A digest of the policy proposals from the Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat parties most likely to have an impact on public relations.

1. General
Election 2017
CIPR Commentary
#CIPR /@CIPR_UK

2. 2 / General Election 2017 – CIPR Commentary
Foreword
In 2015 the CIPR election manifesto set out seven areas where we felt new national
policy was needed, in conjunction with extended public conversation, to address some
key areas of interest to the public relations profession. Two years on, most of those
issues are still not entirely resolved, and the context for them has changed with our
decision to leave the European Union.
Our 2015 manifesto was published long before the election was called, with the aim of
drawing attention to issues that matter to us as an industry which might not otherwise
command much space in public debate. This time our purpose is somewhat different.
The party manifestos have already been published and discussed, and we have an
opportunity to benchmark their proposals against our own concerns and priorities.
In this document you will find a digest of the policy proposals from the Conservative,
Labour and Liberal Democrat parties most likely to have an impact on public relations,
and our views on what an incoming government should aim to achieve.
We hope our contribution will stimulate further discussion.
Jason Mackenzie Found. Chart. PR, FCIPR, Dip CIPR
CIPR President

3. Commentary – Public Relations, Decision
Making, Growth and Resilience
Public relations builds relationships and manages reputation. The focus of professional
public relations is the management of dialogue between an organisation and its
key audiences. The role of the professional is to ensure that the organisation is
responsive and adapts to the messages it receives, as well as managing the messages
it communicates. This is a strategic mission. Organisations that are communicative
build trust, act responsibly and learn from their stakeholders. Better decisions for the
organisation, for the people in the organisation and for the people who have a stake
in the organisation are the result of this dialogue.
Public relations supports better public services by bringing them closer to their
primary users and providers. Lobbying supports democratic processes by providing
information-rich dialogues which allow politicians and policy makers to exercise critical
judgement. Effective internal communications and employee engagement creates
the conditions for greater productivity. In each case public relations supports and
facilitates better decisions.
The CIPR’s purpose is to create a chartered profession in public relations. We will soon
be engaging our industry around the challenges in realising our potential as a strategic
management discipline. The aim is to bring clients and employers into our vision of
how a chartered profession will support better decision-making, growth and resilience
and means a high performance future for public relations.
3 / General Election 2017 – CIPR Commentary

4. Immigration
The UK is a leading provider of professional services to clients all around the world.
After we leave the EU, our ability to sustain and grow these markets will be critical
for our economic success. UK public relations agencies service clients in many other
countries and in-house teams often support global reach or international growth.
Doing this depends on drawing from the specialist knowledge of people from those
countries, speaking different languages and knowing the business context in their
home markets. Our concern is that a future immigration system focused primarily
on driving down numbers may not take sufficient account of this need. Equally, a
points-based system focused on specific technical knowledge or specialist skills may
not adequately capture it. We call on the parties to ensure that the public relations
sector is supported in making its contribution to the future of UK plc by establishing
an immigration system that allows it to continue earning fees in markets around
the world. Training more UK workers is not likely to address the needs of the sector
sufficiently on its own.
The Conservative Party is proposing to match immigration flows to the requirements
of the industrial strategy. We understand how this can work in certain sectors such
as health services or manufacturing, but do not immediately see how it might apply
to public relations. The party’s other proposal, to introduce charges for employers
seeking to bring workers from overseas, would also not be helpful.
The Liberal Democrats want an annual debate in parliament on skills and labour
needs. While this may allow for a constructive public debate it cannot do more than
set the broad outlines of policy, as the modern economy requires much more agile
approaches than this. Both the Liberal Democrats and Labour want to immediately
guarantee the rights of all EU nationals in the UK, which would help address our
concerns but not deal with the larger issue of services clients from non-EU countries.
Labour’s proposal to ensure any employer wanting to employ workers from abroad
does not undercut indigenous workers could pose problems for a nimble flexible
sector like PR with unpredictable pipeline of work and changing skills needs.
The CIPR supports calls on government to provide the earliest possible clarification
to EU nationals living and working in the UK about their future status. For the
future, our industry needs an open and flexible immigration system which allows us
to continue serving clients around the world to the highest professional standards.
4 / General Election 2017 – CIPR Commentary

