Due to changes made to the official Scottish Parliament website at the start of 2011, our parser that used to fetch their web pages and convert them into more structured information has stopped working. We’re afraid we cannot give a timescale as to when we will be able to cover the Scottish Parliament again. Sorry for any inconvenience caused.
Lobbying
Fiona Hyslop: The Scottish Government is aware of the voluntary registration scheme launched by UKPAC on 1 March. The scheme is run independently of government. Membership is currently confined to UKPAC’s three founding bodies – the Association of Professional Political Consultants; the Public Relations Consultants Association and the Chartered Institute of Public Relations.
The UK Government indicated last year that it intends to "tackle lobbying through introducing a statutory register of lobbyists". No further details has been published. Action to establish a statutory scheme was not mentioned in the Queen’s Speech. In the absence of concrete proposals, or of any approach from the UK Government, the implications for Scotland of such a scheme remain unclear.
Lobbying of members of the Scottish Parliament is a matter for the Parliament itself to regulate. The Code of Conduct for MSPs defines the standards to which MSPs are expected to adhere. The overriding objective is to ensure transparency and probity in the way the Parliament conducts its business. The Scottish Ministerial Code also contains provision about contacts with lobbyists. It would be open to the Parliament to extend existing arrangements, including by establishing a statutory register, should it so wish.