Cabinet Office pressed on lobbying response

After pressure from a Commons committee, the Cabinet Office has indicated it will set out its position on lobbying before the summer recess.

Following the recent reshuffle, Angela E Smith has been confirmed as the minister handed the task of producing the government's overdue response to the public administration committee (PASC) inquiry into lobbying.

The minister, herself a former lobbyist, set out the Cabinet Office position at Thursday's one-off evidence session on lobbying regulation.

The event was seen in advance as a warning from PASC - which undertook an 18-month inquiry into the sector and published its recommendations in January - that it is getting fed up with waiting for a government response.

The response was originally promised by the Cabinet Office – which is responsible for cross-government policy on lobbying – in March, but there have been delays and the resignation of Tom Watson from the ministerial post has also not helped.

In the Portcullis House session, PASC chairman Tony Wright turned the heat up on Smith, asking her outright when the response would be produced.

Smith started by saying: "I owe the committee an apology for the lack of response. I'd like to get a response as soon as possible – preferably before the summer recess."

The recess begins on July 21, less than three weeks away.

Wright asked if there was a draft government response on her desk, to which she said: "Yes, as well as notes on suggestions and thoughts on the issues. We are not at 'square one'."

Smith was reluctant to pre-empt what the response would say, but did admit that she was "not entirely persuaded by the case for a mandatory register" because of concerns that such an approach might dissuade groups from lobbying.

Wright assured her that PASC did not foresee that being an issue.

Committee member David Hayes also pushed Smith on how likely it was that the government's response would be published before July 21, pointing out that if this deadline was missed "then we’ll effectively have a delay of another three to four months".

Smith responded: "I really want to get it out before recess. We'll do our absolute best."

The minister is herself a former lobbyist, having worked at the League Against Cruel Sports from 1983 to 1995, latterly as head of political and public relations.

The focus of the Portcullis House gathering – which lasted for just under 90 minutes - was very much on Smith, but the session began with two other groups of witnesses

Tamasin Cave of the Alliance for Lobbying Transparency, Peter Facey of Unlock Democracy and Owen Espley of Friends of the Earth pressed the case for a mandatory register of lobbying.

Cave expressed her "frustration and disappointment" with the delay of the Cabinet Office response.

And representatives from the industry's membership associations were asked by Wright and his committee colleagues how their plans for the 'Public Affairs Council' were progressing.

Mark Adams, convenor of the Public Affairs Council working party, told the committee that "good progress" had been made but stressed that it was a 'work in progress'.

Asked by committee member Julie Morgan when the industry would have a "definite proposal" about how the council could work, Adams said it was "difficult to predict".