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Members Meeting: 14 May 2007

MINUTES of a MEMBERS’ GENERAL MEETING
held on 14 May 2007 at Millbank Tower, Millbank, London SW1P 4QP

 

Present:

B2L Public Affairs (Darren Caplan)
Chambré (Will Chambré)
Connect Public Affairs (Gill Morris - Chair)
Edelman (Michael Burrell)
Fishburn Hedges (Lucy Burns)
Fleishman Hillard (Nick Williams)
Foresight (Mark Adams)
Hill & Knowlton (Marcus Beltran)
Hill & Knowlton (Samantha Windett)
Lansons (Dirk Patterson)
Lexington (Gidon Freeman)
Morgan Allen Moore (Ele Collington)
Positif Politics (Daran Hill)
PPS (John Mills)
Precise Public Affairs (Robbie MacDuff)
Waterfront (Tim Carr)
Weber Shandwick (Tamora Langley)
Weber Shandwick (Daniel Sacker)
Whitehouse Consultancy (Chris Whitehouse)
APPC (Mary Shearer - Secretary)

Apologies:

APCO
AS Biss
Atherton Associates
Burson Marsteller
Citigate Public Affairs
Consolidated
EUK Consulting
Grayling
Greenhaus
Helen Johnson Consulting
Open Road
Politics International

1. Minutes of the Previous Meeting

Members approved the minutes of the meeting held on 5 March 2007. Matters arising and not otherwise on the agenda were as follows:

1.1 Planning Issues

John Mills reported that he would be making a full report to the meeting in September.

2. Annual Report

Members noted the report and the Chair summarised the main points.

3. Membership

The Chair was pleased to report that the management committee had accepted applications from Butler Kelly, Cogitamus, Insight and Political Intelligence since the last meeting. A number of other firms had made serious enquiries.

Members of the management committee explained how they decided membership admissions, including occasionally an interview where an applicant was known to have breached the Code in the past. The Chair felt that accepting an application was important in encouraging future compliance with the Code.

3.1 Code of Conduct

Noting that a number of the firms that had joined recently employed former MPs who were entitled to Parliamentary passes, Chris Whitehouse raised objections to the exemption in the Code that allowed former MPs and spouses of MPs to hold passes to which they were entitled in a personal capacity. Whilst some members agreed that there should be no exemptions, others felt that these exemptions were valid and that it would be unfair to ask new members to voluntarily give up passes; the Chair agreed that the management committee would discuss this again at the forthcoming review meeting.

4. Generic Principles

The Chair reported that, following agreement on the Generic Principles by APPC, PRCA and CIPR GAG, they had been sent to Sir Philip Mawer and Sir Gus O’Donnell to start the initial consultation process. The next stage would be to approach various organisations, such as the Law Society, the TUC and the Charities Commission.

5. European Transparency Initiative

Michael Burrell recalled that the proposal was for a voluntary system, similar to APPC’s but probably also requiring financial disclosure. The majority of colleagues in Brussels considered this disproportionate and counter-productive and there was a possibility that a significant number of consultancies would not join the system, which could lead to a statutory regime. Warwick Smith noted that the system would apply only to the Commission, and not to other European institutions.

The Chair said that APPC was concerned about the potential impact on the UK. Whilst APPC had no locus to approach the Commission, it was on record as being opposed to financial disclosure. She added that José Lalloum, the new chair of EPACA, had agreed to speak to members after the next meeting on 10 September.

6. APPC in Scotland

In the absence of Jo Nove, there was no report.

7. Management Committee Review

The Chair noted items for discussion at the management committee’s review meeting on 24 May, particularly the annual Code compliance process. It was agreed to circulate again the summary of members’ responses.
Action: Secretary

Members suggested that the following matters should also be discussed:
• Parliamentary passes (as discussed earlier in the meeting)
• Financial links between parliamentarians and member firms’ parent or sister companies
• The possibility of a Select Committee Inquiry into lobbying
• Think tanks
• Event for parliamentary researchers to raise awareness

8. Any Other Business

8.1 Training in Cardiff

In response to requests from members in Wales, a training seminar was being organised for the autumn.

Date of Next Meeting

Members’ meeting on Monday 10 September 2007 at 5.30pm at Connect. The speaker will be Jose Lalloum, Chairman of EPACA


 
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