Following a recent vote in the UK Parliament, new rules for All Party Parliamentary Groups (APPG’s) have been agreed by the House of Commons. The new rules cover the work of the APPG for Events, which acts as the UK events industry’s official voice in Parliament, and which has been established since 2011. The new rules come into effect on 1 October 2023 and have been put in place, the government says, to “improve transparency and reduce the risk of foreign influence.” The new rules:
- MPs can only be an officer for a maximum of six APPGs, rather than unlimited
- APPGs will only have a maximum of four officers to ensure clear accountability
- Information requested from APPGs must be provided within 28 days
- Annual income and expenditure reports should be published by every group
- Annual reports detailing the work each group has done should be produced
- Annual general meetings (AGMs) should be chaired by one of a group of MPs not part of the APPG in question
- AGMs need at least eight members to be quorate
- The four officers should be held jointly and severally liable for compliance with the rules
- Groups should not have a secretariat provided or funded by a foreign government
- Officers must carry out due diligence on who is providing their secretariat
- Benefits from foreign governments must be registered
Robert Wright, managing director at events industry communications agency davies tanner, who acts as the official secretariat for the APPG and as its special advisor, said: “We welcome the new rules surrounding the control of APPG’s, and are committed to continuing to comply with all parliamentary regulations. We have worked hard over the past 13 years to ensure the APPG provides the events sector with a strong voice in parliament, working alongside three separate chairs and dozens of Members of both Houses of Parliament, and continue to implement our Parliamentary Plan of Work during the current session”. The APPG will also continue to support the work of The Business of Events, and contribute to its recent industry wide consultation, helping to develop a new Policy Agenda for the UK events sector. The RT Hon Theresa Villiers (pictured), MP for Chipping Barnet, remains as the current chair of the APPG, with support from vice-chairs Alex Sobel MP for Leeds North West; Greg Smith MP for Buckingham; Chris Green MP for Bolton West; Rachel Hopkins MP for Luton South and Mark Menzies MP for Fylde.
