The Association for Scottish Public Affairs (ASPA) has made a submission to the Scottish Parliament Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee Inquiry into Lobbying, challenging the claim that there is a problem with lobbying in Scotland.
The inquiry has been instigated to investigate the surroundings of Neil Findlay’s proposal “for a Bill to require certain individuals and organisations who lobby MSPs, Scottish Ministers or relevant public officials, either on their own account or on behalf of third parties, to record relevant information about their lobbying activity in a published register”.
The Bill was proposed on 7 May 2013 by Neil Findlay MSP, and the SPPA Committee issued their call for evidence on 30 September 2013. The evidence gathering closed on 10 January 2014, and the Committee intends to take oral evidence between January and March 2014.
Mr Findlay was quoted in the Edinburgh Evening News on 9 January questioning the Scottish Government’s commitment to the Bill. Findlay, who admitted having no evidence of wrongdoing at Holrood, has called for the introduction of measures to track the activity of lobbyists.
The ASPA response acknowledges an increase in lobbying (and the number of organisations participating in lobbying) activity in recent years, but maintained that there is not a problem with lobbying in Scotland, instead “a lack of understanding of lobbying and what is involved in public affairs”.
The response continues by suggesting that a register of lobbyists would “be of very limited value”, but that if there was to be an introduction of a register, it is essential to ensure a level playing field for all organisations and individuals to avoid the risk of creating a “two-tier system with registered and unregistered lobbyists.” ASPA members already consent to a code of conduct, available on their website.
The committee has released the agenda for the inquiry which will begin on Thursday 16 January, revealing the names of the individuals who will be giving evidence which includes Alastair Ross (ASPA), Illiam Costain McCade (APPC) and Andrew Watson (CIPR) as well as Neil Findlay MSP.
The full agenda, with the complete list of witnesses, can be found here.