Political and Constitutional Reform CommitteeFurther written evidence submitted by the UK Public Affairs Council (UKPAC)

1. UKPAC is pleased to have submitted its response to the Government’s consultation on the Introduction of a Statutory Register of Lobbyists, a copy of which can be found on our website at www.publicaffairscouncil.org.uk.

2. I wanted to add to that response by writing separately to let you know of the progress UKPAC has made with its register. As you will be aware we re-launched the website and register on 15 February 2012. We have since had two quarterly updates. The quarter to 30 November 2011 has been archived and can now be viewed as a PDF document, while the period to 29 February 2012 is the current searchable data. Registrants are now updating or registering for the quarter to 31 May 2012 which we will publish in mid-June.

3. The most recent searchable data, for the period to 29 February, has 2041 entities listed as clients by lobbyists (this figure includes clients listed by more than one organisation or individual who lobby on its behalf). There are 1,387 individuals listed; these are employees of lobbying companies and individuals in CIPR membership. Under organisations, there are 67 APPC member companies registered along with the companies and other bodies who were named as the employers of individual CIPR registrants. It is interesting to see that the register already includes some voluntary and public bodies and law firms where these organisations employ members of the CIPR.

4. We are proud of the step change that this represents from the single membership organisation, flat registers which had existed before (a comparison with the current PRCA register demonstrates the added value the new approach gives). We wanted to provide proof of concept and I consider we have, after a challenging start, now demonstrated what can be done. We have: simple self-registration, the possibility of adding other groups or individuals; the ability to add to or reduce data fields; and a data base readily searchable on a range of criteria.

5. I do hope that you will take the opportunity to have a look at the UKPAC register.

April 2012