[open-government] Fwd: [ogp] UK open government campaigners tell government its proposed lobbying register is "not-fit-for-purpose"

Fri Dec 13 14:53:38 UTC 2013

I thought some of you might be interested to see that a number of UK civil
society organisations have just published an open letter calling on the
government to stop lobbying secrecy.

http://www.opengovernment.org.uk/lobbying-register-not-fit-for-purpose/

I'm copying the text of the letter below for reference. If you agree and
you haven't yet done so, please sign and share our petition!

https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/stop-secret-corporate-lobbying

All the best,

Jonathan

Open government campaigners tell Ministers: Proposed lobbying register is
“not fit-for-purpose”<http://www.opengovernment.org.uk/lobbying-register-not-fit-for-purpose/>

With the end of the pause to the Transparency of Lobbying, Non-Party
Campaigning and Trades Union Administration Bill coming on Monday, members
of the UK OGP civil society network have today written an open letter to
ministers calling on the Government to redraft Part 1 of the Bill in order
to enable proper public scrutiny of lobbying activity in the UK. Please
share this letter (copied below) widely and sign this
petition<https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/stop-secret-corporate-lobbying>
to
call on the Government to put a stop to secret lobbying.
------------------------------
The Rt Hon Francis Maude MPThe Rt Hon Andrew Lansley MPCabinet Office70
WhitehallLondon  SW1A 2AS Cc: Deputy Prime Minister

12 December 2013

Dear Mr Maude and Mr Lansley,

*Response to Mr Maude’s letter of 1 November 2013 to the UK OGP civil
society network re the Government’s commitment to lobbying transparency*

As campaigners for greater openness in decision making, we applauded the
Coalition commitment in May 2010 to ‘regulate lobbying through introducing
a statutory register of lobbyists and ensuring greater transparency’.
However, we are extremely concerned that the current plans, in Part 1 of
the Transparency of Lobbying, Non-Party Campaigning and Trades Union
Administration Bill, will fail to deliver the transparency promised. The
proposed register is not fit-for-purpose. In the short time the Government
has allowed for debate on the bill, it has been heavily criticised by the
Political and Constitutional Reform Select Committee and Members of
Parliament, as well as representatives of the consultancy industry and a
wide range of civil society groups.

We urge you to redraft Part 1 of the Bill to:

   - broaden the definition of lobbyist to include all third party
   consultants and in-house lobbyists, whether corporate, union or charity;
   - extend the definition to include lobbying of mid-ranking civil
   servants and special advisors; and
   - introduce fuller disclosure requirements to include the target, topic
   and estimated cost of lobbying activity.

Central to our concerns is the narrow definition of lobbyist. As drafted,
the Bill excludes at least eighty per cent of the industry, notably
in-house lobbyists. It will also exclude most key consultant lobbyists
through a significant loophole: those who in the course of their lobbying
do not make contact with Ministers and Permanent Secretaries will not be
required to register. This, as lobbyists and the lobbied well know, is the
majority of lobbying activity. The justification for such a narrow
definition does not stand up to scrutiny. The Government has defined the
problem as a lack of transparency about who an agency is representing when
it meets with a Minister. Official meeting lists reveal that this would
apply to only a handful of meetings. As many in Parliament have pointed
out, if this is a genuine problem, it would be better solved with improved
disclosure from Ministers.

Of equal concern to us is the lack of any meaningful information on
lobbying activity to be included in the proposed register. It would require
lobbyists merely to register their clients, but reveal nothing of their
interaction with government (i.e. whom they are lobbying, and what they are
seeking to influence). This information is essential if the government is
to realise its laudable aim through the register of ‘increasing public
accountability and public trust in the UK system of government and
improving the efficiency of government policy outcomes’. Fuller disclosure
would also bring the UK in line with international standards.

The fundamental purpose of introducing a register of lobbyists is to allow
the public to examine and understand the activities of lobbyists, to
improve government accountability and ultimately to rebuild public trust.
It is imperative to have in mind the widely held public perception of how
decisions are taken by government, a view summed up by David Cameron as ‘a
cosy club at the top making decisions in its own interest’. This lack of
trust must be of serious concern to Government. Proper disclosure rules for
lobbyists would go a long way to dispel this perception. The reality of
lobbying in the UK, which would be revealed in a robust register of
lobbyists, would be far more mundane than is popularly imagined. A refusal
to introduce genuine transparency, however, would only reinforce the
perception that public scrutiny is something politicians would rather avoid.

The shortcomings of the current Bill are all the more surprising
considering the leadership you have shown through the Open Government
Partnership and your vocal support for greater transparency. The current
proposals threaten to undermine not only your ambition to be ‘the most open
and transparent government in the world’, but also detract from the OGP
initiative. Civil society groups long ago identified a robust register as a
key priority for the Partnership, yet we encountered a surprising
reluctance from some Cabinet Office officials to engage with us during the
development of the proposals. The result is a register that is wholly
inadequate.

The Coalition rightly identified ‘secret’ lobbying as an issue of public
concern, one which ‘goes to the heart of why people are so fed up with
politics’. ‘We can’t go on like this,’ said David Cameron. We urge you to
now fulfil your commitment with a proper register which will allow public
scrutiny of lobbying activity in the UK.

Yours sincerely,

Alexandra Runswick, Director, Unlock Democracy
Dr Andy Williamson FRSA, Founder, FutureDigital & Chair, Ivo.org
Anne Thurston, Director, International Records Management Trust
Anthony Zacharzewski, democracy campaigner
Gavin Hayman, Director of Campaigns, Global Witness
Graham Gordon, Head of Public Policy, CAFOD
Jonathan Gray, Director of Policy, The Open Knowledge Foundation
Maurice Frankel, Director, Campaign for Freedom of Information
Miles Litvinoff, Coordinator, Publish What You Pay UK
Simon Burall, Director, Involve
Tamasin Cave, Director, Spinwatch
Thomas Hughes, Executive Director, ARTICLE 19

-- 

Jonathan Gray

Director of Policy and Ideas  | *@jwyg <https://twitter.com/jwyg>*

The Open Knowledge Foundation <http://okfn.org/>

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