Abuse of privilege prompts officials to consider clampdownBy Paul Hutcheon, Scottish Political Editor
LOBBYISTS face being stripped of their prized Holyrood passes as part of a clampdown on privileged access to Holyrood.
Parliament officials are considering the move following concerns that MSPs were organising passes for party colleagues and donors.
The corporate body, which runs Holyrood, has already had to bar lobbyists from the MSP block.
Scotland's parliament hands out "regular visitor" passes to organisations that claim to need frequent contact with MSPs.
A pass allows lobbyists access to Holyrood where they can use the parliamentary facilities unhindered.
However, the Sunday Herald last year revealed that of the 24 passholders sponsored by MSPs, around 90% were either lobbyists, party colleagues or donors.
SNP environment minister Richard Lochhead was listed as giving a pass to Scottish Renewables lobbyist and Nationalist councillor Grant Thoms.
Similarly, Liberal Democrat MSP Jeremy Purvis acted as a sponsor for Fairbridge Scotland's Alex Cole- Hamilton, a LibDem candidate at the last Holyrood election.
Representatives from Scotland's religious organisations were given "access all areas" passes, as were lobbyists from the Scottish Environmental Link, Friends of the Earth, WWF and RSPB.
Commercial lobbyist Devin Scobie, who runs Caledonia Consulting, was also listed as a passholder after being sponsored by parliament official Carol Devon.
The revelations led the parliament to bar "regular visitors" from unaccompanied access to the MSP block and prompted a full-scale review of the system.
One idea, according to a minute of the corporate body, is to withdraw the right of MSPs to sponsor individuals for a pass and instead allow party business managers control of access.
Another suggestion is to limit passes to people involved in "corporate parliamentary business", rather than campaigning organisations.
The most radical proposal, one which has support from the corporate body, is to scrap the passes altogether.
This would mean the existing beneficiaries of the system giving back their passes and having to sign in every time they visited Holyrood.
SNP MSP Tricia Marwick, who is on the corporate body, said: "I have never been comfortable with the regular visitor pass system. If there is no good reason for people to have these passes, they should be withdrawn.
"The whole system has grown out of control and there are too many people who have them. To many in the voluntary sector, having a pass is a badge of honour. It is for their own ego and career advancement."
She also favours greater regulation of lobbyist activity at Hoyrood: "There should be a register for lobbyists."
The Public Administration Committee at Westminster is currently holding an inquiry into lobbying, and whether the industry requires external regulation.
A spokesman for the Scottish parliament said: "The SPCB decided earlier this year that the right to unaccompanied access by regular visitor passholders into the MSP block should be withdrawn.
"Passholders now have to be met in the garden lobby by a MSP or their staff if they are going to meet in the member's office.
"SPCB members are currently consulting their respective party colleagues to see if there is a consensus for further restrictions to be applied to regular visitor passes."
