Many constituents have contacted me about the Lobbying Bill. I understand that there are concerns about its impact on charities, but I can reassure you that the Bill will not stop their campaigning and fund-raising. What it will do is provide greater transparency on lobbying. There are a considerable number of misconceptions circulating – and being promoted by some less than scrupulous lobby groups, ironically – so I have addressed some of those at the end of this article.
As an MP, I am (rightly) lobbied all the time by my constituents, whether at surgeries, by phone, by letter and e-mail, on the doorstep and even as I am shopping. This form of lobbying must take place unimpeded and I would not vote for anything that restricts it. But I am also lobbied by professional organisations putting forward the views of others.
As a Government Minister, I only meet lobbyists who want to talk to me about matters directly affecting Staffordshire Moorlands, and all those meetings are declared. But that transparency does not apply to all MPs (or indeed councillors) or lobbyists, so there is concern that sometimes an elected representative makes a decision after being lobbied by someone with a vested interest that has not been disclosed. The register of lobbyists this Bill is creating means there will be a clear record of lobbying organisations and that when an MP meets a lobbyist you will know who they met and – importantly – who the lobbyist was working for. The vast majority of MPs’ meetings are entirely innocent and positive but only by seeing who is meeting whom, will you know for sure that is the case.
The Bill also affects spending during an election period. The strict rules about how much political parties can spend are an important part of the British electoral system to ensure that it is not just the richest that win. However, these rules do not extend to other organisations, including lobbyists, trade unions and other groups who are running political campaigns. This means that our democratic process could be distorted by campaigners spending money on political issues that is not declared. I want to see greater transparency so that you know who is behind the information you receive during an election campaign.
This Bill restricts the maximum spend in the twelve months before an election to £390,000. This is hardly a small sum. In fact, in the 2005 and 2010 General Elections, the only organisations that would have been are the trade union Unison and the Conservative Rural Action Group (an organisation that campaigned to overturn the hunting ban).
In any case, charities are not affected regardless of the limit, unless they are carrying out explicit political campaigning, which would almost certainly breach the rules of the Charity Commission in any event. They could continue to raise funds as they wish.
Karen Bradley MP
11 September 2013
The sections below address some of the concerns and misconceptions about the Bill.
MYTH- BUSTER: STATUTORY REGISTER OF LOBBYISTS
Myth: Firms where only part of their business is lobbying won’t have to register.
Reality: No. The Register is specifically designed to capture professional consultant lobbyists and we absolutely intend for this to cover multidisciplinary firms that run consultant lobbying operations. There are, however, exclusions for those operating in a representative capacity, like the vast majority of trade organisations and charities.
Myth: MPs will have to register when they lobby on behalf of their constituents.
Reality: This simply is not true. To be required to register under the Bill a person must lobby “in the course of a business”, performing one’s public role as an elected official does not amount to carrying on a business and is therefore exempt. This is true of anyone holding an elected office such as an MP, MEP or councillor.
Myth: The register will be pointless as it doesn’t cover in house lobbyists.
Reality: When a minister meets with an in-house lobbyist, it is clear on whose behalf they are lobbying. That is not the case with consultant lobbyists. We estimate that 700 organisations will be required to sign up to this register, a number detailed in the impact assessment that was published alongside the Bill.
Myth: Transparency will be reduced as a result of the register as it doesn’t go as far as the current systems of voluntary disclosure.
Reality: This register is intended to make consultant lobbying more transparent – not act as a complete regulator of the industry. We have made it clear to the industry that we don’t want to undermine the existing voluntary initiatives on transparency and the associated self-regulation. We are committed to working with the industry to ensure that the statutory register fits with existing voluntary initiatives.
Myth: The Government is setting up a new quango.
Reality: No. As there is no existing public body with a relevant remit that could take responsibility for the register, an independent office-holder – the Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists – will be established. This is not a new quango it is simply the creation of a statutory office holder.
Myth: Current government reporting of ministerial meetings is too slow/not sufficiently detailed.
Reality: This is the first government to publish such information and we are continuing to refine the process. We have now published the information from January-March 2013 and in future, we have committed to publishing quarterly transparency returns in the quarter immediately following the period in question. Published information is now available on data.gov.uk and gov.uk – and is published in both PDF and CSV formats.
