CIPR Manifesto

CIPRMANIFESTO 2015

Chartered Institute of Public Relations52-53 Russell SquareLondon WC1B 4HPT: +44 (0)20 7631 6900E: [email protected]: cipr.co.uk

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The UK General Election of 2015 promises to be most unusual. The political landscape, like the media landscape in recent years, is fragmenting. There is considerably less certainty about the future direction of politics and political structures over the next five to ten years.

Some of the really big questions facing our society have not so far figured large in political debate, but our future government will need to take a lead on finding answers to them. In this manifesto, the Chartered Institute of Public Relations is highlighting seven important challenges which we believe the next government will need to tackle during its period of office.

Most of these issues are not ones for which a government can simply legislate, and most of them do not have a simple, straightforward solution. Rather, they require an open and informed public conversation which will allow us to arrive at a sustainable set of policies and maintain the UK’s world lead in some critically important areas.

We commend these ideas to our prospective Members of Parliament and look forward to the discussions they raise over the year ahead.

Sarah Pinch FCIPR, CIPR President

FOREWORD

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Public relations builds relationships and manages reputation. The focus of professional public relations is the management of dialogue between an organisation and its publics. The role of the professional is to ensure that the organisation is responsive and adapts to the messages it receives, as well as managing the messages it communicates. This is a strategic mission. Organisations that are communicativei as part of their DNA build trust, act responsibly and learn from their stakeholders. This dialogue results in improved decisions for the organisation, its employees and its stakeholders.

Public relations supports better public services by bringing them closer to their primary users and providers. Lobbying supports democratic processes by providing information-rich dialogues which allow politicians and policy makers

to exercise critical judgement. Effective internal communications and employee engagement create the conditions for greater productivity. In each case public relations supports and facilitates better decisionsii. This is as true in Launceston as it is in London. The UK’s major cities and national capitals are all seeing a growth in the profession of public relations as it supports organisations and business of all kinds, rural and urban, large and small.

In this context, the CIPR is investing in research that will define the skills horizon for public relations for the decades ahead. Our work will build a stronger dialogue with clients and employers, which will be based on a clear understanding of the role of public relations and how it supports better decision-making, growth and resilience. The net result will, we believe, be a stronger economy and a stronger society.

COMMENTARy PuBLIC RELaTIonS, DECISIon MakIng, gRoWTH anD RESILIEnCE

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UK plc depends on continuing trust in British business institutions, but work by international public relations consultancy, Edelmaniii, and the World Economic Forumiv, shows that trust in business organisations is at record low levels. If UK businesses do not act to restore trust they will be unable to function and will lose ground to competitors. Public relations is a strategic management discipline which nurtures the development of relationships- it is therefore, an essential part of governance. Relationships have value, allow for the achievement of objectives and the realisation of mutual benefit where possible. Where it is not, public relations diminishes conflict and clarifies interests at stake.

Integrated Reportingv (IR), based on integrated thinking about value creation over time, should demonstrate how an organisation’s strategy, governance, performance and prospects, in the context of its external environment, lead to the creation of value in the short, medium and long term. This sort of extended reporting should become the expectation in our corporate culture, adding value to communities beyond investors and creating the potential for more dialogue and deeper relationships founded on trust. It would also mean a different level of discussion around decisions when they are placed in this context. From 2015, the CIPR will begin to use IR in its annual communications on performance.

ThE FuTuRE OF CORPORATE GOvERNANCE

Building relationships is key to the creation of sustainable value in business. In order to improve business decision making and trust in business, government should identify measures which will lead corporate culture in the UK to refocus on the value of relationships and move towards integrated reporting as a means of communicating the way that business organisations create value.

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The current reform of EU Data Protection Law leaves a number of important gaps in how personal data is managed. It strengthens citizens’ rights to control their personal data, but does not adequately address the everyday contexts in which huge quantities of personal data are generated and traded.

We currently trade the data we generate via social media with owners of the platforms we opt into as part of the terms of use. Wearable devices such as Fitbit, Jawbone UP, Nike Fuelband and other activity trackers generate a wealth of data and insight into our personal lives. Deloitte predictedvi that smart glasses

and fitness bands (‘wearable tech’) would sell 10 million units in 2014, generating $3 billion. Canalysvii forecast 43.2 million wearable band unit shipments in 2015. Each of these units will connect the user to a secondary trade in personal data. Data, generated by us, is the raw material of a new wave of industry, along with the opening of data sources from within government. Both are part of the horizon of ‘big data’.

Sensitive biometric data is gathered via wearable technology and shared via mobile ‘apps’, whose terms of service (as per the current Apple iTunes storeviii or Facebook agreementsix) range from 4,500

DATA PROTECTION

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to 15,000 words long. Users routinely click ‘I agree’ to these without any understanding of what they are agreeing to. In many cases the user is relinquishing all future rights over their personal data and allowing it to be sold, bought and exchanged without any control.

We therefore have one part of our data environment which is highly regulated and in which citizen’s rights are regarded as pre-eminently important, and another in which there is effectively no meaningful control on the use and re-use of data. This lacks coherence, is not sustainable and will ultimately lead to frustration.

