PRCA DIRECTOR GENERAL SAYS LOBBYING NEEDS REFORM
Nearly a year after withdrawing from the UK Public Affairs Council, PRCA director general Francis Ingham has called for the Government to examine lobbying and ministerial meetings.
The UKPAC, which was comprised of the PRCA, CIPR and Association of Professional Political Consultants (APPC), was the chief proponent of establishing a statutory register of lobbyists working with ministers. The PRCA removed itself from the association last December because, according to Ingham, it lacked the credibility to establish an effective register.
In a PRCA Public Affairs Group meeting on 24 October, Ingham called for reforms and increased transparency of ministerial meetings and the regulations surrounding former ministers in lobbying roles.
Ingham says, “Lobbying scandals more often than not involve no professional lobbyists. We need clarity from the Government on who should be required to register on a statutory register of lobbyists. And we need consistency from politicians that we lobby. Transparency works both ways and politicians must recognise that they are ultimately accountable for their actions.”
The debate at the PRCA centred on the reputation of lobbying and the organisation proposed several suggestions for lobbyists. It called for an independent register of lobbyists, a code of conduct, transparency regarding minister’s diaries and the prevention of former ministers exerting undue influence in Government.
For previous articles on the lobby register, see the following links:
http://www.communicatemagazine.co.uk/news/3808-lobbying-register-knocked-back-once-more
http://www.communicatemagazine.co.uk/news/4026-ukpac-register-opens-to-all-lobbyists
