The Scottish Parliament's Public Audit and Post-legislative Scrutiny Committee has issued a call for written evidence on the Lobbying (Scotland) Act 2016 with a closing date of Friday 14 August 2020.
The Scottish Parliament’s Public Audit and Post-legislative Scrutiny Committee is seeking views on the operation of the Lobbying (Scotland) Act 2016 ("the Lobbying Act"). The Lobbying Act makes provision for a public lobbying register in which organisations are required to record any instances of "regulated lobbying". In particular, the Act:
- defines what is meant by "regulated lobbying";
- makes provision for the establishment, maintenance and content of the lobbying register;
- makes provision for oversight and enforcement of the provisions in the Act;
- makes provision for Parliamentary guidance and a code of conduct.
The Act also makes provision for a committee of the Parliament to review the operation of the Act during the "review period" (from when the duty to register came into force on 12 March 2018 up to 12 March 2020). The committee must report on the review by March 2022.
You are invited to submit written views to the Committee on the following questions:
What has changed
1. In your view, what concerns was the Lobbying Act seeking to address?
2. Two years’ on, has the Lobbying Act addressed those concerns?In particular, has the Act added value? If so, in what way? For example, has the Act improved transparency? Do you think it has changed the way lobbying is carried out?
3. Do you support a legislative approach to regulating lobbying activity? If so, why? If not, for what reason? Has your view on the value of a legislative approach changed since the commencement of the Lobbying Act?
Improvements without legislation
4. In your view, is the Lobbying Act working in the way it was intended? If not, why not? What needs to change to ensure that it is working as intended (i.e without making changes to the legislation)?
Improvements requiring legislative change
5. Could the legislation be improved in any way? If so, please indicate why and in what way?In particular, do you have any views on whether the changes should be made to the following (please indicate why and in what way):
a. the Act covers lobbying to a Member of the Scottish Parliament, a member of the Scottish Government, a junior Scottish Minister, a law officer, a special adviser or the permanent secretary. Does the Act cover the right groups of decision makers?
b. the Act requires face-to-face communications, including via video conferencing and other similiar means, which are also regulated lobbying to be registered. Are these the right communications to capture?
c. the circumstances in which a person undertaking "regulated lobbying" is required to provide information, to be included in the register, about costs incurred by them when engaging in regulated lobbying.
Bill assumptions v. reality of the Act
6. Have assumptions made at the Bill’s introduction in its Financial Memorandum and Policy Memorandum and during its passage through Parliament held true (for example, on costs or impact) and, if not, why not?
Any other points
7. Are there any other issues you would like to raise in connection with the operation of the Lobbying Act?
Click here for further details and the deadline for sending written submissions is 5.00 pm on Friday 14 August 2020.