5. 5 / General Election 2017 – CIPR Commentary
Employment
In 2016 more than 2 million people could be described as ‘freelance’ in terms of
employment. In the PR industry around a fifth of the workforce are independent
practitioners, often servicing smaller clients who cannot afford an in-house function.
In a wider sense, employment is changing. The internet has enabled the ‘gig’
economy which heralds some of the longer term changes that may yet come through
artificial intelligence and automation. Many self employed people and others in small
businesses are flexible and entrepreneurial, adapting to changing client needs and
moving on from declining business areas to new opportunities. They are resilient and
government should do all it can to encourage them.
Labour has a 20-point plan for security and equality at work, some of which would
reduce the scope for exploitation in situations where employers demand unreasonable
amounts of flexibility, others may unduly burden SMEs. The Conservative and Liberal
Democrat Parties will await the Taylor Report before proposing changes.
Too often, people who are working for themselves face an uphill struggle
in dealing with tax and the bureaucracy that comes with doing business.
Independent practitioners do not receive any of the rights or benefits associated
with employment, such as holiday or sick pay, or access to an employer’s pension
scheme. They face an unequal tax regime in terms of training costs and recent
changes to IR35 could have a chilling effect on the prospects of Independent
Practitioners who specialise in public sector clients. At the very least, government
should allow tax deductibility for any kind of training for the self employed and
small businesses. The ‘gig’ economy offers a glimpse of the future. It would be
sensible to fully investigate its risks and potential before offering a comprehensive
response in terms of employment legislation. In that sense we also await the
outcome of the Taylor Report.
CIPR is also calling for a halt to the extension of HMRC quarterly reporting to
SMEs and a rethink of the policy. Despite the welcome exemption of those
businesses who are genuinely not ready for a digital reporting system, quarterly
reports will bring a greater burden of bureaucracy to small enterprises.

6. 6 / General Election 2017 – CIPR Commentary
Corporate Governance
In its 2015 manifesto, the CIPR said:
‘Building relationships is key to the creation of sustainable value in business. In order
to improve business decision making and trust in business, government should identify
measures which will lead corporate culture to refocus on the value of relationships…’
In 2017, all three major parties have proposed policies which move in this direction.
The Conservatives say that plc boards should take into account employees, suppliers
and the wider community as well as shareholders. They propose that boards should
include staff nominees to have formal employee advisory councils. The Liberal
Democrats want to reform directors’ to include employee welfare, environmental
standards and other considerations. They want to change company law to allow
German-style board structure, including employees. Labour intends to amend
company law so directors have a duty not only to shareholders but to employees,
customers, the environment and the wider public.
We are encouraged by the recognition by all the major parties of the need to take
greater account of stakeholders in corporate governance. Making this work will call
on the expertise of the public relations profession and delivering it will improve trust
in business and corporate performance.
The CIPR calls on the next government to ensure that the UK’s standards of
corporate governance give investors, partners and customers around the world
confidence in the integrity and sustainability of UK businesses.

7. 7 / General Election 2017 – CIPR Commentary
Media, Data Protection
and Digital Public Services
The Conservatives propose a new digital charter, balancing protection for users
with the needs of business. Their manifesto is explicit in wanting the UK to have
a sustainable model for high-quality online media. The Liberal Democrats want a
digital Bill of Rights to protect peoples’ digital rights and preserve internet neutrality.
They are also committed to ending online state surveillance and data collection.
Labour wants to maintain strong data privacy but makes no specific proposals.
As far as regulating the press is concerned, the Conservative Party will repeal Section
40 of the Crime and Courts Act 2014, which they now say would lead to ‘flawed’ press
regulation. If enacted, it would have forced newspapers to pay the legal costs of both
sides even in court cases they won, unless they agreed to be regulated. Both Labour
and the Liberal Democrats want to press ahead with this.
The Conservatives set out a strong commitment to digital government and public
services. For digital public services to thrive and respond to public need, it is essential
that the public sector maintains a cadre of highly qualified professional communicators
who understand how to best use digital platforms to serve the public interest.
The Conservatives also set out ambitious plans to regulate the internet, which go well
beyond anything envisaged by other parties. Their starting point is that online rules
should mirror accepted standards offline. This will be welcome news for those who
have argued for stronger action against terrorist-related communication, bullying
and pornography online. They also indicate that they will require internet platforms
to delete anything a person posts before the age of 18. These proposals exceed
anything proposed by any previous government, and would represent a level of
intervention in online activity unusual in an open democracy.
The 2015 CIPR manifesto called for the government to set up a Royal Commission
to look into protection of personal data in a world of constantly evolving technology.
We are pleased therefore that the Conservative Party now wants to set up a
Data Use and Ethics Commission which will undertake this work. Particularly for
proposals on tighter regulation of the internet, it is important that new legislation
commands broad social consensus, and the CIPR believes we need a national
conversation about this before proceeding with legislation.
As far as press regulation is concerned, in the CIPR’s view the lack of consensus
around this indicates that if any party wishes to pursue this in government, they
should do so from a fresh start rather than seeking to proceed with proposals
deferred from six years ago.

