BRITISH PROFESSIONS TODAY: THE STATE OF ... - Property Week

Social and political contributions continued >>
There is an essential difference separating the political goals of
a professional membership body from a professional firm. The
former has a public interest remit, evidenced by self-regulatory
functions to maintain quality standards, often via Royal Charter
membership, whilst the latter is a business, concerned
primarily with commercial interests. The public interest is the
top priority in professional bodies’ political consultation, even
over members’ (short-term) interests when the two conflict
(Craig 2007; McAdoo 2007; Labrey 2007; Hatcher 2007;
Chapman 2007). In fact, most professional bodies do not see
a conflict at all between the public interest and professional
members’ long-term interests because professionals must
maintain the public trust in order to survive.
Two types of policy consultation
The processes involved in political consultation vary according
to the issue. Broadly speaking, there are two types of policy
consultation: 1) responsive, when a professional body is called
to consult or advise the government on a relevant policy issue;
and 2) proactive, when a professional body goes to the
government with advice on a policy which may be on the
agenda sometime in the future. Professional bodies initiate
projects and influence governments, but more often
professions are responding to external demands for change,
which can be social, economic, and political.
The formal process of political consultation does not differ
greatly across the professions. It consists of monitoring
government, assessing the situation to evaluate which actions or
proposals merit responses in light of limited resources, advising
on how to argue the platform in terms of wider political
engagement, and facilitating the discussion between members
of the profession and the state (McAdoo 2007; Labrey 2007).
The role of the public affairs and policy teams of professional
bodies is to determine where and how their organisation can
participate in the debate, what the key platforms are for the
public interest, how to engage them, and marshalling
membership to do so. Members are typically willing and eager
to participate in the government consultation process, and do
so pro bono. Members, and firms, are likely to be willing to
provide their time and expertise free of charge because they
see the value in helping to shape public policy (Ibid.)
The informal process of political consultation occurs when a
professional body sees a gap or a problem which may not be
on the government’s agenda but should be (Craig 2007). This
form of communication and advice is non-traditional for most
professional bodies (Craig 2007; Hatcher 2007; McAdoo
2007; Labrey 2007; Chapman 2007). Still, most see significant
value in becoming more proactive in their approach. Forward
thinking allows professions to get involved with the agendasetting
before ideas develop into (much more inflexible) policy
proposals (Chapman 2007).
Quantifying professional influence
Too often professional bodies are overlooked when it
comes to making complex, technical policy decisions relevant
to their fields of expertise. The case of Home Information
Packs (on page 30) is one instance in which consultation with
the relevant professional body might well have resulted in a
better-designed policy to achieve the government’s aims
of simplifying the property-buying process. One way of
evaluating the impact of professional bodies is to measure
the number of times professional bodies are mentioned in
parliamentary debate, committee hearings, written
statements and other official transcripts. 11 This analysis does
not capture many facets of the consultation process, such as
informal meetings and behind-the-scenes counsel. Still, the
mention of a professional body in parliamentary debate is
one indication of political influence. The following chart
compares the average yearly number of references of four
professional bodies against the coverage of top professional
services firms in their respective sectors. The analysis also
compares coverage of the Confederation of British Industry
(CBI), Trades Union Congress (TUC) and other major
institutional bodies.
11 Hansard, the Offi cial Report, is the printed transcript of parliamentary
debates. Hansard transcripts cover proceedings in the Commons
Chamber, Westminster Hall and Standing Committees. Lords Hansard
covers proceedings in the Lords Chamber and its Grand Committees.
Both contain Written Ministerial Statements and Written Answers
(“Hansard” 2007).
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