UK's professional lobbyists commit to independent regulation

London, 25 March 2010 - The three organizations that represent professional lobbyists: the Association of Professional Political Consultants (APPC); the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) and the Public Relations Consultants Association (PRCA) today announce the formation of the UK Public Affairs Council (UKPAC), an independent body that will create and then oversee a register of all who interact professionally with the institutions of government, or who advise on those interactions.

Says Sir Philip Mawer, Chairman of the UKPAC Implementation Group,

 “For the first time the public can be confident that lobbyists from all walks of life, be they in corporations, charities, local authorities, law and accountancy firms, management or communications consultancies, think tanks and public affairs companies, will be able to be monitored by a single, independent organization.

“The UKPAC will create and oversee a central register, updated quarterly, which will hold key details of those who practice public affairs.  All those listed will be demonstrating their commitment to promoting public confidence through transparency, accountability and effective self-regulation.”

Led by an independent Chairman and underpinned by a set of Guiding Principles outlining appropriate ethical standards for those who lobby, the UKPAC will also monitor the detailed codes of conduct and disciplinary procedures held and enforced by its founding members.  

The recruitment process for the Chairman and the Members is now underway and it is expected that the UKPAC will be fully operational by end June 2010.

UKPAC is an independent organization, funded by its founding bodies, whose governance is of the highest standards.  Although membership will initially be drawn from the APPC, the CIPR and the PRCA, it is intended to open the UKPAC to public affairs practitioners from all walks of life in the future.

The Deputy Chairman of the Implementation Team, Mark Adams, who has led industry efforts to develop the enhanced system of regulation, said:

“The vast majority of us in the lobbying industry support high standards and an effective system of self-regulation.  We have built on the industry's efforts in recent years and have addressed legitimate public concerns.  We hope that politicians from all parties will express their support for the Council and will call for all those who lobby government to become involved.”


The terms of reference for the UK Public Affairs Council The terms of reference for the UK Public Affairs Council


Independent Chairman and Members of UKPAC Independent Chairman and Members of UKPAC


The UKPAC website can be found at: www.publicaffairscouncil.org.uk


- Ends -

For further information contact:
Mark Ramsdale
+44(0) 207 233 6026
info@publicaffairscouncil.org.uk

Notes to editors:
The APPC: http://www.appc.org.uk/ represents 61 member companies and some 900 political consultants in the UK.
The CIPR: http://www.cipr.co.uk/ represents around 9,500 of the UK's professional communicators.  
The PRCA: represents around 250 of the UK's leading agencies and in-house teams.

The UKPAC has four key roles:
  1.  To hold and review periodically the Guiding Principles covering those who lobby, examining how a common Code of Conduct enshrining the Principles can be established and keeping under review any related Codes of member bodies (go to web links listed above to view the code of practice for each organisation);
  2.  To maintain a Register of those engaged in lobbying and of the organisations on whose behalf they lobby;
  3.  To oversee the disciplinary arrangements necessary to enforce the Principles and any common Code; to allocate complaints against individuals or organisations within member bodies to the most appropriate body; and to review periodically the process through which complaints are considered by member bodies;
  4.  To promote with its member bodies high ethical standards in lobbying generally.

UKPAC: Governance - the Council will be chaired on a Non-Executive, part-time basis by an independent person of high standing drawn from outside the lobbying industry but with experience relevant to the industry.  The Chairman will be joined on the UK PAC Board by two further part-time, independent members, plus six representatives from the lobbying industry, initially comprising two representatives each from the APPC, CIPR and PRCA.  Each member body will have one vote. Any decisions taken by the Board will require a majority separately amongst the independent members and amongst the members representing the industry.   Other member bodies will be eligible to join, subject to satisfying certain tests, and will then be entitled to nominate representatives on the Board.

Sir Philip Mawer was formerly the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards and is currently the Prime Minister's Independent Adviser on Ministers' Interests.

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