Summary of investigation – Brooks Newmark & Co Ltd
November 2023 – February 2024
Organisation or person investigated
Brooks Newmark & Co Ltd
Matter(s) investigated
Whether Brooks Newmark or Brooks Newmark & Co Ltd (“Mr Newmark”) conducted unregistered consultant lobbying.
Registrar’s decision
Based on third-party assurances provided, Mr Newmark has not conducted unregistered consultant lobbying in relation to the matter under investigation, whether as an individual or through a company.
Summary of rationale for decision
Third-party assurances were provided that neither Mr Newmark nor Brooks Newmark & Co Ltd are or were registered for VAT.
Under the Transparency of Lobbying, Non-Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Act 2014, registration under the Value Added Tax Act 1994 is one of three conditions that define consultant lobbying.
Chronology
| 12 Dec 2023 | Response from Carter-Ruck, Mr Newmark’s representative, explaining that neither Mr Newmark nor his business are or were VAT-registered. |
| 15 Dec 2023 | Letter from the Registrar with a further query regarding payments. |
| 15 Jan 2024 | Letter from Carter-Ruck providing further background. |
| 17 Jan 2024 | Letter from the Registrar with a further query regarding VAT registration. |
| 1 Feb 2024 | Further letter from the Registrar, following no response. |
| 1 Feb 2024 | Letter from Shipleys, chartered accountants, via Carter-Ruck, explaining that payments made to Brooks Newmark & Co Ltd from an overseas company did not trigger a requirement for UK VAT registration. |
| 8 Feb 2024 | Letter from the Registrar concluding his investigation. |
13 February 2024
Office of the Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists
Summary of Investigation – Rt Hon David Cameron
Organisation or Person Investigated
Rt Hon David Cameron through the Office of David Cameron (“ODC”)
Matter(s) Investigated
Whether Mr Cameron through ODC acted as an unregistered consultant lobbyist, with particular reference to Illumina.
Registrar’s Decision
Based on detailed information that Mr Cameron provided about the business activities he conducts through ODC and on substantive assurances, I conclude that the incidental exception* applies to four communications with Ministers that would otherwise have been registerable. As a result, Mr Cameron through ODC has not acted as an unregistered consultant lobbyist under the Transparency of Lobbying, Non-Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Act 2014 (“the Act”).
* The incidental exception in schedule 1, part 1, section 1 of the Act provides (in part):
A person does not, by reason of making a communication, carry on the business of consultant lobbying if (a) the person carries on a business which consists mainly of non-lobbying activities, and (b) the making of the communication is incidental to the carrying on of those activities.
Summary of Rationale for Decision
During the investigation I considered four communications by Mr Cameron in relation to Illumina, a client of ODC:
- Forwarding to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care an invitation from Illumina to speak at the International Summit on Population Genomics (2019)
- Participation at the International Summit alongside the Executive Chairman of Illumina and the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (2019)
- Text message to the Vaccines Minister referencing Illumina (2021)
- Follow-up meeting with the Vaccines Minister (2021)
I conclude that these communications would constitute registerable consultant lobbying unless the incidental exception applies.
Mr Cameron and ODC provided evidence of ODC’s wider work and as a result of this evidence and substantive assurances from Mr Cameron, I conclude that the incidental exception applies to these communications and that Mr Cameron through ODC has not conducted unregistered consultant lobbying activity.
I note that the definition of lobbying applied by Mr Cameron and ODC appears to differ from the statutory definition and I have advised caution in this regard.
Chronology
| Date | Action |
| 30 July | Media reports regarding Mr Cameron’s work with Illumina and meeting with the Vaccines Minister, following publication of ministerial diaries. |
| 2 August | Formal letter from the Registrar to Mr Cameron via ODC giving background on the requirement for registration; asking if his activities in general fall within the criteria to be registered; and in particular with reference to Illumina. |
| 9 August | Response from Mr Cameron stating he did not lobby the UK Government on behalf of Illumina; giving information regarding the approval of his role from the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (ACOBA) in 2017; background to his meeting with the Vaccines Minister and Illumina; giving his view that this meeting was not an act of consultant lobbying and was incidental to his work for Illumina; and sharing articles demonstrating his previous interest in the role of genomic sequencing in virus surveillance. |
| 11 August | Letter from Mr Cameron, following an article in The Times regarding a genomics conference in 2019, reiterating that he was not lobbying for Illumina. |
| 11 August | Letter from the Registrar, requesting further information regarding communications with Ministers and asking for Mr Cameron to consider his assertion that his lobbying is incidental, in light of the Registrar’s guidance on incidental lobbying. |
| 18 August | Letter from Mr Cameron responding to the questions posed on 11 August. |
| 25 August | Email from the Registrar asking for further information regarding Mr Cameron’s work for Illumina and his meeting with the Vaccines Minister. |
| 27 August | Letter and supplementary information from Mr Cameron in response to questions posed on 25 August. |
| 17 September | Letter from the Registrar setting out his preliminary conclusions and inviting Mr Cameron’s response. |
| 1 October | Letter from Mr Cameron providing detailed information, evidence and assurances about the volume and nature of the commercial activities that he conducts through ODC. |
| 5 October | Further evidence from ODC. |
| 19 October | Letter from the Registrar to conclude the investigation and to advise that had the incidental exception not applied, Mr Cameron’s four communications would have constituted consultant lobbying under the terms of the Act. The Registrar noted that the definition of lobbying applied by Mr Cameron and ODC appears to differ from the statutory definition which the Registrar applies in his decisions. The definition in the Act also differs from that applied by ACOBA. The Registrar advised that his decision that the incidental exception applied to the relevant communications was finely balanced in some respects and advised continuing caution in this regard. |
19 October 2021
Office of the Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists
office@orcl.gov.uk
Summary of Investigation – Three Lines Sport
August 2021
Organisation or Person Investigated
Three Lines Sport Ltd and MR Sport and Mark Ramsdale
Matter(s) Investigated
Whether Three Lines Sport Ltd, MR Sport or Mark Ramsdale (“Mr Ramsdale”) are
unregistered consultant lobbyists
Registrar’s Decision
That the communications Mr Ramsdale disclosed constitute consultant lobbying. The
consultant lobbyist(s) whether Three Lines Sport Ltd, MR Sport or Mark Ramsdale should
join the Register immediately.
