Diolch, Ddirprwy Lywydd. Lobbying in Wales—this isn’t something that we should talk about; it’s something that we need to talk about. My aim today is to reopen the debate that was started here on lobbying some years ago. For the health of Welsh democracy, we must regulate commercial lobbying and bring it out of the shadows. We must protect this institution of the Welsh Assembly.

Lobbying is an industry that has grown hugely in recent times. In the UK, it’s now worth over £2 billion. That sum of money alone should tell us that regulation is needed. In the previous Assembly, the Standards of Conduct Committee undertook a review into lobbying, but the recommendations were weak and fell short of providing any kind of regulation. The First Minister thinks that rules for lobbyists are not needed. This seems to be a wider part of the culture in the Assembly, refusing to acknowledge the lobbying that is going on here. The last Presiding Officer went as far as writing to Westminster to ask that Wales be left out of any legislation on lobbying. She said, and I quote,

‘we were not facing the same kind of negative issues surrounding access to elected members that Westminster was’.

Well, from my short time in the Assembly here, it’s clear to me that we are facing those same issues. My requests for Ministers’ diaries have been refused. I think that’s worth saying again: Welsh Ministers refusing to disclose who they are meeting with. Why? Why is that? It’s impossible to see the calls made by Ministers on their public phones—their public phones—which we pay for.

In the autumn, an anonymous whistleblower alleged that a decision was made not to approve Welsh Government funding for GlobalWelsh. The business was notified of this by a letter dated 5 July. It was alleged that the lobbyist, who I won’t name at this stage, got in touch with the Minister and he reversed his decision. I was told that there was no paperwork or analysis to support any such change. On 7 July, the Welsh Government published a decision notice stating that the Cabinet Secretary had agreed to support the establishment of a community interest company, GlobalWelsh, to develop a network, and that seems to contradict the letter of 5 July somewhat. The whistleblower seemed to be correct in that the freedom of information request shows that there was no basis on paper for any change of decision. Now, I’m not alleging any wrongdoing here; what I do think is that this kind of allegation shows there is a great need for greater transparency and openness. Regulation will protect everyone—lobbyists, Ministers and the public.

After May 2011, when I was deputy leader of Cardiff council, I couldn’t get a meeting with the Minister—just couldn’t get a meeting. And I was told by people who know what they’re talking about that if you pay £3,000 to a lobbying firm, a meeting with a Welsh Government Minister could be organised. Now, I do stress that the cash is not for the politician, it’s for the lobbying firm. Therefore, I’m alleging that cash for access does exist in Cardiff Bay. And I challenge any Minister here, any Minister present, to say on the record that no lobbyist has ever facilitated an introduction to them. They won’t be able to say it, in my opinion. So, for the former Presiding Officer to claim that lobbying of a particular nature doesn’t go on here is not only inaccurate, but fairly insulting to the Assembly and the Welsh public. The last Presiding Officer also said that it should be for the Assembly to decide how to regulate lobbying, and on that we agree. But, so far, there is no legislation. I think the point of being left out of the Westminster legislation was not to leave Wales completely unprotected, but it was so that we could confront the lobbying industry that surrounds this institution and introduce world-leading legislation on lobbying ourselves.

We need to arrive at a place in the Assembly where it is open to the public, but not wide open for lobbyists. And that is why I’m proposing that the Government introduces legislation on lobbying with a register of lobbyists that will achieve three things. We would simply know who the lobbyists are because they would have to sign the register. We would know who was lobbying who and for what, so if a registered lobbyist met with a Government Minister, that would be officially recorded, and the purpose of that meeting would be known. Thirdly, we should know how much is being paid to the lobbying firm for that access. That’s crucial. If we don’t do this, then lobbying will continue to go on in the shadows, which is a recipe for corruption.

