THE Scottish Parliament has been criticised after three-quarters of places on a new body set up to implement transparency legislation were allocated to groups with “lobbying interests”.

Nine of the 12 spots on Holyrood’s Lobbying Register “working group” have been given to experts in the commercial and third sectors, while only one position went to an openness campaigner.

David Miller, a professor of sociology at Bath University, said: “The main group likely to be affected by secretive and opaque lobby transparency system are the public. It seems that they are a ‘stakeholder’ deemed insufficiently important to have any representation at all on the implementation group.”

In 2016, Holyrood passed a bill requiring lobbyists to declare oral and face-to-face lobbying of MSPs, government ministers and special advisers.

Email and other written communication are excluded from the disclosure requirements – an omission leapt on by critics – but the legislation will nonetheless shine a light onto some lobbying activities.

An online register will come into force next year and a working group was created to assist the process.

Billy McLaren, who used to be Principal Private Secretary to Holyrood’s Presiding Officer, was appointed as the first lobbying registrar and he had responsibility for setting up the group.

The first three places were earmarked for third sector organisations of different sizes with “lobbying interests”.

One of the slots was filled by the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO), which was a vehement critic of the initial legislative proposals.

When the bill was at stage 1 in the parliamentary process the SCVO argued that the proposals could become a “serious threat” to the third sector’s engagement with parliament and government.

Martin Sime, who is retiring as chief executive of the SCVO, wrote in August that the legislation would have a “chilling effect” on “our sector”.

The other slots in the voluntary sector category were filled by Gary Dunion at Friends of the Earth Scotland and Susan Lowes of Marie Curie.

The next three positions were given to practitioners in the public affairs world, including Phil Morgan of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations, ex LibDem MSP Margaret Smith of Caledonia Public Affairs and Matthew Revett of Grayling.

Individuals in the “business” and “enterprise” fields also command three seats at the table, positions given to Colin Borland at the Federation of Small Businesses, Kirsty Peebles Newsdirect/Biblichor Ltd and Michelle Cullis at energy giant Scottish Power.

The FSB, in common with the SCVO, was hostile to the original legislation. Borland said last year:

“These proposals don’t make sense. They catch any number of people who no-one would seriously regard as a lobbyist. We’re urging our MSPs to think again.”

Of the three remaining places, one was given to “transparency promoter” Will Dinan, with journalist Mandy Rhodes and Brian Simpson from the Law Society of Scotland also being appointed.

Labour MSP Neil Findlay, who helped put pressure on the Government to introduce lobbying legislation, said: “I must say I am surprised by the dominance of lobbyists in the working group. I, of course, understand that those affected by the bill need to be involved but it is vital that this group is working to ensure that the spirit as well as the content of the bill is implemented.”

A Scottish Parliament spokesperson said: “The membership of the Working Group was considered carefully by the Lobbying Registrar and reflects the wide range of groups which will be required to comply with the act including public affairs companies, third sector organisations and small to medium businesses. It also includes representatives from the journalism and legal sectors as well as a transparency campaigner.”