Chloe Smith MP
Parliamentary Secretary
Cabinet Office
70 Whitehall
London SW1A 2AS
26th September 2012
Dear Chloe,
Congratulations on your new post and I trust you will bring much needed new energy to the bid to secure a statutory register of lobbyists, with a system that is as tough, comprehensive and effective as possible.
Such a register must include all lobbyists, in-house and agency, commercial and non-profit above a minimum threshold.
Moreover, I believe it must require lobbyists to register who is lobbying whom, what they are lobbying for, and a good faith estimate of money spent on lobbying.
As a sponsor of Early Day Motion 222, I want to reiterate my hope, and that of my constituents that the Government’s promise to introduce a register will be acted upon in this parliamentary session.
Previous correspondence with your predecessor was disappointing in that he refused to commit to a timescale for action and I hope you can provide some detail now that the consultation process is complete.
On a related matter, I understand that the Cabinet Office decided to not recognise the separate submissions of over 1,300 people sent in response to the consultation via the Unlock Democracy website. These submissions were emailed directly to the Cabinet Office and I am told that Unlock Democracy had agreed with the Cabinet Office in advance on the format.
These were substantive responses to a consultation, not just people signing a petition, and many were submitted by my constituents who, quite rightly, feel aggrieved that their contributions have been sidelined.
On their behalf, please would you ensure that all submissions to the consultation on “Introducing a Statutory Register of Lobbyists” are formally recorded?
Thank you for looking at this and I look forward to your response.
Yours sincerely,
Caroline Lucas MP, Brighton Pavilion
Read the ministerial response here
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