Macdonald Holyrood Hotel, Edinburgh, 
Wednesday 23 September, 
18.00 - 20.00

THIS EVENT WILL NOW BE HELD AS A ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION

There is no doubt that the lobbying environment in the UK and the frequency of lobbying scandals have affected public faith in the political process and fuelled the crisis of trust in politics and political parties. Lobbying takes place across the UK and each political institution experiences it differently: yet the opportunity for the abuse, rather than the act of lobbying itself, is the heart of the problem.

In February we launched ‘Lifting the Lid on Lobbying’ a report that describes several risks of corrupt behaviour in lobbying and evaluates, across the UK and devolved nations, the gaps in the rules that permit an environment conducive to corruption to flourish. For the first time, this research compares the wide variations across the UK in the approach to maintaining the integrity and transparency of public institutions and decision making.

We have further developed a policy paper on lobbying risk and regulation in the devolved institutions. The report’s findings indicate that there is much to be done in order to tackle the risks to our institutions not least the ability of lobbyists to conceal their interests and activity, the role of ‘big money’ in political donations, the ‘revolving door’ between public and private sectors, and the role of external and unaccountable expertise brought in to inform government policy. 

Please join this exciting roundtable event on Wednesday 23 September. With attendance from civil society representatives, and representatives from the Scottish Parliament, this roundtable will be an opportunity to discuss the findings in our upcoming policy paper and how lobbying regulations in the Scottish Parliament can be improved.

Venue:
Macdonald Holyrood Hotel, Salisbury Suite
81 Holyrood Road
Edinburgh
EH8 8AU

Panel:
Stewart Stevenson MSP (Convenor of the Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee)
Juliet Swann (Electoral Reform Society)
Robert Barrington (Transparency International UK)

Agenda:
18.00: Registration
18.30: Event begin
19:30: Drinks reception

Please register via: lobbyingscotland.eventbrite.co.uk

With financial support from the Prevention of and Fight against Crime Programme of the European Union.

European Commission – Directorate-General Home Affairs