APPC Annual Report 2008

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APPC Annual Report 2008

APPC Annual Report 2008

14 May 2008

APPC Annual Report 2008

Review

The Management Committee held its annual review meeting shortly after the 2007 AGM and the major action points were reported to members as follows:

· Compliance issues in respect of the Register and Code

· Encouraging a culture of Code compliance

· Recent EDM on transparency and the possibility of a Select Committee Inquiry.

Membership

This has been a record year for growth, with 14 new members joining, bringing the total to 57 members as at 1 May 2008. The Chair is delighted to have exceeded her original target of 50 members, which she has now increased, aiming for 60 members by the time of the AGM as there are a number of applications in the pipeline. The growth of APPC is vitally important for the whole sector as the future UK self-regulatory regime depends on it being accepted by the majority of PA consultancies.

Guiding Principles

The campaign to raise standards of ethics took the form of APPC’s concept of Guiding Principles. Having been approved formally, APPC, together with PRCA and CIPR GAG, worked together to produce Guiding Principles of conduct. The Guiding Principles seek to ensure that all those who interact with the political institutions of government adhere to the principles of openness, transparency, honesty, accuracy, integrity and propriety. This joint initiative secured meetings with the Parliamentary Commissioner and the Committee for Standards in Public Life. Meetings have also been arranged and/or sought with a number of relevant bodies that might adopt and disseminate the Guiding Principles, including the TUC, Charity Commission, Law Society, LGA, Cabinet Office, Management Consultancies Association. Preparations are in hand for a round-table event to which bodies such as the Charity Commission, TUC, Law Society and others will be invited to attend.

PASC Inquiry

APPC made a submission to the Inquiry in 2007 and gave oral evidence jointly with PRCA and CIPR GAG. At the time of writing, the focus of the Inquiry is still unclear but it is expected that oral evidence sessions will conclude at the end of May. The timing for its report and recommendations remain uncertain.

Compliance Issues

The Register has been prepared on a quarterly basis since February 2007 and the requirement to submit a Register entry has been incorporated into the Code of Conduct (in addition to the Articles of Association) to ensure that firms not in membership of APPC did not claim compliance with the Code of Conduct. New guidelines on completing Register entries were circulated to members in time for the Register at end February 2008.

Minor wording changes have been made to the Code, the new version having been circulated after the members’ meeting on 17 March 2008.

A meeting of members’ compliance officers was held in November 2007, which recommended that the Complaints & Disciplinary Procedures be reviewed. An outline plan for a new procedure was agreed at the members’ meeting in March 2007 and this is now being developed.

Code of Conduct Training Seminars

The number of training seminars held in London for members have been increased to three per year in order to meet increasing demand. There was record attendance of around 50 delegates at the seminar in March 2007. A training seminar was also held in Cardiff in September 2007.

Media

There has been a marked increase in media interest in public affairs this year from both the trade and national press. APPC has focussed its press releases on new members joining.

Other Issues

Other issues addressed during the year have included:

· up-dating the guidance for members on the PPERA, for which APPC is currently trying to obtain the approval of the Electoral Commission

· the European Transparency Initiative, which was also the subject of a talk to members by José Lalloum, Chair of EPACA, after the September 2007 meeting

· local government planning issues

· membership subscriptions

APPC in Scotland

The Scotland Committee held its AGM on 30July, returning Jo Nove from Greenhaus Communications as Chair and Ross Laird from Grayling Scotland as Secretary. The Committee itself is made up of representatives from WeberShandwick, Fleishman-Hillard and Citigate Dewe Rogerson. The Committee was also pleased to welcome New Consensus Communications as a member this year.

Following the Scottish Parliament elections in May 2007, APPC Scotland took the opportunity to remind all MSPs of the Code of Practice and registration requirements observed by member companies. A short briefing and the Code were sent to all MSPs in August 2007.

September was a busy month for APPC in Scotland. The Chair represented the organisation at a conference on the future of the industry’s regulatory status at Strathclyde University, alongside academics, Parliamentarians and representatives from SpinWatch and associated US and EU organisations. APPC in Scotland also took a platform role at a Holyrood Conference on the Scottish Parliament, talking to delegates about the role of public affairs practitioners in Scottish politics. APPC in Scotland resumed this platform once again in November for the second part of this conference series, alongside representatives of the new SNP Government.

The Committee has also put in place arrangements to hold APPC training events in Edinburgh for Scottish members of the organisation. We hope to roll this programme out over the course of 2008. We continue to liaise with ASPA (Association for Scottish Public Affairs) on all related media and commentator enquiries.

Gill Morris

Chair

May 2008

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APPC Annual Report 2008

14 May 2008

APPC Annual Report 2008