Transparency of Lobbying, Non-Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Bill

Richard Fuller Excerpts

Monday 9th September 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Thomas]

I fear that my hon. Friend’s intervention strikes a chord. I will come on to some of the points made by the Association of Professional Political Consultants shortly. Gavin Devine, the chief executive of one of the big lobbying firms, says that

“there is a risk that the register will give a kitemark or endorsement to some who do not deserve it.”

I read the APPC code of conduct, to which my hon. Friend has just referred, with interest. One key element is that

“practitioners”—

lobbyists who have signed up to the code—

“must use reasonable endeavours to satisfy themselves of the truth and accuracy of all statements…by or on behalf of clients to institutions of government.”

I struggle to understand why Ministers would not want to ensure that all consultant lobbyists ensure their clients tell the truth to them. A code of conduct with such a provision, properly policed, would help to raise the bar—raise the standards—of the whole industry, rather than just those who subscribe to the APPC code.

Consultant lobbyists who sign up the APPC code are expected to be open in disclosing the identity of their clients and must not misrepresent their interests. Having a code of conduct with such a provision would help to ensure that Ministers and MPs would know who was trying to meet us and allow us to explore whether there were other motives for consultant lobbyists asking for information or advocating particular causes. It seems hardly unreasonable for such a basic standard of behaviour to be expected of all lobbyists covered by the legislation.

The APPC code requires practitioners to have a duty to advise their clients if they think they are about to commit illegal or unethical acts. They have a duty to refuse to act for such a client if the client persists. It is surely not unreasonable, and not too burdensome on the consultant lobbyist, to expect lobbyists to be able to abide by such a requirement in a code of conduct. Ministers need to explain why such reasonable requirements are so burdensome that they cannot be included in a code of conduct, or why they do not think we need to uphold, or ask consultant lobbyists to uphold, such basic standards of behaviour.

[Richard Fuller (Bedford) (Con)]

Before the issue of burden is appropriate, there comes the question of efficacy, and a comparison between self-regulation in a code of conduct and a Government-managed code of conduct. What evidence can the hon. Gentleman bring to say that a Government-managed code of conduct is better than a peer group trying to maintain the integrity of their business?

[Mr Thomas]

The advantage of a statutory code of conduct is that it covers everybody. The problem with a voluntary code of conduct is that it covers only those who choose to submit themselves to it. Given the concerns about the lobbying industry—some of them unfair—surely it makes sense to have a code of conduct that everybody signs up to, after proper consultation, so that we achieve a basic standard of behaviour.

[Richard Fuller]

I appreciate that point, but one could argue that with an industry-based code of conduct to which people can voluntarily associate, peer group pressure and recognition will arise from people coming together to say, “We are approved in this way”. In some ways that might be a superior alternative to a Government registrar that is open to burdensome bureaucratic processes where, by the time they are resolved, people do not know what the issues are. In an area such as this, which is so open to public scrutiny, and the scrutiny of MPs and others, the pressures on a voluntary code would surely be even greater than they are for many other sectors of the economy.

[Mr Thomas]

I hear the point the hon. Gentleman makes, but I am sure he will have realised in the course of his research for this debate that there is not just one voluntary code prepared by the APPC, but a number. Although one must commend the efforts of the individuals who have initiated such codes, along with the firms and individuals who have signed up to them, surely it makes sense for everybody to sign up to one clear code of conduct, so that everybody knows what the basic standards are and nobody can be confused about whether certain principles apply in one code of conduct or whether a particular lobbyist is subscribing to another set of principles. That would create clarity for the consultant lobbyist and their client—and for us as the House, therefore—about what is expected of those who seek to engage with us.