During the EU referendum debate, the EU was perceived by many as not being for them. There are 30,000 lobbyists in Brussels—75 per cent of European legislation being affected by them. And from what I’ve learned from people who work in Brussels, it’s impossible for anybody with any importance to go hungry at lunchtime, because there are so many free dinners, free lunches, thanks to the lobbyists’ business cards—their business credit cards. And if we look at what happened in the EU referendum, clearly in Wales, it’s on a smaller scale here. But if you look at the Abolish the Welsh Assembly Party, and the support they got, then it should be a cause for concern, because we cannot take things for granted, and we cannot ignore the Bay bubble lobbying culture.

In many ways, Wales is absolutely ripe for lobbying—we run our own health service, the school system too, we make laws. We’re fortunate at the moment because lobbying firms have been more interested in England than they have in Wales. But when they’re done privatising England’s public services, where will they focus their attention next? And, worryingly, where lobbyists have pressed the Welsh Government, they’ve met with considerable success. In 2013—the Welsh Government set about introducing home energy efficiency targets, with a 40 per cent reduction in carbon emissions. Now, instead, the Government opted for just 8 per cent after intense lobbying from the housing developers. At the time, Friends of the Earth publicly said that they were gobsmacked by the way that developers had rolled over the Welsh Government. Later, it turns out that major developers, like Persimmon Homes, are clients of lobbyists in Cardiff, and that is why we need a register.

It’s true that some lobbying firms voluntarily register with the Association of Professional Political Consultants, but a quick scan of the register shows what we’re up against. The British Soft Drinks Association is represented by lobbyists. They’ve been arguing against any kind of sugar tax, which is a key proposal in my party’s manifesto to deliver 1,000 extra doctors. The World Health Organization has also been urging countries to introduce this tax. The British Soft Drinks Association has also fought against any plans to ban the sale of highly sweetened and caffeinated energy drinks for children.

The problem with a voluntary register is that we know little about what is really going on and who is influencing what decision. The banking collapse showed that self-regulation just doesn’t work. Many firms also operate across the UK, which means it’s impossible to know whether they’re actually influencing Northern Ireland, Scotland or, indeed, Wales. One of the most dangerous aspects of lobbying is the revolving door that has been established between this Assembly and the lobbying firms trying to influence it. These firms are increasingly filled with familiar faces—former AMs, special advisers, former Government officials—and we should all realise that information is a valuable currency, and once gleaned, sometimes informally, information is sold to the highest bidder.

One of the arguments that lobbyists made against the Welsh register in the Standards of Conduct Committee report was that it’s impossible to define what a lobbyist is. But mandatory registers of lobbyists exist in several countries. The Australian Government has legislation that means, and I quote,

‘Any lobbyist who acts on behalf of third-party clients for the purposes of lobbying Government representatives must be registered on the Register of Lobbyists and must comply with the requirements of the Lobbying Code’.

It’s the law.

The Canadian House of Commons has mandated that a commissioner of lobbying maintains a register of lobbyists with regulations prescribing the form and manner in which lobbyists must register their activities when they communicate with federal and public office holders.

In France, the National Assembly has a register that is maintained by the General Secretariat of the Presidency of the National Assembly. In the US, mandatory lobbyists’ disclosures must be filed electronically every quarter when lobbying a member of the US Senate and lobbying firms are required to file separate representations and registrations for each client. Closer to home, Scotland is currently passing a lobbying Act that will lead to a register of lobbyists and also sets out what regulated lobbying is.

The legislation at Westminster, which the former Presiding Officer asked that we be left out of, created a register of lobbyists. In Wales, we have nothing and we actually need to go much further than a register—we need to know the nature of the contract between commercial lobbying firms and the clients so that it’s clear who they’re trying to represent and for what purpose. I think it’s quite straightforward. It is time that we joined Australia, Canada, France, the United States and even Scotland and Westminster in introducing robust legislation on lobbying.

We can bring lobbying out into the open and ensure that there’s a transparent culture in this Assembly and that’s why I’m calling on the Welsh Government to introduce lobbying legislation without delay because it’s the right thing to do. Diolch yn fawr.