Tools and providers
Part of UK public affairs software: options for corporate comms teams
UK public affairs software: options for corporate comms teams
How UK corporate communications teams choose public affairs software for Westminster monitoring, devolved body tracking and political stakeholder mapping.
What to take away
- Most UK comms teams should buy monitoring before mappingalerts on bills, committee evidence and open consultations across Westminster and the devolved legislatures.
- Stakeholder mapping software is a register of relationships, not a database of opinions. Each record needs a source and a date, plus a named owner.
- This is a buying framework for public affairs software, not a product review; test named products against your own body list.
- Price on seats and monitored bodies, not on "unlimited" claims, and read the export and exit terms before you sign.
What the tools actually do
A parliamentary monitoring product follows the public record: bills and their stages, Hansard, written questions, committee sessions and statutory instrument schedules. It alerts you when a tracked topic, company or named person appears.
Ask whether the supplier's commentary is dated and sourced. Undated commentary is hard to defend in a board paper.
Stakeholder mapping software holds the other side: who to contact, why, and when the relationship was last touched. A map with no owner decays within a quarter.
Engagement logging makes reporting possible. Without a log, a team cannot say how many meetings took place. Use measurement tools for UK PR teams that define each count the same way.
Where the source material sits
Freedom of information reaches material that no dashboard tracks. Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, public authorities in England, Wales and Northern Ireland must answer written requests, normally within 20 working days. Scotland runs a separate regime.
A stakeholder record naming a researcher, a council officer or a journalist is personal data. The Data Protection Act 2018 sits alongside the UK GDPR and governs how long you keep that record and how you answer access requests. The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) is the data-protection regulator and handles FOI oversight in England, Wales and Northern Ireland; the Scottish Information Commissioner oversees FOI in Scotland.
Company directors and subsidiaries bring filing duties under the Companies Act 2006. Keep register facts such as appointments and addresses apart from your notes.
Comparing named UK public affairs tools
Tools differ more in coverage than in features. The table is a starting point, not a complete comparison: a “Trial” or “Add-on” entry does not confirm that coverage is included. The named products are options to shortlist, but coverage claims change by module. Put each body you must watch into the trial.
Public affairs software at a glance
Dods
- Main job
- Bills, Hansard, questions
- Coverage
- Westminster and devolved
- Best for
- Parliamentary monitoring
- Pricing
- By seats
- Watch for
- Devolved depth
DeHavilland
- Main job
- UK and EU alerts
- Coverage
- Westminster and Brussels
- Best for
- Early policy warning
- Pricing
- Quoted
- Watch for
- EU coverage terms
Vuelio
- Main job
- Media, social, political
- Coverage
- Press and public affairs
- Best for
- One supplier
- Pricing
- By modules and seats
- Watch for
- Modules included
PolicyMogul
- Main job
- Mapping, logging, alerts
- Coverage
- UK public affairs
- Best for
- Shared contact history
- Pricing
- Subscription
- Watch for
- Export format
Westminster
- TheyWorkForYou
- Free
- DeHavilland
- Strong
- Dods Monitoring
- Strong
Senedd
- TheyWorkForYou
- Free
- DeHavilland
- Trial
- Dods Monitoring
- Trial
Holyrood
- TheyWorkForYou
- Free
- DeHavilland
- Trial
- Dods Monitoring
- Trial
Stormont
- TheyWorkForYou
- Free
- DeHavilland
- Trial
- Dods Monitoring
- Trial
Councils
- TheyWorkForYou
- None
- DeHavilland
- Add-on
- Dods Monitoring
- Add-on
Pricing model
- TheyWorkForYou
- Free
- DeHavilland
- Per seat and monitored bodies
- Dods Monitoring
- Per seat and modules
DeHavilland and Dods Monitoring are strongest on Westminster and committee alerts. TheyWorkForYou is free and covers the four legislatures, but has no council cover. For commercial suppliers, council coverage is the weakest part.
Shortlist by job
- Legislative and policy monitoring:DeHavilland and Dods Monitoring are the UK options already listed; add POLITICO Pro to the policy-intelligence comparison. Ask each supplier to demonstrate the legislatures you need, including devolved bodies, and verify UK coverage before treating any product as UK-wide.
- Stakeholder mapping and engagement logging:Compare Vuelio and Quorum for maintaining stakeholder records and logging interactions. In the demo, test the named owner, dated contact history, source and export against your existing CRM; verify UK coverage for Quorum.
- UK PR measurement:Put Vuelio and Cision on the measurement shortlist for media monitoring and PR reporting. Ask each to define its metrics and demonstrate how coverage can be reviewed and reported.
- Council monitoring:Ask Vuelio, DeHavilland and Dods Monitoring for a named-council coverage list and a sample council-paper alert. Treat coverage as unconfirmed until the supplier demonstrates which authorities and records are included.
Pricing is quote based. Expect annual subscriptions with a per seat element and a band for monitored bodies or modules. TheyWorkForYou is free. Ask for a written quote that separates seats, bodies and modules.
A five-step buying sequence
- List the bodies you must watchWestminster, two or more devolved legislatures, and your named councils.
- List trigger terms, including trading names and subsidiaries, plus the named people who matter.
- Run a trial on those terms and compare its alerts with your own manual search over the same weeks.
- Count seatshow many people need write access, and how many need read-only access?
- Ask for your stakeholder history as an export file, and read the exit clause before signing.
Worked example: pick one term and one body, such as a Senedd committee. Run the supplier alert and your own manual search for two weeks. Log every hit by date and source. If the supplier misses a paper your manual search finds, that body needs manual cover.
Westminster, devolved bodies and local government
Westminster coverage is strongest in almost every UK tool. Committee schedules and written questions often carry the first usable signal.
Devolved coverage varies. A product strong on the Senedd may miss Scottish statutory instruments or Stormont committee business. Test each legislature separately.
Local authority engagement stays largely manual. Councils publish agendas and committee papers on separate sites. A corporate communications framework should state who watches which council, and by when.
Common questions
What is UK public affairs software used for?
It tracks legislation, debates and consultations, and holds the stakeholder register behind engagement. Most teams want a dated early signal, not a replacement for judgement.
Does stakeholder mapping software replace a CRM?
No. A CRM records commercial relationships and pipeline. Stakeholder mapping records political and community relationships, including non-buyers.
Can one product cover Westminster and the devolved legislatures?
Sometimes, but depth differs by body. Check a live alert for each legislature during the trial before you rely on a UK-wide claim.
How should we handle personal data in a stakeholder map?
Set a retention period, restrict contact details, and record why each person is on the map.
