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2012 Blog Posts
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BLOG: A Whitehouse Spokesperson says
January 2012
Seven Days
Whitehouse consultant Katarzyna Wilk outlines her week and work with the institutions of Europe for Public Service Europe.
Click here to read Katazyna’s profile in full.
Katarzyna Wilk, Consultant
Leading lobbyist: Government consultation is welcome but code of conduct needed to ensure credibility
A leading lobbyist has welcomed the launch of a Government consultation on an official register for individuals and groups that lobby government, but has insisted that a formal register must be backed by a compulsory code of conduct to ensure its effectiveness and credibility.
Chris Whitehouse, Managing Director of The Whitehouse Consultancy, has claimed that statutory regulation of the profession is now required following a series of failed attempts at self regulation – the latest of which, the UK Public Affairs Council, has faced a series of criticisms for errors, redactions and omissions in its register.
Whitehouse has also warned that government and the lobbying industry risk further scandals unless a compulsory code of conduct is introduced, professional lobbyists are banned from holding parliamentary passes, and officials are required to register their meetings with lobbyists.
Chris Whitehouse, Managing Director of The Whitehouse Consultancy, said:
“The Government’s consultation is long overdue. Every effort of the lobbying industry to regulate itself has been an abject failure, and has done nothing to improve transparency or prevent what has become a depressing laundry list of scandals that bring the profession as a whole into disrepute.”
“At this point we clearly need a statutory register of those who make a living from lobbying, and if this register is to have shred of credibility then it must be held by a statutory agency and be backed by a statutory code of conduct. Anything less will be a missed opportunity and would place us straight back on the path we’re currently on.”
Chris Rogers, Communications Manager
New Year’s resolution for lobbying regulation
Barely 10 days into 2012 and political lobbying is already back in the headlines with a story in the Financial Times about the departure of one of David Cameron’s key policy advisors, James O’Shaughnessy, to join a prominent lobbying agency.
The departure of a senior figure within Downing Street is of course interesting in its own right – and much as with the replacement of Andy Coulson by Craig Oliver as Downing Street’s Director of Communications last year it will be interesting to see if and how the change in personnel affects the workings of Number 10. But for such a move to be noted so prominently shows the broader significance of the story: namely that the headlines of late-2011 and the questions asked over the relationship between Adam Werrity and former Defence Secretary Liam Fox have not been forgotten.
The public affairs sector will continue to face scrutiny in 2012, and questions will be asked if the long-awaited and much needed statutory registration of lobbyists is not introduced in a timely manner.
It is unsurprising that any professional would look to make use of their experience when moving onto a new position. The key question is not so much what they know, as how that knowledge is applied - and this latest story should serve as a reminder of the urgent need for statutory regulation in order to guarantee the necessary transparency in the industry. The new statutory register must also be underpinned by a statutory code of conduct administered not by the profession, but by an agency of government, if the new regulatory structure is not to collapse at the first scandal.
Chris Rogers, Communications Manager