Meeting of the Parliament 10 March 2016
The level of transparency in our Government and its openness to the public are both crucial aspects of a healthy democracy, which makes it so important that we get the Lobbying (Scotland) Bill right. I have always maintained that, if the bill is to be effective, it must—as I have said earlier—take a proportionate approach that increases transparency in our decision-making process without deterring participation in the first place. It appears that, after much deliberation, we have reached a point where the correct balance has been struck in our opinion, and I am pleased to say that we Scottish Conservatives will therefore be supporting the bill at decision time.
It has been right to seek a collaborative approach to the proposed legislation, which is worth bearing in mind as we consider how to ensure that the potential registrants and the wider public are ready for its provisions coming into force. It is essential that the provisions that are imposed by the bill are clearly understood so that they do not create any disincentive to participation in public decision making. A long-term principle of our democratic process is that the wider the range of views that are heard in policy making, the better the policy will be.
As I have said before, lobbying is not about closed-door deals between vested interests and powerful decision makers; it is about the fundamental matter of having an open political process in which all manner of ideas, views and contributions are welcome. Wide-ranging participation is crucial to a healthy democracy. It should therefore be clear that organisations and members of the public should be free to discuss matters of interest with their elected representatives, and they should feel that it is hassle free to do so.
I have already underlined how important it has been to keep that in mind throughout our deliberations on the scope of the register, and I emphasise the need to continue promoting openness in any requirements that come into force. A crucial aspect of maintaining openness and accessibility is the availability of help or guidance to assist potential registrants. The aim, after all, is to increase transparency, not to catch anyone out. I was therefore very pleased that my amendment requiring the publication of guidance on the operation of the register was passed at stage 2. Such guidance is simply too important to be discretionary, and we must ensure that it is clear, thorough and targeted in its explanations of what does and does not count as regulated lobbying, and of what any on-going requirements are. Ideally, the guidance would remove the need for complex compliance operations or expensive lawyers, so that we can all get on with the business of conducting politics in an open way, which all parties support.
Furthermore, putting in an effort to have a clear, collaborative process in place would minimise the chance of stakeholders simply pulling out of the public decision-making process, as well as decreasing the likelihood of unintentional mistakes in compliance. If we achieve such a collaborative culture around lobbying, I believe that we will have struck the optimal situation in which all our processes are transparent and maintain their strength through accessibility.
I am pleased to say that the bill as it now stands appears to reach that balance, and we Scottish Conservatives therefore put our support behind it.
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