29 June 2007
A committee of MPs has launched an inquiry into lobbyists and their influence in Parliament and on public policy.
The public administration select committee's inquiry follows concerns around the extent to which lobby groups can control Commons' all party groups through the provision of administrative support and the drafting of reports.
Launching the inquiry with a call for evidence on June 21, the PASC stated: 'The public seems suspicious of some sorts of lobbying… 79% of respondents to a [2004] poll stated that they felt large corporations had influence over government policies, while only 34% felt they ought to enjoy such influence.'
Last year, the parliamentary commissioner for standards, Sir Philip Mawer, upheld complaints against three APGs, covering intellectual property, patient safety and pharmacy, finding they had failed to publish the name of the 'ultimate client' on whose behalf Luther Pendragon, a lobby firm, was working.
In its June 21 Issues and questions paper, the PASC noted that lobbying is regulated in the US, with firms required to report on the issues they have sought to influence and how much money they have spent doing so.
But Gill Morris, chair of the UK's Association of Professional Political Consultants, told Public Finance: 'We believe that self-regulation in the UK is working effectively. The majority of the industry is a member of the APPC… and therefore abides by the principles of transparency and a complete ban on paying legislators.'
Eighty per cent of lobby firms belong to the APPC, which has a code of conduct stating that members should publish a list of the names of all their clients.
Morris said that the APPC would 'vigorously investigate' any complaint against a member, but that none had been made in the past 12 months. She added that it was those lobby firms which were not members of the APPC whose activities should be scrutinised.
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