All-Party Parliamentary Groups – what are APPGs and how will new rules affect society?

What is an APPG?

All-Party Parliamentary Groups (APPGs) are informal cross-party groups run by and for Members of Parliament or the House of Lords.

It is common that organisations or charities who are experts in the particular topic being discussed will help with the administration of the group.

There are more than 350 APPGs in Parliament, covering a wide range of topics from beer to brain tumours. At BBK we get involved in APPGs that discuss issues relevant to our work and our clients, such as for spinal cord injury and Black maternal health.

What do they do?

APPGs all run differently but they all have an annual general meeting (AGM) every year and have a few other meetings in the year. These meetings can be policy discussions, hearing from experts, promoting awareness days and roundtable discussions.

APPGs have the power to make great change if the MPs running them chose to do so. In recent years APPGs have launched inquiries into really important issues.

For example, in 2024 the report into birth trauma that was presented to the Government was conducted by the specific birth trauma APGG, run by Theo Clarke MP following her personal experience when giving birth.

What are the rules around APPGs and how have they changed?

In 2023, Parliament changed the rules on how APPGs could be run. At the time there were more than 750 APPG groups and there were concerns about the way companies were using these groups to influence new laws.

There was a great deal of concern over the influence of foreign countries in Parliament, via APPGs. I worked in Parliament for five years before joining BBK and I know there were many free trips for MPs and their staff offered through these APPGs.

The standards committee warned the way in which these APPGs were being used may have caused the ‘next great Parliamentary lobbying scandal’. The BBC reported between 2021 and 2017 APPGs had received £30.7 million in donations. These donations were meant to assist with running costs but had clearly been abused under the old rules.

The updated rules for APPGs were introduced in September 2023. These rules included tighter regulations on donations. They also changed the membership rules which means:

• A group must have four registered members (and no more);
• There must be at least one member from the government party (or parties) and one from the opposition party;
• At least two of the officers must be from the House of Commons;
• A member of the House of Commons may be an officer of a maximum of six groups;
• An APPG must have at least 20 members and must maintain an accurate and up to date list of those members;
• APPGs most hold a minimum of two formal meetings per year, one of which must be an AGM;
• The quorum for a formal meeting is five members of either House;
• Sufficient minutes must be kept.

Whilst the change in the rules are positive in terms of transparency and preventing scandal or any inappropriate influence in Parliament it does also have an impact on some of the more niche issues.

The rule on having 20 members for an APPG means in reality it is very hard to set up an APPG. Therefore, some of the issues that get less attention will struggle to gain traction. The number of APPGs in Parliament is less than 50% of what it was previously.

BBK and APPGs

At BBK we are passionate about campaigning on issues that impact our clients and other injured people. As part of that work we do attend and support APPG groups.

In the past we have sponsored the launch of the Women in Defence APPG. We also attend other APPG groups including:

• The APPG for Spinal Cord Injury – this is a group who are working to tackle the issues that affect people with spinal cord injuries. The group is run by the Spinal Injuries Association (SIA).
• The Access to Justice APPG – this group works to highlight the importance of access to justice. They hold regular meetings on a wide range of issues around the topic of access to justice.
• Black Maternal Health APPG – the APPG aims to raise awareness of the issue of racial disparities within maternal healthcare.
• The APPG on Apprenticeships – the APPG is for parliamentarians and employers to discuss how to promote the role of high-quality apprenticeships.