The Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) has welcomed the Government’s announcement of a new Ethics and Integrity Commission (EIC), which aims to drive up standards in public life and delivers on a key manifesto commitment.
The Commission, which will be established by strengthening and reforming the Committee on Standards in Public Life, addresses longstanding concerns about the UK’s fragmented approach to regulating ethical standards in Government. The EIC will be responsible for coordinating ethical bodies, formalising cooperation, and the sharing of best practice across Government.
While the Commission represents an important step toward strengthening integrity in Parliament, the Institute has long maintained that comprehensive reform requires a register of lobbying activity, as opposed to the current, narrow and largely ineffective register of consultant lobbyists. The CIPR has renewed its call for an expanded lobbying register that captures all oral, written or electronic communications with the objective of influencing Government or Parliamentary functions to address Westminster’s status as an international outlier in lobbying transparency.
We welcome the Government’s decision to establish the Ethics and Integrity Commission and commend them following through on a key manifesto pledge. For too long, public trust in our political system has been undermined by scandals and a failing transparency regime.
As the professional body representing public affairs professionals committed to ethical and transparent practice, the CIPR stands ready to work with the new Commission and the Government to ensure it can do its work effectively. We are glad to see some financial sanctions for the revolving door. However, we think the Government can and must do more to restore public confidence in the ethics of our public officials.
Effective oversight must include comprehensive transparency around lobbying activity and meaningful standards that apply to everyone influencing policy. After years of a patently failing lobbying regulation scheme, the only way to fully restore public trust is by bolstering our lobbying regulation to ensure that those engaging in lobbying are held to the highest ethical standards.
Alastair McCapra, CIPR Chief Executive
