff from firms including British Gas and npower have been put on the state payroll to take up jobs in Whitehall.
The Department of Energy and Climate Change, headed by Lib Dem Ed Davey, admitted it has 23 employees on secondment from private sector companies, including oil giants Shell and ConocoPhillips.
The government defended the use of public money to pay staff from companies regulated by the ministry, but critics said the firms would expect ‘something in return’.
The pay deals were revealed in freedom of information requests made by Green MP Caroline Lucas.
It also emerged civil servants from DECC had been seconded to work for private energy firms.
Ms Lucas said: ‘Fossil fuel giants should have no place at the heart of government given that their current investment strategies run contrary to the need to build a low-carbon future that delivers both security and prosperity.

‘It's even more outrageous that taxpayers are footing the bill for some of these secondments, including from British Gas-owner Centrica, at a time when British Gas customers are struggling in the face of a 6% rise in their energy bills, and the company is expected to make £1.4bn profits after tax this year,’ she told The Guardian.
‘These corporations obviously don't lend out their employees without expecting something in return.’

Green MP Caroline Lucas , who obtained the data through freedom of information laws, said the private companies would want something in return

Controversially, the secondees decide for themselves whether there is a conflict of interest in their work.
The contract states: ‘It is a condition of the secondment that the secondee ensures to the best of their ability that in the course of their duties for Decc there will be no conflict of interest or perception of such.’

ENERGY GIANTS WITH STAFF IN WHITEHALL

The 23 companies with employees seconded to the Department for Energy and Climate Change are:
Barclays
Carbon War Room
Centrica Energy
CES
ConocoPhillips (UK) Ltd
Durham University
Energypeople Ltd
Environment Agency
ESB
Jacobs Engineering UK
McGrigors LLP
Met Office
Mount Wellington Mine Ltd
National Grid
National Nuclear Laboratory
Nuclear Decommissioning Authority
OFGEM
Pcubed
Rolls Royce
RWE
Shell
University College London

Joss Garman, political director of Greenpeace, said: ‘Centrica, Shell and RWE are corporations that make their huge profits from the fossil fuels that are warming our planet.
‘Nobody will believe that these vested interests are lending staff to Decc out of charity. To the contrary, they have a clear financial interest in putting their people into key positions where they can exert a malign influence that runs counter to the public interest.’
However, DECC insisted the secondees bring with them ‘knowledge and expertise’ which are ‘vital’ to government work.
‘DECC ensures that any secondee is bound by the professional Codes of Practice relevant to their industry or services provided.
‘It is normal for secondees to be paid directly by DECC or for their company to be refunded for their time spent working in DECC; this is standard practice across Government.
‘There are contractual measures in place to make sure that any employee seconded into DECC is not placed in a position where there could be a conflict of interest.’

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2255251/Gas-oil-giants-staff-government-payroll.html#ixzz2GhbPR4sa
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook