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Chair of UK Parliament’s lobbying watchdog faces probe over transparency
By:   []
Date: None

The chair of Westminster's lobbying watchdog, Eric Pickles, is facing an official investigation after openDemocracy revealed he may have breached transparency rules.

The Conservative peer is a director of Oakworth Services Ltd, a consultancy business he owns with his wife.

But although Pickles has declared his role in the company, his Register of Interests does not say what type of consultancy work it does.

Rules say that, if a lord is a company director, then they should “give a broad indication of the company’s business, where this is not self-evident from its name”.

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A spokesman for the House of Lords confirmed that a probe had been launched into Pickles today, in relation to his Register of Interests.

He has faced scrutiny over his role as chair of the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (ACOBA), which looks into the ‘revolving door’ between government and the private sector.

In April, he was accused of a potential conflict of interest for failing to publicly declare his role as president of Enterprise Forum, a Tory business-lobbying forum.

openDemocracy reported that it was not mentioned in Pickles’ CV or in his written submission to a parliamentary committee prior to becoming chair of ACOBA.

The same month, it was revealed that the watchdog had met only once since Boris Johnson’s election win in 2019.

Pickles is one of 42 peers openDemocracy reported on yesterday, over possible breaches to transparency rules. But the official probe is understood to cover only Pickles, and will not cover any of the other 41 members.

[1] Url: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/dark-money-investigations/chair-of-uk-parliaments-lobbying-watchdog-faces-probe-over-transparency/