UKPAC calls on lobbyists to show how transparency and standards can be achieved through self-regulation and voluntary action
26 November 2013 Return to news listings
Registering with UKPAC is a public demonstration of commitment to transparency and to a simple but meaningful set of Guiding Principles that are applicable to all lobbying and all who lobby.
Lobbying is an invaluable part of our constitutional process and critical to effective Government, policy-making and to the delivery of public services.
The UKPAC Guiding Principles give those who lobby a cultural and behavioural framework that mirrors the behaviours expected of Ministers, parliamentarians and public servants who are lobbied. Transparency is one of the Five Better Regulation Principles and the Register gives bodies and individuals the opportunity to commit publicly to the Guiding Principles on lobbying and to volunteer the fact that they are engaged in lobbying work and doing so on this basis.
The Government is insistent that the Lobbying Transparency Bill will be based on a narrow definition of lobbying designed to address a particular issue around ministerial meetings with those acting on behalf of third parties. The statutory duty to register will, therefore, apply only to a very small number on entities. The Government has made clear, however, that it puts great value in the complementary registration and regulatory arrangements delivered by UKPAC, industry bodies and others.
This narrowness of the statutory register proposed has been challenged in both Houses of Parliament and it is likely that the next Administration will come under pressure to create a wider statutory register or to introduce conduct regulation if it cannot point with confidence to voluntary arrangements that deliver transparency (a Register) and standards in the form of self-regulation across the broad community of those who lobby.
Those who believe this is a more effective way of managing lobbying and building trust in lobbying can demonstrate that commitment now through registration with UKPAC; a process that is both simple and inexpensive.
To find out more about how to register and the annual registration fee please click here.
