Difference between revisions of "Jacquie Forde"

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(Call for probe into health forum link to Big Pharma: - update to investigation added)
 
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A Parliament spokesman said: "Cross-party groups must comply with the Code of Conduct and declare who provides its secretarial support. Where that support is provided by a consultancy or public affairs firm, the SPPA Committee has the power to require the organisation to disclose its full client list."<ref>Paul Hutcheon, [http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/call-for-probe-into-health-forum-link-to-big-pharma.23565901 Call for probe into health forum link to Big Pharma], ''Sunday Herald'', 2 March 2014.</ref>
 
A Parliament spokesman said: "Cross-party groups must comply with the Code of Conduct and declare who provides its secretarial support. Where that support is provided by a consultancy or public affairs firm, the SPPA Committee has the power to require the organisation to disclose its full client list."<ref>Paul Hutcheon, [http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/call-for-probe-into-health-forum-link-to-big-pharma.23565901 Call for probe into health forum link to Big Pharma], ''Sunday Herald'', 2 March 2014.</ref>
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In May 2014 Holyrood's [[Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee]] concluded that the cross-party groups on health inequalities and chronic pain were found to have broken the rules regarding the secretariat provided by [[Wellbeing Alliance]] chief executive [[Jacquie Forde]].
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Stewart Stevenson MSP, convener of the Standards Committee, said: "The committee considers that there has been a breach of a rule in the code of conduct. We believe this can be rectified by updating the information these groups must disclose. The secretary of the groups must now make clear her status. If she represents an organisation she must assess the financial value of her support and disclose anything totalling over £500."<ref>Paul Hutcheon, [http://www.heraldscotland.com/politics/referendum-news/msps-warned-over-business-links-code.24190296 'MSPs warned over business links code'], ''The Herald'', 11 May 2014.</ref>
  
 
==Career==
 
==Career==

Latest revision as of 16:10, 13 May 2014

Jacquie Forde Facebook profile. Screengrab taken 31 October 2013.

Jacquie Forde (DoB 22.09.1962) is an Edinburgh based lobbyist who runs Quorate Public Affairs a small lobbying firm based in Glasgow at the same address as The Wellbeing Alliance, a non profit company of which Forde is also a director.

Forde had previously setup Health Inequalities Alliance, a not for profit company, in 2010 but 'parted ways with her business partner (another story)'[1] and left the Alliance in December 2012 after becoming director of its successor the Wellbeing Alliance and director of the lobby firm Quorate Public Affairs, both of which are based at the same address as the Health Inequalities Alliance at 11-12 Newton Terrace, Glasgow.[2]


Call for probe into health forum link to Big Pharma

On 2nd March 2014 the Sunday Herald reported that Holyrood's Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee had been asked to probe two Cross-Party Groups (Cross-Party Group on Health Inequalities & Cross-Party Group on Chronic Pain) administered by Jacquie Forde of the Wellbeing Alliance because of her links to the pharmaceutical industry. Forde's other firm, Quorate Public Affairs, has the same Glasgow address and was created in the same month as the Wellbeing Alliance. The Sunday Herald reports:

Forde is listed as secretary and treasurer of the CPG on health inequalities and secretary of the chronic pain group.
She is also the sole shareholder of the Wellbeing Alliance, a not-for-profit social enterprise set up in October 2012 which lists its address as Newton Terrace in Glasgow.
Its website describes it as a team, of "public health trained social entrepreneurs who want to make a difference".
Forde's other firm, Quorate Public Affairs, has the same Glasgow address and was created in the same month as the Alliance.
Until recently, Forde's social media profile said of Quorate: "We provide high quality public relations and political lobbying services and our team have decades of experience working in and around the disciplines of Pharma, NHS, Media, Politics and Charities."[3]

The Cross Party Group in Health Inequalities discloses the following in its most recent report:

Voluntary Secretarial Support from Jacquie Forde of The Wellbeing Alliance
Period: September 2011 to March 2013
32 days
Value of this support - My time is voluntary as an individual
Refreshments £401.50 provided by the Health Inequalities Alliance
£141.95 provided by the Wellbeing Alliance[4]

In its March 2013 report, the Cross Party Group on Chronic Pain stated that 'Jacqueline Forde of the Health Inequalities Alliance' was elected unopposed as secretary on May 23 2012.[5] In its subsequent report in June 2013 it notes that:

Secretariat support supplied on a voluntary basis by Jacquie Forde.[6]

The Wellbeing Alliance provided the following resources to the Cross Party Group on Chronic Pain:

  • January 23rd 2013 meeting refreshments were sponsored by the Wellbeing Alliance (£32.40)
  • March 13th 2013 meeting refreshments were sponsored by the Wellbeing Alliance (£64.40)
  • May 29th 2013 meeting refreshments were sponsored by the Wellbeing Alliance (£64.40)[7]

A Parliament spokesman said: "Cross-party groups must comply with the Code of Conduct and declare who provides its secretarial support. Where that support is provided by a consultancy or public affairs firm, the SPPA Committee has the power to require the organisation to disclose its full client list."[8]

In May 2014 Holyrood's Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee concluded that the cross-party groups on health inequalities and chronic pain were found to have broken the rules regarding the secretariat provided by Wellbeing Alliance chief executive Jacquie Forde.

Stewart Stevenson MSP, convener of the Standards Committee, said: "The committee considers that there has been a breach of a rule in the code of conduct. We believe this can be rectified by updating the information these groups must disclose. The secretary of the groups must now make clear her status. If she represents an organisation she must assess the financial value of her support and disclose anything totalling over £500."[9]

Career

Company appointments

Name of Company Company Number Position Held Appointed Appointment Ends Outcome
Nth Resource Limited SC308807 Director 20/09/2006 Present Active
Quorate Public Affairs SC434593 Director/Secretary 11/10/2012 Present Active
Wellbeing Alliance SC435567 Director 26/10/2012 Present Active
Health Inequalities Alliance SC375969 Director 31/03/2010 21/12/2012 Active – Proposal to strike off
Positive Change Works SC301775 Director 05/05/2006 25/01/2008 Dissolved
Tenacious Women SC341371 Director 15/04/2008 11/02/10 Dissolved
Quorum Sensing SC377779 Director 03/02/2010 26/09/2013 Dissolved

Notes

  1. Meet the Experts, WoW website. Last accessed 11 March 2014.
  2. Data from Companies House February 2014
  3. Paul Hutcheon, Call for probe into health forum link to Big Pharma, Sunday Herald, 2 March 2014.
  4. Cross-Party Group on Health Inequalities Annual Return, 22 March 2013.
  5. Cross-Party Group on Chronic Pain Annual Return, 23 May 2012.
  6. Cross-Party Group on Chronic Pain Annual Return, June 2013.
  7. Cross-Party Group on Chronic Pain Annual Return, June 2013.
  8. Paul Hutcheon, Call for probe into health forum link to Big Pharma, Sunday Herald, 2 March 2014.
  9. Paul Hutcheon, 'MSPs warned over business links code', The Herald, 11 May 2014.
  10. Jacquie Forde's LinkedIn page. Also see screenshot of CV here