The Cabinet Office has pledged to revise its proposals for a statutory register of lobbyists after its original model was widely criticised for being ineffective.
Last summer, the cross-party Political and Constitutional Reform Committee slammed the government’s proposals for regulating lobbying, concluding that no register would be better than the one the government had outlined.
This view echoed that of voluntary sector leaders, who had warned that the proposals were weak and would do nothing to improve transparency around who had the ear of government ministers and officials.
Last Friday, a new Commercial Lobbyists (Registration and Code of Conduct) Bill brought forward by Labour MP Thomas Docherty had its second reading and was debated in the Commons. Docherty’s Bill went further than the government’s original proposals in that it suggested any statutory register should apply to all those who undertake commercial paid lobbying, not just the third-party lobbyists who were captured by the government's plan.
“We need a level playing field,” Docherty said. “That was the conclusion of the Public Administration Select Committee and Unlock Democracy, and it was the conclusion reached by the industry itself.
“I am not sure that the Cabinet Office is there yet, but I know the minster is considering the matter carefully.”
Docherty’s Bill also suggested that any register must be underpinned by a code of conduct, though it did not go into detail about what such a code would contain. He gave a guarantee that he would produce a draft code of conduct prior to any Committee stage of the Bill.
However, at the end of the debate Docherty withdrew his Bill following assurances from Chloe Smith (pictured), Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office, that the government is revisiting the issue and will produce new proposals soon.
She said: “I think there is much to applaud in the [new] Bill, but it raises further questions which, as I know he agrees, need to be explored fully.”
She added that the original consultation generated a large response, and “we are currently taking stock”.
“The evidence will allow us to develop the statutory register in a way that increases transparency while ensuring equal treatment of all parties, and without placing disproportionate burdens on those affected,” Smith said.
However, she declined to give a timescale as to when the new proposals might be published.
Chloe Stables, parliamentary and media manager at NCVO which has led the sector’s campaign on this issue, said: “I’m pleased to hear the Cabinet Office will be coming forward with their own proposals soon as this is an issue that has been around for some time. The intervention by Thomas Docherty is helpful, not least because it underlines the point that any register not linked to a code of conduct is fairly meaningless.”
