THE independent body ­overseeing the UK's electoral system has raised concerns about controversial Government lobbying plans.

The Electoral Commission said a Bill to be debated in the Commons next week raised some significant issues of workability.

The Transparency of Lobbying, non-Party Campaigning, and Trade Union Administration Bill follows allegations about the influence of lobbyists on government decision-making and involvement of peers and MPs with lobbying groups.

The Government's ­proposals would introduce a statutory register of lobbyists to identify whose interests were being represented by consultant lobbyists and those who were paid to lobby on behalf of a third party, and set a £390,000 cap on the amount any organisation, excluding political parties, could spend across the UK during elections.

The commission said the Bill created significant regulatory uncertainty for organisations that campaigned on public policy issues and imposed new burdens on them.