Engaging with and advising policy makers

We are a leading professional services firm and our purpose is to build trust in society and solve important problems. In fulfilling our purpose, we aim to make a constructive contribution to public policy debates. We believe that our insights can support and inform good policy making, effective opposition and better government, and in doing so we maintain a strict policy of political neutrality. Politicians and policy makers are important stakeholders to business and therefore it is important that we build relationships with them in areas of joint interest. We also engage with politicians, officials and regulators outside of the UK to reflect the international dimension of our firm’s work.

We have a Political Liaison Policy that applies to all UK staff and partners and governs the way that we interact with the main UK political parties. The Political Liaison Committee which oversees this activity meets quarterly, and includes a member of the Management Board.

The PwC Management Board and our Supervisory Board receive regular updates on our political activity to provide oversight and challenge to our activities. We also consult with our Public Interest Body on political matters when deemed relevant. The involvement of both the Management and Supervisory Boards and our Public Interest Body ensures that there is engagement, decision making and accountability of our political activities at a senior level.

Our Code of Conduct further outlines the principles which guide our activity. All Partners and employees are required to comply with the Code. We do not make political cash donations nor do we permit them to be made on our behalf, although from time to time we may sponsor targeted events for example at the annual party conferences. On occasion, we provide non-cash assistance to the parties in the form of secondments. In considering any assistance (including expenditure on political activities), the PwC Management Board has regard to ethical considerations, the possible impact on clients of the firm and the firm’s overall reputation. All the support that we undertake for political parties is fully disclosed to the Electoral Commission.

Our Political Activity Policy forbids the employment of elected members of Parliament or of the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. We do employ former politicians and civil servants, and we follow all relevant rules and regulations regarding their employment including the Code of Ethics of our own regulatory body, the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. You can view the Code here.

We are not a lobbying organisation; however, we sometimes communicate with policy makers on behalf of our clients and these conversations can fall within the scope of both the UK and Scottish Lobbying Acts. We have a UK-wide policy which applies to all staff and Partners and they are required to make an annual return confirming that they have complied with the rules if they have any such conversations. You can see our UK lobbying disclosures here and our entry on the Scottish Lobbying Register here. As part of the PwC IL network our activities in Brussels are included within our registration on the European Commission transparency register.

The UK firm is a member of the Professional and Business Services Council (PBSC) which is an independent forum for the PBS sector and government to work together to promote the long term success of the sector in the UK and internationally. Marco Amitrano, Alliance Senior Partner for PwC UK and Middle East, is a member of the PBSC, with other members of staff or partners chairing or otherwise involved with various subgroups, including Skills and Inclusion, International Trade, and Trade Technical.

PwC also supports All Party Parliamentary Groups (APPGs) on request, where we are able to provide valuable contributions to the debate with our involvement subject to the necessary approvals set out by our political activity policy. This support can cover a range of activities including sponsorship, attendance at events, and contributions to specific research projects.

Throughout FY24, the firm engaged with policy makers in a variety of forums:

In FY24 (1 July 2023 - 30 June 2024), our engagement with policymakers ranged across several issues, including social mobility and skills; the transition to Net Zero; artificial intelligence; corporate governance and audit; and UK growth and international trade policy.

PwC held events in partnership with third parties at the 2023 Labour and Conservative conferences on the importance of skills in social mobility, exploring how business and Government can work in partnership to improve opportunities for people across the UK. These events were attended by Metro Mayors, MPs, party members, and stakeholders from think tanks and business. Alongside these events, we held a roundtable exploring tax policy and green jobs at the Labour Party conference, which was attended by two Shadow Ministers and representatives from think tanks and trade bodies. PwC staff also attended the SNP and Liberal Democrat conferences.

PwC attended and hosted several events with senior politicians across the year. These events have included a think tank organised roundtable with a Government Minister on how tax policy can incentivise the green economy,and an internal event on the transition to Net Zero with the Government’s Net Zero Review Chair. We also hosted a Labour Party event to mark International Women's Day and organised a discussion with the Liberal Democrats on housing policy. We also welcomed the First Minister of Scotland to our office in Edinburgh.

Over the course of FY24, we provided submissions to Parliamentary and Government consultations on a range of issues. These included the House of Commons Business and Trade Committee’s inquiry into Industrial Policy, and various submissions on regulatory issues to Government departments.

Over the last year we continued to engage with businesses, policymakers, and skills providers across the country on our Green Jobs Barometer. These roundtables focused on how to ensure the UK can secure a just transition and have given a particular focus to how businesses are dealing with the changes they will need to make in the coming years.

On 10 August 2023 PwC’s Jane Steer, Zelf Hussain and Edward Williams were appointed as Joint Administrators of WL realisations (2023) Limited, W.com Realisations Limited, and WHSL Realisations Limited. Given the high profile nature of the administration it attracted significant attention from a number of stakeholders including local and national government. Since the appointment we have engaged with a variety of government stakeholders, including MPs and officials at the Department for Business and Trade, via a mixture of written correspondence and meetings.

Following a request from the Labour Party, and taken with full consideration to our approach on secondees, the firm provided a secondee to the Labour Party.