The next UK Government needs to think beyond the scope of current EU Data Protection Law and lead a national conversation about how we can develop a coherent and satisfactory framework for responding to emerging technology. We need to maintain our forward position in the adoption of new technology while setting a world standard in terms of transparency and accountability in personal data use. A Royal Commission is needed to recommend a new range of protections and accountabilities and ensure that society can fully benefit from the data revolution.

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Lobbying, as a professional service, has an important role in the process of making policy and law in a modern democracy. It is one of the key means by which information can enter the debate from outside the system itself. Politicians and policy makers need information in order to exercise good judgement.

Good lobbyists bridge an important gap, bringing a deep understanding of the pressures of the processes and help their clients and employers understand the system while helping politicians and civil servants understand the issues from other points of view. The skill of the lobbyist is in framing the information into arguments and introducing them to the process at

the moment when it will matter most. No lobbying is value free or disinterested in outcomes, but professional lobbyists are accountable to codes of conduct and the outcomes of their work are of course subject to the normal scrutiny which surrounds lawmaking.

There should be greater public scrutiny of lobbying. Lack of transparency, real or perceived, creates the conditions for distrust which will undermine faith in government and politics. Despite this, the current regime of statutory registration is unlikely to increase the amount of information about lobbying and will fail to build public confidence.

LObbyING

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Government should support the development of high professional standards and accountability in lobbying. It should work with the profession to build stronger institutions that can regulate the ethical conduct of lobbyists, supporting and maintaining the voluntary codes of conduct. It should ensure the legislation that introduced a statutory register of consultant lobbyists genuinely provides the public with more information about how policies and laws are shaped.

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Self-employment in the UK hit the highest level since records began in 2014, with 15% of people working for themselvesx. Around 13% of CIPR members are independent practitioners of public relations, often servicing smaller clients who cannot afford to retain an in-house function.

The UK Government recognises the vital importance of skills and training for the future of the UK economy and our competitiveness in the global market. Many self-employed people and other small businesses have to be highly flexible, adapting to changing client needs and moving swiftly from declining areas of business to new opportunities. A government which is friendly to

entrepreneurs will do everything it can to encourage this resilience.

Unfortunately HM Revenue and Customs currently takes the opposite view. The advice in BIM35660 is that training to refresh existing expertise is deductible in arriving at the profits chargeable to tax. On the other hand, training intended to give someone completely new expertise is not deductible. Although the reasoning behind this distinction is well established, it does not create a tax environment favourable to the kind of innovation and personal development which will allow the self-employed to thrive. We therefore believe that it is contrary to the long-term interests of UK business to retain this distinction.

INDEPENDENT PRACTITIONERS AND FuTuRE SkILLS NEEDS

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The CIPR asks the next UK Government to allow tax deductibility for any kind of training undertaken by the self-employed and allow tax deductibility for any kind of training for small businesses (as defined in the Companies Act 2006).

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Despite the Equal Pay Act, men and women are often paid differently for doing a similar job by the same organisation, or with substantial and often unfair discrepancies across sectors and industries.

The CIPR has researched the gender pay gap in public relationsxi. We have identified an average difference in the pay received by men and women doing similar jobs of £8,483 to the disadvantage of women, which could not be explained by factors such as seniority, service or part-time work. It is therefore the pure effect of gender on pay.

In fact, in public relations, gender had the third largest overall impact on salary, after level of seniority and years in the industry. Additionally, looking at other measures such as parenthood, it has been shown that pay inequality in the industry cannot be explained by having children - something which in our research appeared to have no impact on pay at all. The gender pay gap in public relations is greater than the gap that exists between graduates and non-graduates, which is £5,315 per annum. This research is specific to public relations, but the problem is not.

GENDER PAy GAP

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The CIPR has, in the last 12 months, introduced initiatives to support members on maternity leave, members returning to work and issued guidance to members on flexible working. Although these are each of critical importance, our research suggests that they do not, individually or collectively, address the cause of gender inequality in pay. For our part, we interpret our own Code of Conduct, where it requires members to “deal honestly and fairly in business” as including questions of equal pay.

The UK Government should continue to support the “Think, Act, Report” initiative, and other steps around flexible work and returning to work. However, government also should tackle gender pay inequality more directly. Firstly through conducting comprehensive research into the underlying causes, looking for positive measures delivered in other countries, and secondly, by strengthening the existing law on equal pay and ensuring that it is universally applied.

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As a society and an economy, we rely on the internet as an essential public utility. Public relations, in common with many areas of business and industry, sees the internet as a central route to new areas of value. The continuing accessibility of the internet is of critical concern to the future of our nation and its economy. There are two significant areas of risk.

Firstly, access to the internet and its free use are under threat as some national governments seek to exert more control over how it can be used, the content it may carry and the uses that may be made of content.

It is, we believe, in the public interest

that the internet continues to be loosely governed, with rules regarding its governance set by stakeholders who have broad interests. These stakeholder groups should include national governments, but the governance of the internet should be supported rather than led by them.

Secondly, recent events involving hacking into company communication systems and cyber-attacks on national interests have shown that easy assumptions about security of internet use are complacent.

