Insurance legislation: Backroom influencers

Who has influence over the development of new legislation outside of the Government?

In last week’s alert, the Keoghs Market Affairs team looked at the spheres of influence when it comes to passing laws on domestic matters of importance to the UK, analysing the relative importance of the Prime Minister and their Cabinet, various Government departments, and the opposition parties.

This week, we look into the committee rooms and other (sometimes literal) corridors of power in the Houses of Parliament, to see which other actors wield influence when it comes to creating legislation at a domestic level in the UK.

Select Committees

Made up of MPs from across the political spectrum, every Government Department has a select committee which examines and scrutinises it.

For the insurance industry, the most influential committees are the Justice Select Committee, the Transport Select Committee, and the Treasury Select Committee. Each of these plays a vital function in scrutinising government policy, and each often gets a chance to question the Secretary of State at their respective departments.

But their work isn’t simply reactive. Committee members and their Chairs choose areas of interest and launch inquiries frequently. These inquiries generate both political and media interest, and help to bring issues that may otherwise have been passed by to the top of the political agenda.

All Party Parliamentary Groups (APPGs)

Select Committees are not the only collection of backbench political figures which can influence the national conversation.

Small groups of Parliamentarians make up hundreds of different APPGs, which meet to discuss an enormously broad range of topics.  

Occasionally (and somewhat cruelly) dubbed the “after school clubs” of Parliament, these groups provide a forum for interested Parliamentarians and stakeholders to discuss matters of importance to their subject area.

They differ from Select Committees in that they serve no official function, do not have the power to summon witnesses, and their membership is not elected. They also don’t receive as much media attention, but stories about the reports put out by these groups of MPs and Peers are picked up on more often than you might think.

There is an Insurance and Financial Services APPG, which is currently chaired by Conservative MP and former insurance broker Craig Tracey.

Political targets

If the upcoming General Election yields a result that allows Parliament to get back to normal (or at least something close to it), these are the groups of interested political figures which prove key targets for industry, as they can help shape, alter and develop policy that can become law.