CIPR celebrates new "comprehensive and positive" lobbying recommendations
A new report from the government's Ethics and Integrity Commission (EIC) has been welcomed by the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) as providing a "comprehensive and positive" change on transparency around lobbying activity.
Commissioned by the prime minister and published this morning, the report - Lobbying, Business Appointment Rules and Disclosure - makes the case for fundamental reforms to the UK’s lobbying regime in line with the CIPR's position and long-running campaign. The CIPR provided written and oral evidence to the commission, and its research is referenced throughout the report.
The report sets out 22 recommendations to improve the transparency and accountability around lobbying. Chief among them is the call for a register of lobbying activity to replace the existing register of consultant lobbyists, arguing that "[a]ny individual or organisation carrying out lobbying activity should be required to register and submit information returns on their lobbying activity". This would mean in-house lobbyists would be required to register their lobbying activity in Westminster for the first time, closing a significant loophole and recognising a key part of the CIPR’s “Lobbying for Good Lobbying” campaign.
- Registration of lobbying targeting special advisers and civil servants at director general or director level
- Scrapping the exemption for organisations below the VAT threshold
- Scrapping the exemption for communication that is incidental to a business’s main activities
- A one-stop, AI-enabled digital register
After years of campaigning, research, and making the case for lobbying reform, this report is a significant moment that validates our position and our efforts to bring about change. These recommendations are comprehensive and will positively and fundamentally reshape the relationship between lobbyists and Westminster. If enacted, they would finally deliver the promised light of transparency and a true sense of who is engaging our politics.
The Ethics and Integrity Commission has recognised the seriousness of the issues. Trust hangs by a thread and the relationship between politics and business contributes significantly to that public scepticism and damages all involved in the important work of informing the policy-making process. The time to talk about building back trust is over. We now need action to deliver on those promises. These recommendations do that and we're incredibly proud that our comprehensive work on this topic has contributed to the debate and to see our headline calls overwhelmingly adopted.
Our work now turns to ensuring that the government and new prime minister, whoever it might be, treats these recommendations as a day-one priority and takes action to begin rebuilding trust in our politics that has been lacking for so long by implementing these recommendations in full.
- Read the Ethics and Integrity Commission's report
- Find out more about our Lobbying for Good Lobbying campaign
- The CIPR has published three reports into Westminster's lobbying regime - No Rules Britannia?, Failure by design, and Easy Wins, Empty Gains
About the Chartered Institute of Public Relations
Founded in 1948, the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) is the world's only Royal Chartered professional body for public relations practitioners with over 11,000 members.
The CIPR advances professionalism in public relations by making its members accountable to their employers and the public through a code of conduct and searchable public register, setting standards through training, qualifications, awards and the production of best practice and skills guidance, facilitating Continuing Professional Development (CPD), and awarding Chartered Public Relations Practitioner status (Chart.PR).