Lobbying (Scotland) Bill – Stage 2

Lobbying (Scotland) Bill – Stage 2

• To ensure diverse views are still encouraged at Parliament and the voice of smaller third sector organisations is not lost, we continue to urge MSPs to ensure that the Lobbying Bill remains light touch;
• If the Lobbying Bill is broadened it will damage participation in democracy by restricting the ability of third sector organisations to engage with parliament and government;
• Increasing transparency of lobbying activity is a laudable goal but is not worth sabotaging the inclusive and participatory nature of the Scottish Parliament.

• Amendment 3, in the name of Joe FitzPatrick, to extend the register to include video conferencing as well as face-to-face meetings. This change both recognises new technologies whilst also keeping the register proportionate, ensuring that participation is protected. We do not support amendments 15 and 18 in the name of Patricia Ferguson, which seek to increase the scope of the Bill beyond face-to face/video conference meetings.
• Amendment 13, in the name of Joe FitzPatrick, to insert a clause into the Bill which triggers a review of the legislation, as we have previously called for. This will enable any negative impacts and unintended consequences to be reviewed. Note that we previously called for a review to take place within one year of the legislation being enacted, but we have now been persuaded of the case to extend the review period to two years in order to allow the system to be properly tested before changes are made.
• Amendment 17, in the name of Neil Findlay, which seeks to exclude small-scale lobbying from the register. This would help to exclude many of the smaller members of our sector for whom we have the greatest concern regarding this Bill.
• Amendment 31, in the name of Neil Findlay, which seeks to ensure the understanding and promotion of this legislation once it is enacted. It is essential that all who may be effected by the Act understand what they need to do in order to comply, and so we support this amendment.

• Amendment 2 in the name of Joe FitzPatrick, to extend the Bill to include the lobbying of Special Advisers. In previous briefings we stated that, if the Bill is to be broadened to civil servants and other officials, they must bear the responsibility for transparency - this could have easily been achieved by amending the Civil Service Code. However, we can see that both Scottish Government and opposition members are minded to extend the Bill in this regard, and so, as we continue to engage positively with the Bill, we offer support to Amendment 2 in the name of Joe FitzPatrick, to extend the Bill to Special Advisers only (for face-to-face/video communication only); we do not support Amendment 16 in the name of Patricia Ferguson.