Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Written Statement of 23 February 2015, Official Report, column 292WS, on Protecting Public Money, which are the (a) five local enterprise partnerships and (b) local authorities which have been paying for lobbyists in potential non-compliance with the Code of Recommended Practice on Local Authority Publicity.

There is clear evidence of lobbying by Local Enterprise Partnerships by examination of current registers from the Association of Professional Political Consultants and from the Public Relations Consultants Association for public affairs consultancy (not public relations contracts):

Recent registers have listed the following:

• Hertfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership – Bellenden Public Affairs;
• Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Local Enterprise Partnership – Edelman;
• Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership – Instinctif;
• Thames Valley Berkshire Local Enterprise Partnership – Instinctif.

Previous editions of the registers have also recorded:

• Thames Valley Berkshire Local Enterprise Partnership – Burson-Marsteller;
• Black Country Local Enterprise Partnership – Insight Public Affairs;
• Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership – College Public Policy;
• Sheffield Local Enterprise Partnership – Connect Public Affairs.

There may be further lobbying contracts which have not been declared. I am also aware that Northamptonshire Local Enterprise Partnership in 2014 published a lobbying contract tender.

On one level, the transparency by the public affairs companies themselves is to be welcomed. However, as outlined in the Written Miniterial Statement of 23 February (HCWS292), the Government deems this expenditure to be an inappropriate and wasteful use of taxpayers’ money.

The same registers also show that a number of local authorities have public affairs consultancies, which seems at odds with the provisions in the local government Publicity Code.