The Standards Committee has warned all-party parliamentary groups (APPGs) could be used for commercial interests to buy influence with parliamentarians. One company trying to change the law by backing one of the groups tells Sky News they offer a transparent way to engage with Westminster.
APPGs do not receive any funding from parliament but are allowed to accept donations from outside - in many cases this comes in the form of a benefit in kind, where a public affairs firm or lobbying agency provides a secretariat to assist MPs with the administration of the group.Usually, the organisations providing the secretariat are themselves funded by other sources, which are duly declared in the APPG register.
The company has provided £25,500 in secretariat services to the APPG since its creation and is a rare example of a private company running the secretariat of an APPG itself, rather than through a public affairs or lobbying agency. Explaining why the company chose to invest in an APPG, Mr Morland said:"We did our research. The political decision about whether or not you can buy CBD face cream in Tesco is not up to the Home Office, or the FSA or DEFRA.
The second he identified was"lobbying, where you shared a flat with people 25 years before" and were able to influence decision-makers through personal networks. He added:"They have a very clear, transparent process around them. And they allow people like us to engage formally with government without knowing who's who and where and what to say and where to go. They are an open forum. Anyone can go."How you can explore the Westminster AccountsAPPGs must be formed by MPs and peers, with at least one officer from the governing party and one from the official opposition. At least one of the chairs must be an MP.
Describing the reaction of MPs when the prospect of the APPG was discussed, he said:"So first, [they were] sceptical, then some really quite sharp questions, followed by, 'okay, sounds like 500,000 jobs - what do you think we should do?' Which basically boiled down to us as the secretariat working for them, as it's their APPG not ours, and they make that very clear as we go along.
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