The Sunday Times - Scotland

By Kathleen Nutt

January 29, 2006

THE Scottish parliament’s standards watchdog is being urged to investigate evidence that lobbyists and powerful industry organisations are influencing legislation and offering financial support to supposedly independent groups of MSPs.

As well as offering donations, lobbyists and industry organisations have been involved in writing policy reports that have led to the introduction of members’ bills. Written parliamentary questions have also been lodged following concerns raised by industry representatives at CPGs.

Our investigation discovered that:

Two members’ bills promoting micro-renewable energy were lodged in December last year following a report written by Maf Smith, chief executive of the Scottish Renewables Forum, the industry umbrella group, and secretary of the CPG on renewable energy. A consultation paper which preceded one of the bills, submitted by Shiona Baird, the Green MSP, mentioned the CPG report by name. The forum also donated more than £1,545 to the group in 2002 and supplied it with a treasurer.

Minutes of a meeting of the industry dominated CPG on construction held on October 5, 2004 called for a meeting with the recently appointed minister for construction, Allan Wilson, to secure some “quick wins”. Wilson attended a meeting of the group on June 22 last year.

Four written questions on electronic waste were lodged four days after a meeting of the CPG on waste management which included a lunch worth £118 paid for by Mirec UK, an electrical and electronics recycling firm. Group members also attended a lunchtime reception in February last year, worth £461, paid for by the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management; £6,000 worth of secretarial services was provided by WamCal, a waste management company.

Parliamentary rules say that CPGs cannot be set up and run to benefit commercial interests. They also state that meetings cannot go ahead without at least two MSPs present. Lobbyists and industry groups dominate a quarter of the 64 CPGs at Holyrood. The renewable energy group has 114 representatives from companies and industry organisations, 10 times as many members as MSPs.

The Sunday Times has also uncovered examples of CPG meetings going ahead with only one MSP present. They include a meeting of the construction CPG sub group on October 5, 2004 and a meeting of the construction CPG group on September 14, 2005 when Marilyn Livingston , the convener, was the only MSP present.

The standards committee is now under pressure to launch an investigation into the operation of CPGs.

While there is no suggestion that their members are doing anything illegal, critics believe that current rules have allowed lobbyists and industry groups to become too influential.

“I am so unhappy with the way things are that I am not a member of any cross-party group. I do not think the system is working properly. I don’t like the way they are organised, I don’t like the way the rules are not applied,” said Mike Rumbles, the Liberal Democrat MSP and former convener of the standards’ committee.

“It is patently obvious that many cross-party groups are not parliamentary in character. This is clearly a role for the standards’ committee. They should be making sure they are being properly regulated.”

Canon Kenyon Wright, former chairman of the Scottish Constitutional Convention which helped to establish the parliament, said there were three issues that the standards committee should investigate.

“First they should examine whether the rules about public interest are being applied. Second, they should examine the membership balance and thirdly the extent to which groups with a special financial or vested interest are taking part in these groups,” he said.

Brian Adam MSP, convener of the standards committee, said: “If breaches of the cross-party rules have occurred, that is a matter that needs to be investigated, but I don’t want to make any comment on any individual aspect because it requires investigation and will come before the committee.”

Unlike at Westminster, which has the equivalent all-party groups (APGs), non- parliamentarians are eligible to vote at CPG meetings.

While there is no limit on the size of membership, every member has to be approved by MSPs, according to the rules, which also state that groups should remain “parliamentary” in character, with MSPs represented from each of the four main parties, plus a fifth member.

Although they do not have formal powers, CPGs carry considerable weight in the political world as they can request ministers to appear before them. Jack McConnell, Rhona Brankin, Allan Wilson, Andy Kerr and Lewis Macdonald have all attended CPG meetings.

McConnell attended a CPG oil and gas meeting in June last year; Brankin, as deputy health minister, and Macdonald, as deputy minister for the environment and rural affairs, attended the CPG on food on November 3, 2004; Wilson attended the CPG on construction as construction minister on June 22, 2005 and Kerr attended the CPG on chronic pain on September 28 last year.

Cathy Peattie, a Labour MSP who convenes a number of CPGs including one on asthma, one on women and another on Scottish traditional arts, said she was concerned that some CPGs were now regarded as being easy ways to lobby parliamentarians.

“The reality is those (industry) organisations can lobby very well. They have a voice. I know there are several groups like that. It is very important that CPGs are not seen as an easy way to lobby politicians,” she said.

Robin Harper, the Green MSP and convener of the CPG on renewables, said that the group did not pursue commercial interests and that despite the large number of outside organisations on the group, it did remain parliamentary in character. A spokesman for the Green party added: “There is no question of Shiona Baird being influenced by commercial companies to act in any specific commercial company’s interest.”

Marilyn Livingston MSP, convener of the CPG on construction, said that no individual companies gained commercial benefits from the work of the group.

Alistair Lamont, treasurer of the waste management CPG and managing director of WamCal, said: “It is a group that is of interest to people in the waste industry so they can interact, but the programme is arranged by the MSPs. There is no question of anybody gaining any commercial benefit from the group.”

Lamont was president of the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management in 2004-05 when it sponsored a lunchtime reception for the CPG. He added: “The institution has a policy of holding receptions for parliamentarians in both Westminster and the Scottish parliament. The purpose was to maintain contact with parliamentarians.”

Smith said that while he had written the report on micro- renewables, he had been given input by other group members, including MSPs.

A spokesman for Sims Mirec said that Mirec had been acquired by Sims after April last year and was not able to say why someone from Mirec had sponsored the lunch held in March 2004.

A Scottish executive spokesman said: “One of the principles of devolution is that ministers should be more accessible and more accountable. As part of developing policy, ministers seek the views of a wide range of stakeholders. At all times they are governed by the ministerial code of conduct which requires them to adhere to the highest possible standards.”

Additional reporting: Jim McBeth, Holly Marney