Attendees:
- Dame Caroline Dinenage MP
- Alex Sobel MP
- The Rt Hon Lord McNally
- Lord Clement-Jones CBE
- Kevin Brennan MP
- Daniel Zeichner MP
- Martyn Day MP
- Derek Thomas MP
- Welcome and Introduction (PICTFOR Co-Chair Dame Caroline Dinenage MP)
- Dame Caroline Dinenage MP welcomed members of the Group and thanked them for their time. She then gave an overview of the past year, including membership numbers, event and activity highlights, and the financial picture and looked ahead to how we will continue key themes that have emerged into 2024.
- Election of Parliamentary Officers and Members (PICTFOR Treasurer Lord McNally & PICTFOR Co-Chair Dame Caroline Dinenage MP)
- Dame Caroline Dinenage MP then handed over the chairing of the meeting to the Rt Hon Lord McNally, who moved a vote to re-elect Dame Caroline Dinenage MP as the Group’s Co-Chair and Registered Contact, and to re-elect Alex Sobel MP as the Group’s Co-Chair. The parliamentarian attendees unanimously approved this motion.
- Dame Caroline Dinenage MP then moved to re-elect Lord McNally as the Group’s Treasurer and to elect Lord Clement-Jones CBE as the Group’s fourth Officer. Parliamentarian attendees unanimously approved this motion.
- Dame Caroline Dinenage MP then moved a vote to re-elect all those listed as Vice-Chairs under their new title of ‘Members’. The parliamentarian attendees unanimously approved this motion.
PICTFOR Members are as follows:
- Anna McMorrin MP
- Baroness Harding
- Bill Esterson MP
- Bob Blackman MP
- Carol Monaghan MP
- Chi Onwurah MP
- Chris Elmore MP
- Daniel Zeichner MP
- Flick Drummond MP
- Jane Hunt MP
- John Lamont MP
- Kevin Brennan MP
- Lord Arbuthnot of Edrom
- Lord Cromwell
- Lord Goddard of Stockport
- Lord Harris of Haringey
- Lord Knight of Weymouth
- Lord Mackenzie of Framwellgate OBE
- Lord Patel KT
- Lord Teverson
- Lord Wei of Shoreditch
- Martyn Day MP
- Owen Thompson MP
- Sir Peter Bottomley MP
- Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi MP
- The Rt Hon Stephen Timms MP
- Tulip Siddiq MP
- Update on finances and membership (PICTFOR Treasurer Lord McNally)
- The Rt Hon Lord McNally ran through the finances and membership for 2023, noting the Group’s highest-ever annual income at 110% of the target, but also noted the increase in the Group’s expenditures on activity including catering, web-hosting, accountancy, and design costs. He noted PICTFOR’s continuing strong reserves and put forward several recommendations for reducing the Group’s expenditure in the year ahead, including looking at rooms with no catering costs and increasing membership fees for 2025.
- Kevin Brennan MP asked if the Group’s current industry membership would renew should the fees be increased, and the Secretariat addressed this concern with reference to conversations with members.
- Alex Sobel MP raised a number of questions. He noted the balance of different membership categories and highlighted that as several previous corporate members have a big presence in his constituency and he would like to see these re-join.
- He also asked who would retain the finances during the election suspension period and Lord McNally responded that he would maintain supervision and that the Group’s accrued finances would stay in the PICTFOR bank account. Both Co-Chairs highlighted the need to continue to push for new members, encouraging all parliamentary members to think of organisations who may both benefit from membership and support the Group’s stated objectives.
- Dame Caroline Dinenage MP raised that the implementation of new APPG rules may lead to a decline in the number of relevant APPGs who may then look to join with Groups like PICTFOR.
- Approval of the 2023 Accounts and Income & Expenditure (PICTFOR Co-Chair Dame Caroline Dinenage MP)
- Dame Caroline Dinenage MP then moved to approve the 2023 accounts and Income & Expenditure statement. The parliamentarian attendees unanimously approved this motion.
- Upcoming events programme for 2024 (Secretariat)
- The Secretariat gave those present an overview of the Group’s plans for the year ahead, covering topics from AI to cybersecurity and the various pieces of technology legislation currently making their way through Parliament. The Secretariat encouraged parliamentary members to contribute speaker and theme suggestions for upcoming events.
- Lord Clement-Jones CBE highlighted a recent Time Magazine article on deepfakes which he felt was an interesting angle to consider in upcoming events.
- Overview of new APPG rules compliance (Secretariat)
- The Secretariat provided a brief overview of the new rules for APPGs which will come into force at the end of March 2024, and the processes that PICTFOR have implemented to ensure we are compliant.
- AOB (PICTFOR Co-Chair Dame Caroline Dinenage MP)
- Dame Caroline Dinenage MP, upon no further business being raised, thanked those present before closing the meeting.
This is not an official publication of the House of Commons or the House of Lords. It has not been approved by either House or its committees. All-Party Parliamentary Groups are informal groups of Members of both Houses with a common interest in particular issues. The views expressed in this document are those of the group.
PICTFOR’s 2023 Income and Expenditure can be found here
PICTFOR’s final 2023 accounts can be found here