(APG0007)

Written evidence submitted by Sir Peter Bottomley & Lord Hannay

 

This evidence is being submitted to the House of Commons Standards Committee’s enquiry into All Party Parliamentary Groups (APPGs) on behalf of two APPGs - the United Nations APPG and the APPG on Global Security and Non-Proliferation - which we co-chair.

 

The APPGs - often in joint meetings - deal with wide international policies and issues, including: climate change and the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament, the banning of chemical and biological weapons, pandemics, and human rights. Our topics concern the work of a substantial number of international organisations, including: the UN and its many agencies, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty conferences and the Organisation for the Prevention of Chemical Weapons, the Conference on Disarmament, the G7 and the G20. As a Permanent Member of the UN’s Security Council, a member of the G7 and the G20, the U.K. plays a significant role in these policy fields and in each of these organisations.

 

Members of both Houses of Parliament scrutinise government actions and hold it to account. It is therefore important that MPs and Peers be as well informed as possible on all these matters, have the opportunity to be briefed on these policy areas by those knowledgeable and expert in them, and can discuss them in a non-partisan setting. This is the task these two APPGs seek to accomplish. They are more topical and essential now that the U.K. has left the European Union and is necessarily having to re-shape the ways its international responsibilities are performed.

 

In our experience APPGs such as these two perform a useful function and provide a valuable service to all members of both Houses and to their staffs who wish to make use of them. Expertise and research is provided by two organisations supporting the work of the APPGs (the UN Association – UK, in the case of the UN APPG, and the British American Security Information Council, in the case of the APPG on Global Security and Non-Proliferation). Their work, knowledge and contacts are vital to the effective functioning of each group. This is additional to the logistical support in arranging meetings. Holding our meetings within the Palace, as we have invariably done until the onset of Covid 19 curtailed access, is by far the best and most convenient way to assist the work of the members of both Houses and of their staff. Holding these meetings requires easy access for a limited number of the staff of these organisations.

 

As appendices to these general considerations we are attaching notes on each of the two APPGs, which are designed to address points of detail raised in the Standards Committee’s call for evidence.

 

 

Peter Bottomley                             David Hannay

 

16 November 2020

 

Appendix 1

United Nations APPG Evidence: Commons Standards Committee Enquiry on APPGs

 

United Nations APPG recent activity

The UN APPG hosted its inaugural AGM on 30 January 2020. The meeting was attended by 16 members in total (9 members of the House of Lords and 7 members of the House of Commons), and saw the election of the following officers:

Since this date, the UN APPG has hosted six group meetings - both in-person and online - which are briefly detailed below.

11/2/2020 - Prospects for the Iran Nuclear Deal. Speakers: Rt Hon Alistair Burt (former Minister for the Middle East and North Africa) and Dr Aniseh Bassiri Tabrizzi (RUSI Research Fellow, Middle East Security).

2/3/2020 - The Changing Deterrence Landscape: Implications for 2020 NPT Review Conference. Speaker: Professor Daryl Press (Associate Professor of Government, Dartmouth College)

2/7/2020 - The United Nations & UN75 During Covid-19. Speaker: Natalie Samarasinghe (Deputy to the Special Adviser on the UN's 75th anniversary). Online.

11/9/2020 - UNGA75: An Update on the UK’s Main Objectives at the 75th Session of the UN General Assembly. Speaker: Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Minister of State for the Commonwealth, United Nations, and South Asia & Special Representative on Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict). Online.

15/9/2020 - Prospects for Extension of the New Start Treaty. Speakers: Angela Kane (Former UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs) and Pranay Vaddi (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Nuclear Policy Program Fellow). Online.

20/10/2020 - Findings and Follow-Up from the UN75 Global Consultation. Speaker: Fabrizio Hochschild (UN Under-Secretary-General & Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on the Preparations for the Commemoration of the 75th Anniversary of the United Nations). Online.

 

Value and benefits of UN APPG to the House

The All‐Party Parliamentary Group on the United Nations (UN APPG) is a cross‐party group supporting the aims and ideals of the United Nations. The primary objective of the group is to raise awareness among MPs and Peers – about the UN; about its myriad contributions across the areas of peace and security, development and human rights; about the scope of international law and its relevance to the UK; and, crucially, about the applicability of the UN to the people who make up the British electorate.

The UN APPG provides the time and space for non-partisan policy discussion, and a forum for members of both the House of Commons and the House of Lords to engage in cross-party interaction. Additionally, it is a forum for parliamentarians to receive expert briefings from authoritative sources (academics, businesspeople, third sector organisations, and other parliamentarians) on topics relating to the UN and global governance.

 

Transparency and appropriateness of funding of APPG activities and secretarial support

The United Nations APPG complies with all rules and regulations as set out in the Guide to the Rules on APPGs. The group receives no funding for activities, nor does it receive any additional benefits in kind.

The United Nations Association – UK (UNA-UK) acts as the secretariat for the UN APPG and in doing so donates staff time, the value of which is reported each year through the annual APPG registration form. The value of staff time being donated by the secretariat to the group falls within the second-lowest value band (£3,001 – 4,500). UNA-UK, as the group secretariat, provides support organising meetings, hosting the UN APPG website, and distributing meeting summaries and briefings for members of the group.

 

The risk of APPGs being used for access by lobbyists, other organisations or by foreign governments, and how any conflicts of interests arising can be managed

 

Use of Parliamentary passes by staff exclusively supporting APPGs

  

Financial governance and controls

 

 

Other governance and compliance issues, including assurance that APPGs are meeting relevant employment law and data protection laws

 

 

Status of APPGs within the House, including the risk of confusion with select committees, and branding of APPG activities and publications

 

 

Who should be accountable for ensuring an APPG complies with the rules

 

How APPGs can be better supported to comply with the rules

 

 

Appendix 2

APPG on Global Security and Non-Proliferation Evidence: Commons Standards Committee Enquiry on APPGs

 

APPG on Global Security and Non-Proliferation Recent Activity

 

The APPG on Global Security and Non-Proliferation hosted its first meeting in the new parliament and its AGM on 30 January 2020. The meeting was attended by 16 members in total (9 members of the House of Lords and 7 members of the House of Commons), and saw the election of the following officers:

 

Chair and Registered Contact: Sir Peter Bottomley MP - Conservative

Co-Chair: Lord Hannay of Chiswick - Cross Bench

Vice-Chair: Hilary Benn MP - Labour

Vice-Chair: Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer - Liberal Democrat

Vice-Chair: Baroness Falkner of Margravine - Cross Bench

Vice-Chair: Lord Browne of Ladyton - Labour

Vice -Chair: Lord Wood of Anfield - Labour

 

Since this date, the UN APPG has hosted five group meetings, both in-person and online and are briefly detailed below.

 

 

 

 

 

Transparency and appropriateness of funding of APPG activities and secretarial support.

The Role of external secretariats to APPGs

The risk of APPGs being used for access by lobbyists, other organisations or by foreign governments, and how any conflicts of interests arising can be managed

Use of Parliamentary passes by staff exclusively supporting APPGs

 

 

 

Financial governance and controls

For the Secretariat:

For the APPG:

 

Other governance and compliance issues, including assurance that APPGs are meeting relevant employment law and data protection laws

 

 

 

 

Status of APPGs within the House, including the risk of confusion with select committees, and branding of APPG activities and publications

 

 

 

 

 

Who should be accountable for ensuring an APPG complies with the rules

How APPGs can be better supported to comply with the rules