Working in Westminster
The RSPCA has been lobbying at Westminster since its creation in 1824, following in the tradition of the politicians who helped to set up the Society.
Why lobby government?
The main aims of the Society’s work in Westminster are:
- To change laws and policy to improve animal welfare
- To raise awareness of the values of the RSPCA
- To provide an information service to government, politicians and their staff on animal welfare issues.
Our Westminster team takes pride in providing a high quality information service to politicians and civil servants on a variety of animal welfare issues. As well as regularly meeting and briefing politicians, the team attends and holds events both at the Houses of Parliament and the annual party conferences.
We make sure that the RSPCA has an opportunity to input its concerns on animal welfare to all relevant government departments, and that it has close working relationships with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the Home Office. We often respond to government consultations and parliamentary select committee enquiries. You will be able to view the Society’s submissions on this website.
All members of the team are members of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) and are registered on the UKPAC register. We also follow the following guiding principles:
- The lobbying work of the RSPCA is guided by its public affairs team based in its External Affairs department
- The public affairs team at the RSPCA takes its work in the political and public affairs arena seriously and is committed to encouraging best practice amongst other public affairs professionals
- The public affairs team will deal with individuals, organisations and all institutions of government with honesty, transparency and integrity
- The public affairs team will also take reasonable steps to establish that information supplied to them or by them is factually accurate and honest and not knowingly misleading.
Sound scientific opinion
The RSPCA always bases its policies on sound science and any issue which we respond to will always be backed up by advice from our highly qualified scientific departments. The team has a number of briefings for politicians and their staff on a number of different issues, some of which can be found on these pages. If there is an issue not covered on this site that you need information on, please contact us.
We are very proud of the changes in animal welfare legislation and policy which we have helped to influence. The last 25 years have seen a huge shift in how legislation protects animals. To show these changes, the Society created an interactive timeline to record the legislation passed and its effect on welfare. You can view the timeline, which is constantly being updated, here.
APGAW
We also provide administrative support for the Associate Parliamentary Group for Animal Welfare (APGAW), a group for politicians and interest groups seeking to improve animal welfare standards in Westminster. The group has just finished its inquiry into pedigree dogs which can be downloaded from their website: www.apgaw.org
Award winners
We were delighted to be voted the best animal welfare charity to communicate with politicians by MPs and Lords at the ComRes Charity Awards in 2008 and 2009. We received a number of supportive comments from MPs who voted for us:
"In 2009, the RSPCA have continued their committed campaigning efforts to stop cruelty to animals. They achieve extremely high profile performance, and are one of the most effective campaigning organisations. They have a strong and committed ethos, and are not easily blown off course."
Peter Bone, MP
"I have seen the excellent work the RSPCA has done at first hand in rescuing large numbers of badly treated animals. They have worked expertly with the police and other charitable organisations to obtain convictions and to restore animals to health at great cost and with tireless application to their cause."
A Conservative MP
