Lobbying Bill passed with no provision for electronic communications

The Scottish Parliament has passed legislation meant to “increase transparency” in lobbying by creating a register on which dealings between lobbyists and politicians must be recorded.

However, the bill exempts bodies with fewer than 10 full-time staff and does not cover all forms of electronic communication. Section 1 only provides for oral communications and communications made using audio visual equipment.

An amendment tabled at stage 3 to extend this to electronic communications as defined by the Electronic Communcations Act 2000 was defeated 73-35.

Brian Simpson, legal policy solicitor at the Law Society of Scotland, asked this week why lobbying other than by face-to-face means has been excluded from the proposed register and raised concerns about the 10-employee exemption.

He said: “We think it should cover the most widely used methods, to meet the policy aim of transparency, we also believe that the proposed amendment by the Scottish government, to exempt communications by organisations with fewer than 10 employees may dilute the policy intent even further.”

Scottish Legal News raised these issues with parliamentary business minister Joe FitzPatrick who said: “During the bill’s process through Parliament there has been careful consideration of the potential impact both on constituency matters and on smaller organisations.

“This is why we have proposed an exemption from registering for organisations communicating, on their own behalf, who have less than 10 full-time equivalent employees.

“That exception would not extend to representative groups as the intention is to offer latitude to smaller organisations seeking to engage on their own behalf.”

However, the minister did not address the fact electronic communications do not need to be declared, providing a clear channel for those who wish to avoid the register.