(APG0002)

Written evidence submitted by Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts CBE

Dear Sirs,

I am writing to give evidence to the Commons Standards Committee looking into All Party Parliamentary Groups (‘APPG’s’).

Declaration of Interest
I am an officer of four APPG’s - Extraordinary Rendition, Drones, Penal Affairs and Charities and Volunteering. Two of these have independently recruited and remunerated staff and two are supported by outside organisations.

They all undertake and publish serious research relevant to the legislation of the day. For example, the Drones APPG has just published a paper on the Covert Human Intelligence Bill.

Background
I see the purpose of an APPG as providing a framework for two way communication/ information flow – on the one hand for outside bodies to be able to brief interested Parliamentarians in detail about specialist topics and on the other for interested Parliamentarians to be able to cross question members of those bodies to test out the strength of their argument; in this way to increase the relevance and importance of Parliament to the outside world and simultaneously to aid Parliament in its role of holding the Executive to account.

And to do this in a way which is not possible through the normal methods of PQ’s, debates and ministerial correspondence.

Use of Parliamentary Passes for APPG Staff
To be effective the staff of the APPG’s with which I am involved need to be able to hold a Parliamentary pass. It would not be practical for a member of either House to always have to be on hand to shepherd them round the Palace for their meetings with groups, supporters, members or attendees.

At a stroke, removal of Parliamentary passes for staff would drastically reduce the effectiveness of APPG’s.

Risks of External Funding for APPG’s
There clearly can be risks of undue influence from external funding. But it should be possible to guard against this by a series of checks:

Officer Structure of APPG’s
A well run APPG will require an officer group able to give it a reasonable amount of time. It has become clear that MP’s find it hard to give this time. This is not a criticism of them, merely a reflection of where their priorities have to, indeed must, lie and the relentless pressure of modern social media. So many APPG’s rely on members of the House of Lords for their working officers. But under the present regulations a Peer cannot become sole Chair – so some APPG’s have difficulty in finding an MP able to do much more than attend the AGM.

In my view, a key feature of good governance is that those who undertake a role are directly responsible for it being carried out properly. It follows that it should be possible for a member of the House of Lords to act as Chair alone.

The Way Forward
Potential reform/changes could usefully include:

 

I would be happy to elaborate on the above.
 

3 November 2020