Summary of Rationale for Decision
Communications with Ministers on behalf of a paying client, including All Party Parliamentary
Groups (APPGs), is consultant lobbying. This includes attending meetings with a Minister
and writing to a Minister on behalf of a client. The consultant lobbyist(s) has a statutory
requirement to join the Register immediately. No civil penalty notice will be issued because
Mr Ramsdale sought and complied with advice from the Office of the Registrar of Consultant
Lobbyists (ORCL) in 2016 and the APPG guidance has changed since that time.
Chronology
| Date | Action |
| 2 August | Formal letter from the Registrar to Mr Ramsdale, giving background on the Act and asking him to consider whether he or his organisations have undertaken relevant communications within the scope of the Act in general and with particular reference to the support provided to APPGs. |
| 5 August | Email from Mr Ramsdale confirming he had tried to register MR Sport in 2016 and was advised the activity did not meet the criteria for registration. He confirmed that the APPG support role remained unchanged and provided further information about Three Lines Sport Ltd and communications undertaken on behalf of APPGs. |
| 5 August | Email from ORCL confirming the Registrar’s guidance for APPGs has been updated since 2016, and asking for further clarity on communications with Ministers. |
| 5 August | Email from Mr Ramsdale, checking whether to answer the further questions or to use as a guide to consider whether to register. |
| 6 August | Email from ORCL requesting a response to the questions for consideration by the Registrar. |
| 6 August | Full detailed response from Mr Ramsdale. |
| 9 August | ORCL advises Mr Ramsdale that the Registrar has concluded his investigation and that the entities undertaking consultant lobbying should join the Register immediately. |
09 August 2021
Office of the Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists
office@orcl.gov.uk
Summary of Investigation – Public Policy Projects Ltd
Organisation or Person Investigated
Public Policy Projects Limited (“PPP”)
Matter(s) Investigated
Following a query from a journalist, this investigation was to
determine if PPP is an unregistered consultant lobbyist and in particular whether a meeting on 21 August 2020 (“the meeting”) constituted consultant lobbying.
Registrar’s Decision
Based on the information provided and assurances given, PPP’s activities do not currently constitute consultant lobbying.
Summary of Rationale for Decision
My formal guidance covers a number of issues to be considered by think tanks in relation to registration, including: “If funding is provided for a
specific project, but the funder cannot exercise control over the outcome of the project, the activity is unlikely to be registrable. This is because any resulting communication would be expressing the think tank’s views, rather than being on behalf of a client.”
PPP provided details of how they operate and comprehensive assurances that the views they communicate are those of PPP, not those of clients or funders. In particular, clients cannot influence the outcome of research projects. PPP also provided details of the meeting which was in fact a PPP webinar co-chaired by a Deputy Chair of PPP, Baroness Blackwood, and addressed by Lord Bethell, a minister at the Department of Health and
Social Care.
Based on the assurances from PPP about how they work and details of the meeting, I am satisfied that PPP’s current activities do not constitute consultant lobbying
Chronology
| Date | Action |
| 16 February 2021 | Email received from a journalist, asking if ORCL received any returns on Public Policy Projects Ltd (PPP) that have not yet been published. The query stemmed from published evidence of a meeting between PPP, Baroness Blackwood and Lord Bethell, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department of Health and Social Care. |
| 17 february 2021 | Formal letter from the Registrar to PPP giving an overview of the Transparency of Lobbying, Non-Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Act 2014 (the Act); asking PPP to consider whether they undertake communications that fall within the scope of the Act; and about the meeting between Baroness Blackwood, PPP and Lord Bethell on 21 August 2020 to discuss clinical trials. |
| 24 February 2021 | Response from PPP stating they define their own projects, accepting funding but not briefs from clients; they keep editorial control of their publications; and they speak with public officials to promote discussion on PPP policy proposals, not on behalf of clients. Regarding the meeting of 21 August, PPP stated it was a webinar co-chaired by Baroness Blackwood and Dr Jonathan Sheffield and addressed by Lord Bethell. It was held as part of the work of the Clinical Research Coalition, initiated by PPP, in May 2020 through a public call for evidence from those interested in the implications of the Covid pandemic for clinical research in the UK. This call led to written contributions and a series of webinars in which speakers were drawn from a broad spectrum of thought leaders in the sector. |
26 February 2021
Office of the Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists
office@orcl.gov.uk