The challenges ahead
The climate in which we operate has changed significantly over the past 30 years, since the creation of the IPT, and we can expect similar far-reaching change in the decades ahead. However, the broad challenges remain:
- MPs will continue to be drawn from predominantly non-business backgrounds: some 80% of MPs have scant or no business background - and an increasing proportion of new MPs have spent their formative political years in non-business careers such as local government, trade unions.
- Business leaders will rise to the top of their companies with relatively little understanding of the way Parliament or the legislative process works, relying on specialist public affairs advisors or lobbyists to act as their interface.
- There will continue to be tensions between the desire of business to provide returns to shareholders and discharge its corporate and social responsibilities through voluntary means, and the role of governments to achieve economic and social prosperity through regulation and legislation.
- Businesses have to operate under stringent UK and, increasingly, EU regulation and socio-political pressures which constrain or influence how they behave and operate.
There will, therefore, still be a vital role for the IPT to perform in promoting mutual understanding between industry and Parliament, leading to better informed government policy and business from which the public as a whole will benefit.
Our strategy
Over the years, we have found that our vision is best achieved through activities that enable 'practitioner to learn from practitioner'. Our strategy focuses therefore on:
- Identifying and organising Fellowship Programmes for Parliamentarians. MPs, Peers, senior staff of both Houses of Parliament and MEPs can apply for an educational exchange programme within a range of participating companies of all sectors and sizes. A parliamentarian commits to spending 18 days over 18 months in a business, undertaking a planned programme to suit both the parliamentary timetable and the individual’s needs and responsibilities, which delivers real insight into how business strategy is formulated and implemented. On successful completion of the programme, the parliamentarian is awarded the status of Fellow of the IPT.
- Developing and arranging educational Parliamentary Programmes for business executives. Executives from all types of business and at all levels of responsibility can gain a better understanding of Parliament and the EU institutions through a series of study programmes, workshops and seminars. On successful completion of the IPT’s core PSPI and ESPI, participants are awarded Fellowship of the IPT.
- Managing the Civil Service MP/MEP Attachment Scheme. The scheme was piloted by the Cabinet Office in 1998 amongst MPs and the MEP scheme was launched in 2003. These schemes enable civil servants to shadow an MP or MEP for a short period to gain better understanding of parliamentary processes. Over 240 civil servants have now been ‘matched’ with MPs and over 40 with MEPs. Demand is high for both schemes with applications outnumbering available places.
- Enabling parliamentarians and business executives to share and learn from each other, through seminars and non-party political networking opportunities.
- Attracting and retaining committed corporate members, from a wide range of business sectors, to provide both financial resources and sources of support.
- Continually looking for new ways to build mutually beneficial relationships between legislators and wealth creators through the provision of relevant programmes, services and information
