Lobbying, Business Appointment Rules and Disclosure

The Register of Consultant Lobbyists should be replaced by an activity-based Lobbying Register.

Any individual or organisation carrying out lobbying activity should be required to register and submit information returns on their lobbying activity.

As well as ministers and permanent secretaries, lobbyists should also have to register on the basis of any communications with special advisers, directors general, directors, non-executive directors or any other government advisers (paid or unpaid) equivalent to director general or director level.

Extending the reporting requirements to contacts with special advisers must be prioritised through secondary legislation.

The list of roles equivalent to permanent secretary should be reviewed and updated through secondary legislation.

There should be no requirement to be VAT-registered for any individual or organisation to be considered to be carrying out lobbying activity.

There should be no exemption from the requirement to register on the basis that the making of a communication is incidental to the main focus of a business’s activities.

A single AI-enabled digital platform should be developed that acts both as the Lobbying Register and as a central repository for government to input and publish departmental transparency releases.

Government should not accept any meeting requests to discuss matters that fall within the definition of lobbying, set out in legislation, with any organisation, unless that organisation has registered on the Lobbying Register.

The Registrar of Lobbyists and Cabinet Office would be jointly responsible for the maintenance of the new AI-enabled digital platform, but with distinct areas of responsibility that would be visible to the public through a timeliness dashboard.

In parallel to progressing the primary legislation that will be needed to create a register of all lobbying activity, Cabinet Office should collate all departmental transparency releases and publish them on an accessible, centrally managed and searchable digital platform. This platform should be used to host the Lobbying Register once legislation is enacted.

The single consolidated AI-enabled digital platform for government should be formally championed by the Cabinet Secretary and Chief Operating Officer.

The Chief Operating Officer should convene, twice yearly, a meeting of permanent secretaries to discuss the quality and timeliness of departmental transparency returns.

The Registrar of Lobbyists should submit a report on their findings for consideration at each meeting.

Government transparency releases should include details of interactive dialogue through non‑corporate communication channels, such as WhatsApp and informal meetings, such as those that take place at party conferences.

Departments should apply a principles-based approach when judging whether a communication warrants inclusion in the releases, taking into account whether the communication prompts significant consideration by government.

Meetings held between special advisers and external organisations should be included within government transparency releases.

Meetings between all directors and external organisations should be included within government transparency releases.

For each specific instance of lobbying activity, the following information should be declared by the lobbyist:

• date of engagement
• recipient
• method of engagement
• subject matter (description to include specific legislation, policy or regulation targeted, where relevant)
• client represented (where relevant)
• ultimate intended beneficiary
• details of how the organisation is funded

For each external meeting, the following information should be declared in the departmental transparency releases:

• date of engagement
• lead minister/official’s name
• name of the individual or organisation
• method of engagement
• purpose of the meeting/ subject matter (description to include specific legislation, policy or regulation affected, where relevant)
• client represented (where relevant)
• ultimate intended beneficiary

Government departments should comply with Cabinet Office guidance that the description of the purpose of meetings should be meaningful and clear.

Lobbyists and government departments should submit returns on a monthly basis. Government and the Registrar should publish all transparency returns no later than two months from them first being entered.

The Office of the Registrar of Lobbyists needs to be suitably resourced to ensure it has the capacity and technical capability to deliver its expanded role.

There should be a graduated fee structure for lobbyists to register with the Registrar of Lobbyists.

There should be a significant increase in the maximum level of civil penalty that can be imposed by the Registrar for offences under the Lobbying Act, including carrying out lobbying when unregistered.

Cabinet Office should coordinate a forum of the bodies responsible for considering applications under the Business Appointment Rules. This should identify common areas encountered and best practice for managing these, by providing support and advice. The forum should meet twice yearly and produce an annual report sharing key themes and learning.

Cabinet Office should provide guidance to bodies making decisions on BARs applications on how to consider matters of national interest.

Cabinet Office should modernise the Business Appointment Rules to ensure that they provide a robust framework for protecting public office while not dissuading outside talent from entering public service. The update to the Rules should take into account the outcome of the Civil Service Commission review of the Rules for civil servants.

The name of the Business Appointment Rules should be updated to better reflect their purpose.

The modernisation of the Business Appointment Rules should require applications to be dealt with according to the risk presented by an outside appointment, building on the broad categorisation approach adopted post ACOBA.

Cabinet Office should consider extending the scope of the Business Appointment Rules to include non-executive directors and other similar government advisers.

Cabinet Office should work with the eight BARs bodies to agree and publish minimum service levels and key performance indicators (KPIs) for all stages of the application process.

Cabinet Office should monitor performance against minimum service levels and KPIs, holding departments that fail to meet them to account. It should review any complaints referred to it by a body in relation to the processing or adjudication of BARs applications and provide advice.

Cabinet Office should provide guidance to all those subject to the Business Appointment Rules on their obligations in advance of them needing to interact with the system and provide guidance to line managers completing Business Appointment Rules forms for staff.

Cabinet Office should oversee the development of an intuitive online application form, to be used by all applicants seeking advice under the BARs and tailored to meet the requirements of each body. This application form should prompt users to ensure timely completion, act as a performance tracker and flag areas of common issue.

A register of individuals and their employing companies that are found to be in serious breach of the BARs should be published centrally for a period commensurate with the seriousness of the breach.

Cabinet Office should explore the potential for sanctions for breaches of the BARs, including those against prospective employers, to strengthen enforcement of the system.

Cabinet Office should consider how best to reduce duplication in the information that ministers are required to provide to the Independent Adviser and to the relevant parliamentary bodies as MPs or peers about their interests.

Cabinet Office should consider how to support officials to submit data on their financial interests through improved data collection processes and the provision of standardised training and guidance.

Cabinet Office should consider how to enhance the accessibility of the declaration of financial interests for civil servants, special advisers and non-executive directors.