The future security of internet users and success in the fight against online criminal activity depends on international and inter-governmental co-operation.

INTERNET GOvERNANCE

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We urge the UK Government to continue to involve itself in questions of internet governance and ask that it seeks to provide effective leadership, particularly at the tenth annual meeting of the UN’s Internet Governance Forum to be held 10 - 13 November 2015 in Brazil. It should build support for the multi-stakeholder approach internationally and resist calls for governments to take the lead in governing the internet. We urge the government to do more to build international partnerships that will effectively combat internet crime.

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The internet is now as essential a public service as our roads, rail network, ports and airports. It is part of our critical national infrastructure in itself, as well as being an essential part of the infrastructure in every sector of business, industry, government, public services and civic life.

Securing better coverage and faster, more reliable internet connections, will not only deliver a better experience for the UK’s internet users, but also provide a significant boost to UK plc. For the business of public relations, improving digital connectivity will be a key catalyst for growth, achieving new innovations, growing creative content and services, and optimising commercial capacity.

Depending on which method you use to measure internet speed, the UK’s average broadband speeds are 12th in Europe, behind countries such as Norway, Romania and Ireland, with an average speed of 10.7 megabits per second (Mbps) in the third quarter of 2014xii (according to US technology group Akamai), or 18.7

Mbps and Britain is ahead of Europe’s five largest countries (according to the Department of Culture, Media and Sport or DCMSxiii). It is not immediately clear how two organisations can reach such different conclusions about internet speeds.

According to the Federation of Small Businessesxiv, 14% of small firms say their growth is held back by lack of reliable access to the internet. A rural/urban divide exists in reliable internet and mobile phone coverage, which means your access to online public services, information, entertainment, retail and communication depends on where you live.

DCMS figuresxv claim that as of Q4 2014, roughly 80% of the UK has access to superfast broadband – which means that approximately 4.5 million homes and more than 1 million businesses currently do not. By 2017, if the government meets its target of 95% coverage, over 1 million homes and around 250,000 businesses will still not have superfast broadband.xvi

bROADbAND

Government must invest in critical digital infrastructure to support the UK’s future communities and economy. The government’s aim to give access to 24 Mbps broadband speeds to 95 per cent of users by 2017 is unambitious. Their investment of £1bn by 2017 is not enough.

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Public relations builds effective relationships with an organisation’s stakeholders. Relationships drive success by helping organisations achieve their objectives and making them more resilient. Relationships also help maintain and develop reputation.

Every organisation, no matter how large or small, depends on its reputation for survival and success. Customers, suppliers, employees, investors, journalists and regulators can have a powerful impact. They all have an opinion about the organisations they come into contact with - whether good or bad, right or wrong. Their perceptions drive

decisions about whether they want to support those organisations. In today’s global marketplace, reputation can be a company’s biggest asset, making it stand out from the crowd.

Our State of the Profession 2015 researchxvii, surveying over 2,000 public relations professionals, shows that as an industry public relations:

• Pays an average salary of £46,629

• Employs 61% professionals in an in-house function, 26% in the consultancy sector and 13% as independent practitioners

AbOuT PubLIC RELATIONS

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Founded in 1948, the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) is the professional body for public relations practitioners in the UK. With over 11,000 members involved in all aspects of public relations, it is the largest body of its type in Europe.

The CIPR advances professionalism in public relations by making its members accountable to their employers and the public through a code of conduct and searchable public register, setting standards through training, qualifications and the production of best practice and skills guidance, facilitating Continuing Professional Development (CPD), and awarding Chartered Public Relations Practitioner status (Chart.PR).

The CIPR was granted its Royal Charter by the Privy Council in February 2005.

AbOuT ThE CIPR

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i http://melbournemandate.globalalliancepr.org/ii Philbin, JP “Strategic Decision-making, group Behavior,

and Public Relations Strategies” 2005iii http://www.edelman.com/insights/intellectual-

property/2015-edelman-trust-barometer/iv http://www.weforum.org/projects/leadership-trust-and-

performance-equationv http://www.theiirc.org/vi Financial Times, 20 February 2014 “The digitised

employee – can wearable technology help create a healthier, more productive workforce?”

vii http://www.canalys.com/newsroom/wearable-band-shipments-set-exceed-432-million-units-2015

viii http://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/us/terms.html

ix https://www.facebook.com/legal/termsx The guardian, 20 august 2014 “Self-employment in uk

at highest level since records began”xi http://www.cipr.co.uk/stateofprxii http://www.akamai.com/stateoftheinternet/xiii https://www.gov.uk/government/news/superfast-

broadband-rollout-now-one-of-the-fastest-in-the-worldxiv http://www.fisp.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/

FSB-The-Fourth-utility-PaPERv02.pdfxv https://www.gov.uk/government/news/superfast-

broadband-rollout-now-one-of-the-fastest-in-the-worldxvi other figures: http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/guide-

method/census/2011/index.htmlxvii http://www.cipr.co.uk/stateofpr

Chartered Institute of Public Relations52-53 Russell SquareLondon WC1B 4HPT: +44 (0)20 7631 6900E: [email protected]: cipr.co.uk