The health secretary, Sajid Javid, is facing questions about share options he still holds in the hi-tech US company where he worked until rejoining the cabinet in June – and which is in the healthcare sector. From October last year until he was appointed health minister, Javid was paid the equivalent of £150,000 per year by C3.ai, a California startup specializing in artificial intelligence (AI).
He was also given "an option for 666.7 shares per month" as part of his remuneration plan.
According to the health secretary's most recent statement in the register of MPs' interests, he still has these options, which he claims are worth around £45,000.
Angela Rayner, the deputy Labour leader, has written to Lord Geidt, the prime minister's ethics adviser, to inquire if this is a conflict of interest.
"The secretary of state's department claimed in September that the use of AI will decrease waiting lists in our NHS," she said, implying that the idea that the Department of Health could spend taxpayer money on AI "could easily be regarded as helpful to an AI business."
Ministers must rigorously avoid any threat of a real or apparent conflict of interest between their ministerial office and their private financial interest," according to the ministerial code.
Employee stock options typically allow the recipient to purchase a specific number of shares at a predetermined price at a future date.
Because their worth varies with the company's stock price, they're utilized to pique employees' interest in the company's value increasing.
The exact date on which Javid's options can be exercised has not been disclosed.
C3.ai is a digital company established in California that went public on the New York Stock Exchange in December 2020.
"Healthcare" and "government" are two of the nine industry categories featured on its website.
It has a subsidiary in the United Kingdom and is currently hiring sales and marketing personnel there.
"The global economy, geopolitics, and market opportunities," Javid informed the firm.
Before Javid took office, the NHS had already increased investment on AI, but he recently highlighted its potential role in addressing health inequity.
Technology, particularly artificial intelligence (AI), has the potential to be a tremendous force for good.
It can help clinicians save time and give faster, more accurate diagnoses, allowing patients to receive the care they require as soon as possible," he said.
"It can also help us better understand ethnic differences so that we can train our workforce to look for distinct symptoms or complicating factors, diagnose faster, and customize therapies," says the researcher.
From August 2020 to June 2021, Javid worked at C3.ai alongside another advising employment with US firm JP Morgan, for which he was paid the equivalent of £150,000 per year.
He was appointed to that position six months after stepping down as chancellor.
Before becoming a member of parliament, Javid worked with JP Morgan.
The independent Advisory Committee on Business Appointments, which vets opportunities for former ministers, approved both of these positions.
A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said: “The secretary of state has acted in line with the ministerial code and has properly declared these share options in the usual way.”
When he became health secretary, aides said he started the process of selling his stock options, but it was difficult because the market for stock options isn't very liquid.
When Matt Hancock quit in June after being captured on camera in a clinch with Gina Coladangelo, a longstanding friend who had been brought on to the DHSC's payroll, Javid stepped in.
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