UK Public Affairs Council
The UK Public Affairs Council was a United Kingdom organisation enabling self-regulation of individuals engaged in UK lobbying activities.
The UKPAC was established in 2010 by the Association of Professional Political Consultants, the Public Relations Consultants Association and the Chartered Institute of Public Relations, and held its first meeting in July 2010, chaired by Elizabeth France. However, the PRCA resigned from the UKPAC less than 18 months later, in December 2011.
The UKPAC maintained a register of individual lobbyists, first published on 1 March 2011, though the initial completeness and accuracy of the web-based register was much criticised, and was a factor in the PRCA's resignation. The Alliance for Lobbying Transparency also criticised the register, saying an estimated 85-90% of lobbyists were shunning it, and highlighting criticisms by Austin Mitchell MP and others.
After the creation of a statutory registrar of consultant lobbyists in early 2015, the UKPAC closed in June 2015 and handed responsibility for its register of lobbyists to the CIPR. A 'UK Lobbying Register' was subsequently launched by the CIPR.
