Lobbying and Influence: post-legislative scrutiny of the Lobbying Act 2014 and related matters

Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee Closed Inquiry
Opened: 5 Dec 2022 Closed: 24 May 2024 Parliament page
Following the Greensill saga, the Government asked the Committee to undertake post legislative scrutiny of the Transparency of Lobbying, Non-party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Act 2014 (“the Lobbying Act”) ( HC Deb 14 April 2021, c331).
2 Recommendations
15 Conclusions
1 Report
4 Oral sessions
3 Letters
4 Events
Activity timeline 12 events
21 May
2024
Correspondence
2 May
2024
Report published
9 Nov
2023
Correspondence
17 Oct
2023
Oral evidence
17 Oct
2023
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · Room 8, Palace of Westminster
18 Apr
2023
Correspondence
6 Dec
2022
Oral evidence
6 Dec
2022
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · The Macmillan Room, Portcullis House
15 Nov
2022
Oral evidence
15 Nov
2022
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · The Grimond Room, Portcullis House
1 Nov
2022
Oral evidence
1 Nov
2022
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · Room 15, Palace of Westminster
Oral evidence sessions 4 sessions
17 Oct 2023
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Lobbying and Influence: post-legislative scrutiny of the Lobbying Act 2014 and related matters
Alex Burghart MP · Cabinet Office Eirian Walsh Atkins · Cabinet Office Rachel Rayner · Cabinet Office
6 Dec 2022
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Lobbying and Influence: post-legislative scrutiny of the Lobbying Act 2014 and related matters
Maria Rosa Rotondo · Public Affairs Community of Europe (PACE) Matti Van Hecke · European Public Affairs Consultancies’ Association Vitor Teixeira · Transparency International EU
15 Nov 2022
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Lobbying and Influence: post-legislative scrutiny of the Lobbying Act 2014 and related matters
Harry Rich · Office of the Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists Jon Gerlis · Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) Liam Herbert · Public Relations and Communications Association
1 Nov 2022
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Lobbying and Influence: post-legislative scrutiny of the Lobbying Act 2014 and related matters
Duncan Hames · Transparency International UK
Title HC No. Published Items Response
Fourth Report - Lobbying and Influence: post-legislative scrutin… HC 203 2 May 2024 17 Overdue
Recommendations & Conclusions
17 results
1 Conclusion
Fourth Report - Lobbying and Influ…
Integrated platform essential for accessible and easy-to-navigate government transparency data.
If transparency is the Government’s main mechanism for ensuring the integrity of the process by which Government is lobbied, clearly the information it releases on who has been lobbied by whom should be as accessible and easy to navigate as … Read more
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2 Conclusion
Fourth Report - Lobbying and Influ…
Swiftly move government transparency publication from quarterly to monthly once platform is operational.
If the Government’s transparency releases are to provide the public assurance they are designed to, timeliness is important. Yet with quarterly publication, the information may be several months old by the time it is released. We accept the Government’s case … Read more
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3 Conclusion
Fourth Report - Lobbying and Influ…
Omission of Special Advisers' meetings undermines public confidence in lobbying transparency.
The Government’s proposed extension of the transparency releases to include Directors General and other key posts is welcome. However, we remain unconvinced by the Government’s defence of the current level of disclosure of Spads’ meetings. It is true that, as … Read more
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4 Recommendation
Fourth Report - Lobbying and Influ…
Include Special Advisers' meetings in departmental transparency releases like Ministers and senior civil servants.
Despite the Government’s argument to the contrary, the omission of Spads’ meetings, other than those with senior media figures, from the departmental transparency releases is clearly anomalous. Furthermore, it undermines public confidence in the integrity of the lobbying process. The … Read more
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5 Conclusion
Fourth Report - Lobbying and Influ…
Require MPs and frontbenchers to publish details of meetings with lobbyists.
We would encourage those in positions in which they may be subject to lobbying, such as shadow ministers and other frontbenchers from non-government parties, to routinely publish details of the meetings they hold with outside bodies on their webpages in … Read more
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6 Conclusion
Fourth Report - Lobbying and Influ…
Include policy area, legislation, and funding details in transparency meeting descriptions.
For the transparency declarations to be “relevant and instructive”, we would expect the descriptions of the meetings to include, at a minimum, details of the policy area and any specific regulations, legislation, or funding under discussion.
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7 Recommendation
Fourth Report - Lobbying and Influ…
Introduce single Senior Responsible Owner for integrated government transparency platform quality.
