COMPLAINT: compulsory membership of regulatory body deemed anti-competitive


City firm DLA Piper and the Law Society have referred the UK's biggest lobbyist regulatory body, the Association of Professional Political Consultants (APPC), to the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) for possible breaches of the Competition Act 1998.



DLA Piper lodged the initial complaint, subsequently backed by the Law Society, after learning that the APPC had written to MPs urging them to not only back an Early Day Motion recommending firms who undertake public affairs work list clients and payments to political parties, but to also exclude non-APPC members from taking on government agency contracts.



Gill Morris, chairwoman of the APPC, wrote: 'All those, including government agencies, that contract public affairs or lobbying services should make APPC membership an absolute requirement.'



DLA Piper and the Law Society argue that the APPC's proposals are anti-competitive and the association's client disclosure requirements could jeopardise business and possibly risk solicitors breaching client confidentiality duties.



Mike Pullen, head of competition at DLA Piper, told the Gazette: 'Law firms should be regulated by one organisation, the Solicitors Regulation Authority. I do not see why we should have to sign up to [an additional] voluntary code that is not worth the paper it is written on. Law firms are regulated at a much higher standard than lobbyists... the APPC is trying to form a closed shop.'



He added that lawyers not only had a duty of confidentiality to clients, but that it was often difficult for firms to differentiate between straightforward legal services and lobbying work undertaken for the client. Examples where confidentiality could be paramount include high-profile immigration cases and commercially sensitive deals.



Des Hudson, chief executive of the Law Society, said: 'It is shocking that solicitors should be forced into membership of a voluntary organisation in order to secure future work. The OFT should be aware that making government contracts conditional on APPC membership is anti-competitive.'



Ms Morris said the APPC did not want to prevent any organisation from working with government but 'we do believe that all those who interact with government should follow principles of openness, honesty, integrity and propriety in their dealings'.



She added that the APPC were consulting widely on the proposals and 'remained open-minded about how other organisations demonstrate their full compliance with the [APPC's] guiding principles'.



An OFT spokesman confirmed it was looking into the complaint.



Anita Rice