Holyrood's Lobbying Register to come into force in March

Individuals and organisations who engage in face-to-face lobbying of MSPs and Scottish ministers will need to register their activities from March 2018, the Scottish Parliament confirmed today.

From Monday 12 March, all regulated lobbying in Scotland, as defined in the Lobbying (Scotland) Act 2016, will have to be registered on Scotland’s new Lobbying Register.

Under the Act, certain face to face meetings with MSPs or the Scottish Government’s ministers, special advisers or permanent secretary need to be registered.

A familiarisation period to allow people to view and explore the new register website for themselves will begin on 23 October 2017, when the register will become available at www.lobbying.scot.

Only certain types of lobbying will be covered, and draft guidance has been published setting out five key steps to apply in deciding whether a particular activity will be regulated.

Acting Lobbying Registrar, Douglas Wands commented: “The Lobbying (Scotland) Act is intended to increase openness and transparency around who seeks to influence and inform our decision makers, and it is expected that the Lobbying Register will do just that.

“From 12 March 2018 all face-to-face lobbying activity as defined in the Act will need to be registered. Whilst this may seem like a big change, we have been working for many months with those who may be affected to ensure they are aware of what is required."

He added: "It is vital that the system is not only transparent and informative but is easy to access and use.

“One of the things future users told us was that they wanted time to see how the system worked before the Act was brought into force. This is why we will allow early access to the Lobbying Register website to allow all users to familiarise themselves with the system, alongside guidance which explains what will be required under the Act when it comes into force on 12 March 2018.”

An article on the new register, along with advice from the Law Society of Scotland's Professional Practice team, will be published in this month's Journal.