Lobbying reform has “failed” and needs to be revisited, the professional body for lobbyists has said.
The Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) launched a “lobbying for good lobbying” campaign in Parliament on Tuesday, calling for greater transparency in politics.
The campaign follows a string of high-profile lobbying scandals that CIPR said had undermined trust in politics and exposed the limitations of current regulations.
CIPR chief executive Alastair McCapra said: “It has been nearly nine years since the Lobbying Act was passed with the intention of improving trust and transparency in our politics – by any measure, it has failed.”
The campaign is calling for a register of all lobbying activity, whether oral, written or through electronic communications, including details of who has carried out the lobbying and who has been lobbied.
The CIPR has also called for a more comprehensive register of lobbyists and a review into the length of time between ministers leaving office and taking up employment as paid lobbyists.
Campaigners have criticised the current regime as too limited, with many people who carry out lobbying activities not required to be listed on the Register of Consultant Lobbyists.
Building trust is for everyone’s benefit— Alastair McCapra
Details of who ministers have met with are also often published late and contain limited information about what was discussed.
Mr McCapra added: “Building trust is for everyone’s benefit. Parliamentarians need to trust lobbyists to provide the best information and advice. The public need to trust parliamentarians that they are meeting with lobbyists to better inform them and their ability to make policy decisions.”
Scandals including the collapse of Greensill and then-MP Owen Paterson’s paid lobbying of officials have put the spotlight on lobbying activities in recent years.
MPs on the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee have also called for tougher restrictions on former ministers taking up lobbying jobs and is carrying out an inquiry into how the Lobbying Act has operated since it was passed in 2014.
