Public and Commercial Services Union

This briefing concentrates on the practical steps you need to take when lobbying your MP in their local constituency office.

What is lobbying?

Every citizen has the right to meet with their elected representative and raise issues they have concerns about. This can be done in their local constituency or at Parliament when it is sitting.

Most MPs have monthly surgeries somewhere in the constituency and it is always best for you to make an appointment to attend the surgery, although some MPs are now holding drop-in sessions on a first come first served basis.

You can check where and when your local MP has their constituency surgery and how to make an appointment to see them by visiting the town hall, your local council website or by accessing the MPs web pages through the parliament site.

An MP should (and generally will) see you as a constituent rather than as a trade unionist. An MP is meant to represent a constituent’s interest, even if he or she does not always agree with them. Remember though each MP has up to 90,000 constituents to look after, of whom you are just one. If you meet your MP it is best to be brief, clear and as polite as possible.

Identifying and contacting your MP

• If you do not know who your MP is then the House of Commons Information Office can inform you, you can call them on 020 7219 4272
• If you have access to the internet, you can find out who your MP is via the find your MP link on the Parliament website. http://findyourmp.parliament.uk/  
• If you have any problems trying to find your MP then please contact the campaigns and communications unit at PCS on 020 7801 2820 or campaigns@pcs.org.uk, please have your postcode ready and we’ll be able to quickly identify who your MP is

Once you have your MP’s contact details get in touch with their office and ask for a meeting. Once the meeting is arranged start to prepare your arguments.

If you need more assistance with this please contact your regional office or the campaigns and communications unit at PCS on 020 7801 2820 or campaigns@pcs.org.uk.

Meeting with your MP

Most MPs deal with so many constituents concerns on a daily basis that they may not be familiar with the issues you raise, so assume they know nothing about our concerns.

When you meet with them give them the background to the issue, how and why it will impact on you and your colleagues, outline any solutions we have and how they can support our campaign.

Don’t forget that the political climate has changed following the general election in May. MPs who have in the past been unhelpful may in fact have had a change of heart and decided to be more supportive of our campaigns.

When your MP does meet you, it is best to be clear about what you want to get out of the meeting. So be as clear, courteous and brief as possible and don’t forget to make sure your MP knows exactly what it is you want them to do. Try to make sure you:

1. Introduce yourself and say where you live and work

2. Thank him or her for seeing you and establish how much time you have

3. Clearly and simply explain about the campaign – background, how and why it will impact on you, outline any solutions we have and how they can support our campaign. Use your own examples to strengthen your message. Your local MP is more likely to be concerned about proposals that directly affect their constituents.

4. If you can, give examples of how you or members in your workplace are affected and also how the MPs constituents will be impacted by the loss of service in the area. Make the following key points about the spending cuts:

• Cutting public sector jobs will increase unemployment. This would mean increased costs for the government in benefit payments and lost tax revenue.
• The impact is likely to be divisive too, in areas where public sector workers have been laid off, retail sales have fallen faster than the UK average.
• In nations and regions where public sector workers make up a high proportion of the workforce, major public sector cuts could destroy local economies.
• The debt crisis was not caused by public sector workers or overspending in the public sector.
• It was as a result of the government’s £1.3 trillion bailout of the financial sector, of which the government still owns over £850 billion in bank assets. This figure is roughly equal to the total UK debt.

There is an alternative to spending cuts, PCS believe the government should:

• Not cut any public services, privatise any more services or employ any more consultants
• HMRC recently announced that the tax gap is £42 billion although an independent report commissioned by PCS puts it at over £120 billion. Employing more staff in HMRC would enable more tax to be collected, more investigations to take place and evasion reduced. With each compliance officer bringing in an average of £650,000 it makes sense to invest in this area rather than cut staff.
• Create jobs to boost the economy and cut the deficit. They should invest in areas such as housing, renewable energy and public transport.
• Free up billions by not renewing Trident

5. Be specific about what you would like your MP to do – e.g. oppose the spending cuts being proposed by the government by participating in the debates around 20 October, support their local campaign by attending meetings or speaking to the press, tabling parliamentary questions to get information we can use in our campaign, write to or speak to the minister outlining our concerns.

6. Ask them to keep in regular contact with you and to give you copies of any responses they receive from ministers

After you have seen your MP

After you have thanked your MP for taking time to see you, it is important that we know which MPs support our campaign.

Please complete and send in the feedback form to campaigns and communications by fax on 020 7801 2822 or e-mail campaigns@pcs.org.uk to let us know whether your MP supports our campaign. 

Also it is good practice to write to your MP and re-state any agreements you reached in your meeting – did they agree to support our campaign? Did they agree to attend local meetings? Did they agree to speak to the minister?

If so make sure you write to them after the meeting and then follow-it up with their office in two-three weeks for a progress report.