MYTH- BUSTER: NON-PARTY CAMPAIGNING
Myth: The expansion of activities that are being captured for controlled expenditure and the lower maximum spending limits will stifle campaigns by third parties.
Reality: The new lower spending limits are proportionate and still substantial sums, particularly when considered alongside the fact that the costs of campaigning have fallen in recent years as the use of online tools increases.
The Bill is bringing what third parties have to declare as ~controlled expenditure‟ more in line with what political parties have to declare, something which the Electoral Commission has recently called for. We agree that a wider list of activities more properly reflects the type of campaigning activity that third parties will carry out. It makes little sense for an advert by a third party in support of a political party to be caught, but not a public rally in support of that party.
Myth: Activity by a campaign group would be caught by the Bill if it could affect the outcome of the election - even if that was not its purpose.
Reality: At present, either the purpose or effect of a third party’s expenditure on election material may be considered by the Electoral Commission in determining whether that expenditure constitutes “controlled expenditure”– and we are not changing this.
Myth: Charities will be forced to register as third parties under the Bill.
Reality: At present, charities can undertake non-party political activity where the trustees can show that it supports the charity’s purposes and would be an effective use of the charity’s resources. The law prohibits charities from engaging in party politics, party political campaigning, supporting political candidates or undertaking political activity unrelated to the charity’s purposes.
At the 2010 General Election, very few charities were registered as third parties. Provided they continue to campaign as they always have – i.e. they are not promoting the electoral success or otherwise enhancing the standing of parties/candidates - charities will not be forced to register as third parties.
However, if a charity is using material that could be seen as indicating to the public that particular candidates or parties support or oppose its policies may need to register with the Electoral Commission as a third party. This will depend on how the charity is planning to campaign and how much it is spending.
Myth: Charities will be prevented from campaigning on policy issues in case they are seen to be endorsing a political party or candidate.
Reality: Charities will still be able to give support to specific policies advocated by political parties if it would help achieve their charitable purposes.
The Bill does not regulate attempts to engage with the policy of any political party; nor does it regulate having a view on any aspect of any policy of any party; nor any attempt to influence the policy of any party.
Such activity would only be captured if it was promoting the electoral success or otherwise enhancing the standing of parties or candidates. This is the same as under current legislation.
Myth: Charities will effectively have to stop campaigning during election years.
Reality: That is not the case. Under both current rules and the Bill, for a charity to incur controlled expenditure, that expenditure would have to be for “promoting or procuring [the] electoral success” of a party or candidates.
Only then will the expenditure incurred against the range of activities count towards the spending limits.
Provided charities continue to campaign as they currently do, expenditure they incur on the wider range of activities will not be treated as controlled expenditure.
Myth: Staff costs will be now count towards third parties spending limits.
Reality: Staff costs already have to be included by recognised third parties when they incur controlled expenditure. The Bill does not change this, although it extends the number of activities which could count as controlled expenditure.
MYTH- BUSTER: TRADE UNION ADMINISTRATION
Myth: This is a party political attack on the Trade Union movement and the Labour Party.
Reality: That simply is not true. This is about trade unions knowing who their members are and the union members and general public having confidence in these records. We are simply building on the existing principle that trade unions are required to keep membership records accurate and up to date.
Myth: Disclosure of membership details under the new provisions breach human rights.
Reality: Again, this is not true. There are safeguards in the way information is handled, both in existing legislation and in additional provisions in the Bill.
In handling any membership details, the Government will have to comply with the Human Rights Act 1998 and act consistently with ECHR rights. The Cabinet Office and a union’s assurer will also be required to comply with the Data Protection Act 1998, including the principle that personal data must be processed fairly and lawfully.
Myth: This is just a way to stop unions taking industrial action.
Reality: We are not amending the requirements around industrial action ballots. The requirement to keep a list of member names and addresses is distinct from the duties a union must comply with when balloting for industrial action. The membership information dealt with in these provisions does not form part of the information a union must provide to an employer in advance of a ballot on industrial action.
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