TIGHTER rules on lobbying would not have the “chilling effect” feared by charities and voluntary groups, a new international survey has suggested.

The Lobby Scotland Bill currently going through Holyrood would create a new register of all organisations who undertake the “paid lobbying” of ministers and MSPs, regardless of the time or money involved.

Some groups fear registration could deter small outfits engaged in policy formation.

However preliminary results from a new “mini-survey” of lobbying registers in Austria, Ireland, the US and Canada, suggests there is no significant chilling effect.

Conducted by Dr Will Dinan and Megan Elliott of Stirling University, the survey concludes registration is “not a barrier to access or a brake on political participation”.

Those operating registers overseas said they did not deter lobbying by small operations, it found, although those bound by them said there were some problems and burdens.

“While it is likely that the regulatory burden of lobbying disclosure has been somewhat over-stated, it does nevertheless present some risk for small, resource-poor groups.”

The Scottish Alliance for Lobbying Transparency is pushing for the Bill to be tightened to include lobbying of civil servants, and all contacts, not just face-to-face meetings.