In a report released last week, the committee described the bill – which seeks to define “lobbyists” and “lobbying’”– as “seriously flawed”. It recommended that special advisers and senior civil servants be included in the proposed list of people with whom contact counts as lobbying.
In particular, the report said that the definition of “consultant lobbying” is so narrow that it would exclude the vast majority of people who could be described as “lobbyists”.
Committee chair Graham Allen MP told CSW that currently only one to five per cent of lobbyists are covered by the bill, and added: “You cannot leave out 95% from your lobbying register. It’s like having a dangerous dogs bill that only refers to cats.”
Asked whether extending the bill to civil servants would add a layer of bureaucracy, he said: “I don’t run a government department, but I’m sure you can come up with something sensible to capture meetings with people who have a political interest in a particular policy, and make sure that they have to write that down. We know [lobbying] when we see it.”
The Cabinet Office said it believes the bill strikes a balance between creating “greater transparency in the way people and organisations interact with government and politics” and avoiding the creation of an “administrative burden that could deter people or organisations from campaigning for what they believe in”.
Allen’s committee last week also released a report calling on the government to enshrine in law the necessity of consulting Parliament on military action.
Allen said: “We are a democracy. We should allow Parliament to fulfil its role.”
The PCRC is now launching an inquiry into the matter.