National Highways: Public Relations
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what guidance her Department issues to National Highways on ensuring that expenditure on external affairs and public affairs activities complies with Cabinet Office guidance on the use of public funds for lobbying.
Answered by Simon Lightwood
Accounting Officers of DfT public bodies, including National Highways, are bound by Managing Public Money and Cabinet Office guidance. The Department reminds individual bodies, as necessary, of these rules and the expectations set out in section 4.1 of the Code of Conduct for Board Members of Public Bodies (2019), which states, 'it will always be an improper use of public funds for public bodies to employ consultants or other companies to lobby Parliament, Government or political parties'.
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