Last year's National Security Act 2023 introduced the UK's Foreign Influence Registration Scheme. While the scheme was introduced but not implemented under the previous Government, the current Government still intends to bring in FIRS as a priority, with the aim of further strengthening national security.
Overview
FIRS is two-tier scheme intended to strengthen the resilience of the UK political system against covert foreign influence and to provide greater assurance around the activities of certain foreign powers or entities that are a national security risk. The two tiers impose different requirements:
- the "political influence tier" requires individuals or entities to register where they are directed by a foreign power to carry out, or arrange for others to carry out, political influence activities in the UK;
- the "enhanced tier" requires registration of a broader range of activity where a person is acting at the direction of specified foreign powers or entities that have been assessed as posing a potential risk to UK safety or interests. It also requires specified entities to register activities which they carry out themselves in the UK.
The political influence tier
The previous Government's draft guidance on FIRS provides detailed summaries of the requirements of each tier, but in brief the political influence tier requires registration of a "foreign influence arrangement" within 28 days of the arrangement being made. A "foreign influence arrangement" is any arrangement, whether formal or informal, that involves direction from a foreign power to carry out political influence activities in the UK.
Activities will be "political influence activities" if they meet both of two criteria. The first is that they involve one of these activities: a communication to a senior public official or politician; a public communication, except where it is reasonably clear that it is made at the direction of a foreign power; or the provision of money goods or services to an individual or entity in the UK. The second criterion is that the purpose, or one of the purposes, of the activity is to influence one of the following: a UK election or referendum; a decision of a Minister or Government department; the proceedings of a UK registered political party; or a Member of the House of Commons, House of Lords, Northern Ireland Assembly, Scottish Parliament or Senedd Cymru.
The enhanced tier
The enhanced tier requires registration of formal or informal arrangements made with a "specified foreign power or entity" (to be specified in regulations) where an individual or entity is directed by the specified foreign power or entity to arrange for, or carry out, "relevant activities" in the UK. Registration of “foreign activity arrangements” must be completed within 10 days, beginning with the day on which the arrangement is made, and prior to any activities pursuant to the arrangement being carried out.
"Relevant activities" are currently defined to include all activities in the UK, but with the intention that the Secretary of State will exclude certain activities in regulations.
Interaction with National Security and Investment Act
FIRS will be a separate regime to the UK's existing National Security and Investment Act regime. While the NSI Act regime requires Government approval before investments in certain sectors of the economy can be completed (see our separate NSI Act briefing), the Government's policy paper on FIRS notes that FIRS does not require that activities or arrangements be approved before they can take place. The draft guidance on FIRS also stresses that the requirements of FIRS, the NSI Act and the Academic Technology Approval Scheme (ATAS) are separate and distinct and that registration, or approval, under one of these schemes is not equivalent to compliance with them all: "In circumstances where registration or approval is required under multiple schemes, these will need to be processed separately."
Exemptions and penalties
There are a number of exemptions from registration, including for example any arrangement with the Republic of Ireland. Foreign powers, diplomatic family members, lawyers carrying out legal activities and news publishers are exempt from registration under the political influence tier. Foreign powers, diplomatic family members, those providing essential services to a diplomatic mission or consulate and lawyers carrying out legal activities are exempt from registration under the enhanced tier.
The Home Office will be responsible for the administration of FIRS, with the power to issue information notices to registrants or individuals or entities who are believed to be party to, or acting pursuant to, a registrable arrangement. The scheme contains a number of offences, including for those who fail to comply with registration requirements, or fail to respond to information notices. Where registration requirements have not been met, there are also offences for those who carry out activities pursuant to a relevant arrangement.
Next steps
While FIRS was originally expected to come into force this year, the Home Office has now confirmed that, as a result of the election and change of Government, "it is no longer expected that the scheme's requirements will come into force in 2024." In mid-August, the Home Office also announced it was setting up a research panel to give feedback on the digital services that it is creating for FIRS.