Meeting of the Parliament 07 January 2016
I, too, am glad that we have the chance to debate the Lobbying (Scotland) Bill and all of the possible routes to take. If we are to achieve the cross-party consensus that the Scottish Government seeks on the issue, we must examine each of the main points that were considered during the Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee’s inquiry and raised in our report.
It is essential that we maintain a firm focus on the three principles that must underline the bill if it is to be fair, effective and worth while. The first principle, of course, is transparency; indeed, it would be right to say that the whole point of a lobbying register would be to increase transparency. It is vital that the lobbying process and the breadth of the bill itself are clear. In addition, we must ensure that any lobbying register upholds the principle of accessibility. That is essential so that those who wish to participate in the public decision-making process are not deterred from so doing. That is a fundamental point.
Further, any registration requirements must be proportionate if they are to be fair and worth while. That point has already been covered. The question of proportionality touches on a number of issues that the committee has raised, including the types of communication and which officials should be counted. I do not think that we should specify the types of communication, because all sorts of modern methods are being introduced.
Whatever form the final version of the bill takes, all the implications and requirements must be clearly understood by all. That means that any provisions must be examined in depth and publicly so that any indirect consequences are considered at length. A transparent approach to decisions on the bill is also required, so that the public can understand the direction that it is taking and be prepared for any new system. To help to achieve that, we must ensure that the key provisions of the bill are decided in the Parliament and are not left to secondary legislation. I realise that we are only at stage 1, but my point is that ease of understanding the bill must not be an afterthought or we will end up with a stifling bill and a lawyers’ paradise.
An example of an area that we need to clarify is the exemption when meetings are not initiated by a lobbyist. Part of the issue of public understanding concerns just how much preparation or adjustment would be needed, which touches on the two other principles that I want to mention—accessibility and proportionality. I think that we can all agree that the involvement of expert organisations, members of the public and affected parties in the policy process is a welcome and indeed necessary feature of our political system. Obviously, in order to make informed decisions, officials must be informed in the first place. We must therefore keep a focus on ensuring that accessibility for the public is made neither more difficult nor discouraged in the first place. That has been highlighted many times in committee and in evidence to the committee.
I say “the public” on purpose, because the issue of lobbying is not one of backroom deals between special interests and brokers of power, as it is sometimes portrayed—lobbying sometimes has a rather dirty name. Rather, lobbying is the much more fundamental matter of the chance for everyone to participate in policy making and the exchange of ideas. All manner of organisations and members of the public should feel welcome to discuss matters of interest with their representatives.
As for proportionality, I am quite clear that any potential system of lobbying regulation has to be light touch. That ties in with the importance of accessibility. It is worth raising a couple of more specific points in that regard. First, the committee has pointed out that it is worth looking into the inclusion of all forms of communication in the bill, as well as contact with senior civil servants and special advisers. I see where those demands are coming from, but we should not lose sight of the need to strike a balance between increasing transparency where needed and ensuring that individuals and organisations are not deterred from participating in the political process due to undue regulation and overcomplication.
The committee has concerns about the inclusion in the register of contact with MSPs—we will probably deal with that at stage 2—because we need to ensure that MSPs’ ability to undertake their duties as public representatives is not restricted. Politics conducted on behalf of the public should, after all, be open to easy access for the public. Suggestions about using a targeted approach, based on the intensity of lobbying activity rather than its source, are a welcome idea that is worth exploring.
Secondly, proportionality should be measured relative to the benefit to be gained or the problem to be solved. That suggests the need to understand how undue influence may arise and, therefore, where requirements should be targeted. Thankfully, we have not been troubled by lobbying scandals in our political system, although that does not mean that we might not be. It also begs the question how much needs to be done.
I am saying not that we should not do anything, but that our measure of what is proportionate should be underpinned by an understanding that the bill will deal with a potential rather than a pressing problem. I believe that, if those principles are upheld, a fair, effective and worthwhile system for the regulation of lobbying can be found. To do that, we must continue to scrutinise each proposition in depth and ensure that we act on the principles rather than pay lip service to them. I will touch on that in more detail later. I look forward to discussing all aspects of the bill with colleagues across the chamber.