8. 8 / General Election 2017 – CIPR Commentary
Productivity
Productivity is a troubling factor in the UK’s economic outlook. Although it is hard
to measure consistently, it is generally understood that the UK has fallen behind
its competitors and productivity has not recovered to levels reached pre 2008.
It is influenced by workforce skills and flexibility, economic structures and interest
rates. We are primarily concerned with the quality of the workforce and, in
particular, managers.
In the main party manifestos it is variously dealt with through proposals to increase
innovation and the uptake of skills in the workforce at all levels. Both Labour and the
Liberal Democrats take a sector led approach, Labour advocating Sector Councils and
the Liberals looking for National Colleges to push skills in key parts of the economy.
All parties advocate increasing research and development spending. The Conservatives
have proposed a National Productivity Investment Fund.
While the proposals on skills are welcome, innovation is not purely the estate
of science and technology. If productivity is to improve, it must be led, which
requires a change in mindsets and release of creative and innovative thinking in
management. The National Productivity Investment Fund, which will cover research
and development, should include investment in management thinking. Other proposals
need to think as much about management as they do about upskilling the wider
workforce. We welcomed the proposal in the Industrial Strategy Green Paper to
“ensure that businesses across the UK can access the… management skills they need
to grow” and the establishment of a Productivity Council to drive improvements
through better management. Our contention is that senior managers and business
strategists must pay greater heed to relationships and make more effective use of
public relations in this mission. As well as improvements in the general quality of the
workforce, productivity should improve in a better climate for business innovation and
investment in technology.
The CIPR believes that major productivity gains can be achieved for UK business
by focusing on better relationships internally and externally. While new technology
can help with this, it is primarily about better skills in stakeholder relations.
We therefore call on the incoming government to invest in so-called ‘soft skills’
as well as in advanced technical and manufacturing skills.

9. 9 / General Election 2017 – CIPR Commentary
Gender Pay Gap
In public relations, as in most occupations, your earning potential is heavily influenced
by your gender. The CIPR’s most recent State of the Profession survey revealed that
the influence of gender amounts to a £5,784 disadvantage for women. Inequality
holds back or undervalues talented, hard working women. Progress towards pay
equality is painfully slow.
All parties are calling for enforcement of the requirement for companies employing
250 or more staff to report on gender pay differences. Although enforcement is to
be welcomed, the existing legislation only applies to 50% of the UK’s workforce.
In the Government’s own words, “eliminating work-related gender gaps could
add £150 billion to our annual GDP by 2025. That is an opportunity that neither
government nor businesses can afford to ignore.”
The CIPR continues to highlight gender pay issues for those working in public relations
and interprets its Code of Conduct on the basis that dealing “honestly and fairly in
business” means fair and equal pay.
We call upon all parties to extend the gender pay reporting requirements to a
greater range of organisations – potentially to include all but the smallest
(i.e. employing 9 people or fewer) businesses as soon as reasonably possible.

10. 10 / General Election 2017 – CIPR Commentary
Lobbying
Lobbying enables a range of voices to be heard in our national debates. It is one of
the key means by which information can enter the process of policy formation and it
contributes to the development of better laws.
Professional lobbyists are accountable to codes of conduct, but many who lobby are
not. There should be greater public scrutiny of lobbying activity to support trust in
our government and politics. Unfortunately, the 2010-2015 Government introduced
a register which we believe does not sufficiently increase the amount of information
about lobbying to build public trustworthiness. The current manifesto proposals by the
Liberal Democrats, to extend and strengthen the register, and by Labour to introduce
a tougher register, lack definition and we would have welcomed explicit commitments
to require all lobbyists to register.
Registering lobbyists is one way to improve transparency. The lobbying process
is also, more accurately, reflected in the diaries of ministers. However, despite
promises to make these public, they are not regularly published and they do
not provide meaningful information. The CIPR calls on the UK government
and the governments of the devolved nations to take prompt steps to publish
ministerial diaries.
Government, if it chooses to continue to require lobbyists to register, should at
least require all lobbyists to participate. The CIPR calls on the UK and devolved
nation governments to extend registration requirements to anyone who provides
lobbying services.

11. The guide was produced
in May 2017.
Chartered Institute of Public Relations
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London WC1B 4HP
+44 (0)20 7631 6900
cipr.co.uk/cpd