We recommend that the introduction of the integrated transparency platform, with a single transparency publication for the whole of government, be accompanied by the introduction of a single point of accountability for the quality of that publication. There should be … Read more
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8 Conclusion
Fourth Report - Lobbying and Influ…
Subject Non-Corporate Communication Channels to the same government transparency disclosure regime.
If WhatsApp and other Non-Corporate Communication Channels (“NCCCs”) are to be used in government and, in particular, if they are to be used to communicate with third parties, then they should be subject to the same disclosure regime as other … Read more
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9 Conclusion
Fourth Report - Lobbying and Influ…
Ruling out legislative changes in post-legislative scrutiny invalidates the entire exercise.
To embark on a process of post-legislative scrutiny whilst ruling out changes to the legislation concerned, even where the Government acknowledges such changes are required, risks negating the validity of the whole exercise. Regardless of any non- legislative improvements that … Read more
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10 Conclusion
Fourth Report - Lobbying and Influ…
Expanding the Lobbying Act's scope to all lobbying is beyond post-legislative scrutiny.
The purpose of post-legislative scrutiny is to judge the extent to which legislation is achieving its stated aims, rather than to revisit those aims and to reopen debates that should have been had at second reading. To expand the Register … Read more
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11 Conclusion
Fourth Report - Lobbying and Influ…
Frustration with Lobbying Act's narrow scope linked to inadequate government transparency releases.
We recognise the level of frustration with the narrow scope of the Act. However, that frustration appears to be in large part a reaction to the inadequacies of the Government’s own transparency releases. The Government has committed to improve these. … Read more
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12 Conclusion
Fourth Report - Lobbying and Influ…
Expand declarations in the Register of Consultant Lobbyists to include subject, dates, and medium.
The current requirement for consultant lobbyists only to declare in the Register the identity of their clients is inadequate. We do not recommend including, as some registers require, the disclosure of the financial details of lobbying contracts. However, the purpose … Read more
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13 Conclusion
Fourth Report - Lobbying and Influ…
Extend declarations in the Register of Consultant Lobbyists to include Directors General and Special Advisers.
The Register currently requires declarations of contact made by consultant lobbyists with Ministers and Permanent Secretaries. In line with the Government’s proposed extension of the transparency releases to include Directors General, Departmental Financial and Commercial Directors, and Senior Responsible Owners … Read more
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14 Conclusion
Fourth Report - Lobbying and Influ…
Remove the VAT exemption for consultant lobbyists to ensure transparency and prevent loopholes.
The desire to avoid onerous bureaucratic burdens on small or sole operator lobbyists is laudable. However, it is important that concerns about regulatory burden, which will already be lower on smaller operations undertaking less work, do not undermine the primary … Read more
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15 Conclusion
Fourth Report - Lobbying and Influ…
Amend the Act to clarify the purpose of the incidental lobbying exemption.
As with the VAT exemption, the Government stresses the importance of avoiding unnecessary bureaucracy in justifying the exemption for ‘incidental lobbying’. However, the purpose of the incidental exemption is not made clear in the Act. The Registrar’s guidance has added … Read more
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16 Conclusion
Fourth Report - Lobbying and Influ…
Commit Ministers and officials to meet only lobbyists subscribed to industry codes of conduct.
In rejecting proposals for a statutory code of conduct governing the way in which lobbyists carry out their activities, the Government suggested that the existence of the established industry codes of conduct made it unnecessary. In order to encourage lobbyists—both … Read more
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17 Conclusion
Fourth Report - Lobbying and Influ…
Amend the Act to provide for temporary absence and conflicts of the Registrar.
The lack of provision to cover for the temporary absence of the Registrar—through illness or because they are conflicted, for example—is another example of where there is a clear need for the Act to be amended but which the Government … Read more
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Correspondence 3 letters
21 May 2024 To committee Letter from Harry Rich, Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists on the Office of the Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists - Business Plan 2024-25, dated 13.5.24
Parliament page
9 Nov 2023 To committee Letter from Alex Burghart MP, Parliamentary Secretary on oral evidence follow-up after the 17.10.23 oral evidence session, dated 31.10.23
Parliament page
18 Apr 2023 From committee Letter to Rt Hon Oliver Dowden MP CBE, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster on Government response to the Committee's and Post-Legislative Scrutiny of the Lobbying Act 2014, dated 28.3.23
Parliament page