Summary of Investigation – Connect Public Affairs Limited

Published on: Tuesday 7th March 2023

Organisation or Person Investigated

Connect Public Affairs Limited (“Connect PA”)

Matter(s) Investigated

Whether Connect PA submitted an inaccurate Quarterly Information Return (“QIR”).

Registrar’s Decision

Based on substantive and comprehensive assurances given, Connect Public Affairs Limited did not submit an inaccurate QIR.

Summary of Rationale for Decision

Connect PA is registered on the Register of Consultant Lobbyists. One of its clients is the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Healthcare Infrastructure (“the APPG”), which launched a report in October 2022.  The APPG was not declared in Connect PA’s October-December 2022 QIR. Under the Transparency of Lobbying, Non-Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Act 2014, a single act of consultant lobbying on behalf of a client triggers the need to submit the name of that client in the QIR.

Connect PA provided comprehensive and substantive assurances that no registerable communications took place for the APPG in the October-December quarter. There was a registerable communication in April-June 2022 and this was declared correctly.

Chronology

Date	Action
18/10/22	Launch of the APPG’s report
28/2/23	Formal letter from the Registrar to Connect PA, enquiring whether an inaccurate QIRs was submitted, with particular reference to the APPG and its report launched in October 2022.

1/3/23	Response from Connect PA providing assurances that it made no registerable communications for the APPG in the October to December 2022 quarter. It did make a registerable communication for the APPG in the April-June 2022 quarter, and this was declared correctly.
7/3/23	Letter from Registrar thanking Connect PA for their response and concluding that, based on comprehensive assurances given, there was no inaccuracy in their October-December QIR.

7 March 2023

Office of the Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists

office@orcl.gov.uk