Following a recent vote in Parliament, new rules for All Party
Parliamentary Groups (APPG’s) have been agreed by the House of Commons.
The All Party Parliamentary
Groups for Events (APPG) is a cross party
group made up of members from both Houses of Parliament, and acts as the
industry’s voice in Westminster.
The new rules, which come into effect on 1 October 2023, have been
put in place to improve transparency and reduce the risk of foreign influence.
The new rules out a spotlight on reporting income and expenditure, detailing the
work groups are doing and registering benefits given by foreign governments.
A summary of 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 an The Business
of Events, an events industry think tank, 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 MP, member of parliament for Chipping
Barnet, remains as the current chair of the APPG, with support from vice chairs,
Alex Sobel MP member of parliament for Leeds North West, Greg Smith MP member
of parliament for Buckingham, Chris Green MP member of parliament for Bolton
West, Rachel Hopkins MP member of parliament for Luton South and Mark Menzies
MP member of parliament for Fylde.
A desire to travel led Holly Patrick to the business meetings and events world and she’s never looked back. Holly takes a particular interest in event sustainability and creating a diverse and inclusive industry. When she’s not working, she can be found rolling skating along Brighton seafront listening to an eclectic playlist, featuring the likes of Patti Smith, Sean Paul, and Arooj Aftab.
