- LOBBYING
- Groups meet with politicians/civil servants to persuade them to adopt their ideas.
- Groups with insider status are likely to be consulted on government policy if they are sources of expert information and can provide a reliable and responsible sounding board for government proposals – the BMA and the Institute of
- Directors are consulted frequently by the Department of Health and the Treasury.
- Groups may supplement their inside access by lobbying MPs and peers within Parliament and many groups submit
- written evidence to select committees, urge supportive MPs to introduce PMB and lobby MPs to try to influence
- their votes on government bills.
- They can be asked to appear before a backbench committee and committee reports are taken seriously by the
- government and often reported by the media.
- They may lobby the House of Lords to amend government legislation, to initiate their own legislation or to put an
- issue on the political agenda by debating it.
- Devolution has brought new tiers of decision making to a regional level – ASH Scotland was successful in banning
- smoking in public places in Scotland a year before the rest of the UK and elected mayors have brought greater
- power to cities — ukfeminista lobbied the London mayor’s office to make public transport in the capital safer for
- women.
- 2.RESEARCH/REPORTS
Research can provide evidence to support a group’s argument and can be used to inform politicians and raise public awareness of the cause.
Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) was established in 1971 and its campaigns have achieved significant successes such as banning smoking in enclosed places and introducing plain packaging with explicit images of the harm that tobacco can do.
These successes have been facilitated by research by the BMA on the risks of smoking and the support of Parliament for stronger restrictions.
In 2014, for example, a ban on smoking in cars containing children passed the House of Commons by 376 to 107 votes.
3.BRING CASES TO COURT
- Some groups provide legal expertise and bring a case or help to bring a case to court.
- Look to secure the rights of their members and ensure those rights are protected.
- May try to overturn government decisions with legal action using judicial review.
- Publicity and changing public opinion may be as important as winning the case.
- Chris Grayling, coalition justice secretary, claimed in 2014 that pressure groups were using judicial review too
- often to delay legislation and the Criminal Justice and Courts Act (2015) made it more difficult for charities to use judicial review.