Talk:All Party Groups in the House of Commons: Subject Groups

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The Register of All-Party Groups exists as a result of a Resolution made by the House on 17 December 1985 which stated that: "Commons officers in All-Party Groups, Parliamentary Groups, and Groups whose membership is open to Members of either House of more than one party, be required to register the names of the Officers of the Group, and the source and extent of any benefits financial or in kind from outside sources which they may enjoy, together with any other relevant gainful occupation of any staff which they may have. Where a public relations agency provides the assistance, the ultimate client should be named".

In 1995, the Administration Committee conducted an inquiry into All-Party Groups; the report was published in session 1995/96 (HC 494) and provides useful background to how groups were set up and organised. The Approved List of All-Party Parliamentary Groups and Associate Parliamentary Groups, which is distinct from the Register, exists as a result of a Resolution made by the House on 31 October 1984. It is a means of regulating the use made by groups of the House's facilities and status. A group cannot be approved without first being registered. Groups may choose whether or not they wish to apply for inclusion on the Approved List but only groups which are on the List may enjoy the following privileges:

  • use of the words All-Party, Associate, and Parliamentary in the group's title
  • use of the All-Party Notices to advertise all meetings
  • priority when booking rooms in the Palace of Westminster over groups which are not on the Approved List

For groups on the Approved List, where only Members of the House of Commons or Lords have voting rights, the group must include the words All-Party Parliamentary Group (shown in the text as APPG) in its title; otherwise it must include the words Associate Parliamentary Group (shown in the text as APG). Groups which are registered but not approved must omit the words All-Party, Parliamentary and Associate from their title (shown as neither an APPG or APG in the text).


Before it can be included on the Approved List a group must give a written undertaking to comply at all times with the rules listed in the Declaration below.

DECLARATION

  1. The group's membership is open to all Members of the House of Commons and its aims and constitution are parliamentary in character.
  2. The group's membership will at all times include at least ten Members from the Government party, together with ten from the other parties (including at least six from the main Opposition Party); those numbers may include Members of the House of Lords.
  3. A group will need to meet only twice a year - the AGM may count as one meeting, with a second meeting taking place on a day other than that on which the AGM is held. Three Members only need be present at a meeting, providing one of those Members is an officer of the group. Those Members present may come from either House, or from both Houses.
  4. The group undertakes to hold an AGM to elect its officers, who are all Members of either House, every 12 months. This, and any other election of officers, must be announced in advance on the All-Party Notices. The group will notify the Registry of Interests of the result of any AGM by amending its records (ie its Register entry and its Information Sheet). Where there is no change to its records following an AGM, the group will sign and return its records as correct.
  5. The group will notify the Assistant Registrar of any change that is required to its records within 28 days of such a change occurring.
  6. Members of either House may attend, speak and vote at any meeting (including the AGM) of any group that does not charge Members a subscription. Where Members are charged a subscription, Members of either House may attend and speak at any meeting (including the AGM) but voting rights may be restricted to paid-up members of the group. The subscription charged to Members of either House must not exceed £5 per year.
  7. The group will observe the rules for the booking of rooms, and will maintain and guarantee the parliamentary nature of the occasion by ensuring the participation of Members of either House in any activity taking place within the precincts.
  8. The group will observe the rules on the use of original House stationery (including post paid envelopes) and will ensure that it is not used for correspondence with persons other than Members of either House.
  9. With the exception of those groups receiving funding from Her Majesty's Government, the registration and approval of all groups will cease two calendar months after the first meeting of the new Parliament following a General Election unless a fresh application is made within that period.

Hi, a couple of points on referencing the profiles on the APPGs/APGs: 1)I think each page should have the date that the membership list is current to in addition to the main page (where you have already identifited the data as being Dec 2003 - its just that searchers can go direct to a specific page without going to the main page; and presumably the membership of these committees turns over a bit due to elections/resignations etc. 2)it would be worth adding the reference (don't have the time right now myself)to each of the listings on the source of the membership data and aims as being

3) its not clear what the source for the funding data/administrative arrangements is - which is important to reference. cheers, bob

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