Official Report: search what was said in Parliament
The Official Report is a written record of public meetings of the Parliament and committees.
The Official Report search offers lots of different ways to find the information you’re looking for. The search is used as a professional tool by researchers and third-party organisations. It is also used by members of the public who may have less parliamentary awareness. This means it needs to provide the ability to run complex searches, and the ability to browse reports or perform a simple keyword search.
Searching by different views
The web version of the Official Report has three different views:
- Report: this is the whole Official Report for a particular meeting of a committee or Parliament
- Item of business: this is each individual agenda item in an Official Report. For example, Portfolio Questions would be the item of business in a Meeting of the Parliament report
- Contribution: this is each time someone has made a spoken contribution to a meeting.
Depending on the kind of search you want to do, one of these views will be the best option. The default view is to show the report for each meeting of Parliament or a committee. For a simple keyword search, the results will be shown by item of business.
Search by MSP
When you choose to search by a particular MSP, the results returned will show each spoken contribution in Parliament or a committee, ordered by date with the most recent contributions first. This will usually return a lot of results, but you can refine your search by keyword, date and/or by meeting (committee or Chamber business).
We’ve chosen to display the entirety of each MSP’s contribution in the search results. This is intended to reduce the number of times that users need to click into an actual report to get the information that they’re looking for, but in some cases it can lead to very short contributions (“Yes.”) or very long ones (Ministerial statements, for example.) We’ll keep this under review and get feedback from users on whether this approach best meets their needs.
Searching by keyword
There are two types of keyword search:
- A keyword search without quotation marks will look for every instance of each word used and rank the results by frequency and proximity. It will also include variants of the keywords using “porter stemming”. This is when the search looks for the “stem” of a word regardless of its ending. So, for example, a search for [salmon farm] will return each instance of “salmon” and each instance of “farm” as well as potentially including results for “farms”, “farmed” and “farming”.
- A keyword search with quotation marks will only return instances of that exact phrase used. So, for example, a search for “salmon farm” in quotation marks will only return instances of that exact phrase.
Combining search filters
If you select an MSP’s name from the dropdown menu, and add a phrase in quotation marks to the keyword field, then the search will return only examples of when the MSP said those exact words. You can further refine this search by adding a date range or selecting a particular committee or Meeting of the Parliament.
More complex keyword searches
It’s also possible to run basic Boolean searches. For example:
- a search for “salmon farm” AND “Loch Lomond” will return only results which include both exact phrases
- a search for “salmon farm” NOT “Loch Lomond” will return results for “salmon farm” but exclude results which also include “Loch Lomond”
- a search for “salmon farm” OR “Loch Lomond” will return all results for “salmon farm” and all results for “Loch Lomond” regardless of whether they appear together
Searching by date
There are two ways of searching by date.
You can either use the Start date and End date options to run a search across a particular date range. For example, you may know that a particular subject was discussed at some point in the last few weeks and choose a date range to reflect that.
Alternatively, you can use one of the pre-defined date ranges under “Select a time period”. These are:
- Current session (all Official Reports since the current sessions started)
- Last 6 months
- Last 12 months
- each of the previous sessions of Parliament. (Selecting the information icon above the “Select a time period” menu will give you the exact dates for each session.)
- All sessions
- You can also choose to select a custom date range, although adding a Start or End date will mean the search automatically defaults to this option.
If you search by an individual session, the list of MSPs and committees will automatically update to show only the MSPs and committees which were current during that session. For example, if you select Session 1 you will be show a list of MSPs and committees from Session 1.
If you add a custom date range which crosses more than one session of Parliament, the lists of MSPs and committees will update to show the information that was current at that time.
All Official Reports of meetings in the Debating Chamber of the Scottish Parliament.
All Official Reports of public meetings of committees.
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Displaying 1614 contributions
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Meeting of the Parliament
Ferry Services
Meeting date: 7 November 2023
Jackie Dunbar
As a member of the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee, I am pleased to speak in the debate. I thank the clerks, my committee colleagues past and present and everyone who gave evidence to the committee. Without their input, the inquiry and our recommendations would not have been possible.
The inquiry was more than a year long. The committee wanted its inquiry into a modern and sustainable ferry service for Scotland to be a chance for communities to relate their experiences and to give their views on potential solutions for the future. We wanted to hear about the current and evolving needs of ferry users and to put to the Scottish Government considerations for how to design future services to best meet those needs.
The report contains 74 recommendations that the committee felt were essential to ensure a sustainable and reliable ferry service for all. Those recommendations will, I hope, assist the Scottish Government in ensuring that our ferry services are fit for purpose, centred on the needs of ferry-dependent communities and responsive to those needs.
During the inquiry, we heard from island residents who try to get over to the mainland in winter, when the weather is unpredictable, and in summer, when the ferries are fully booked with tourists. That is great for the businesses that need visitors but not so great for the resident who needs to get to the mainland for a medical appointment.
A reliable and affordable ferry service is a lifeline for our island communities. Ensuring that folk have access to the mainland for services, shopping and leisure and to visit friends and family is key to the future success and prosperity of our islands. A lot has already been said in the chamber, even today, about the failures of the ferry service, especially in recent months. However, for me, the report is about looking forward and not backward.
I hope that the recommendations that are in front of us will be seen as a positive step in addressing the concerns of various communities regarding the connectivity of the islands. I also hope that we can get cross-party agreement that the needs of our island communities must be at the heart of our decision making regarding their ferry services.
Ferry services must be shaped by the communities that rely on them, and the success of our ferry services going forward will rely on the Clyde and Hebrides operators being responsive to the needs of island communities and providing the services that they require at the times that they need them. For example, we heard at committee that some folk were able to get a ferry ticket but were unable to get their car on to the ferry, meaning that their onward travel on the mainland was impossible due to a lack of public transport connectivity in some places.
I also welcome the recommendations about the input of local authorities into shaping the ferry services that will serve their communities. As a former local councillor, I recognise the valuable input and local insight that councillors will have in shaping a ferry service that best serves their communities. They are the ones on the front line, with the most first-hand experience of the challenges that their constituents face. Closer working between the operator, local authorities and communities is key to ensuring the success and longevity of our ferry services.
I truly believe that it is not just the islands that need a modern, economical and sustainable ferry service. An improved ferry service benefits the whole of Scotland. As I said, it is vital that we now look forward, taking into account the views that the communities and ferry users provided to the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee. We should focus not on what has gone wrong in the past but on what we can do to improve the connectivity of our island communities with the mainland in the future.
I appreciated the opportunity that the inquiry gave me to hear at first hand about the daily issues that our island communities face with connectivity to the mainland. I look forward to hearing the response from our transport minister, who, as a former member of the Net Zero Energy and Transport Committee, heard at first hand the issues with connectivity to our island communities. I know that she will do everything in her gift to ensure that a sustainable and reliable ferry service becomes a reality in the near future.
16:12Meeting of the Parliament
Portfolio Question Time
Meeting date: 2 November 2023
Jackie Dunbar
O ye of little faith, Presiding Officer.
As the minister has said in answer to a previous question, the Scottish Government has reconnected one station in Mid Scotland and Fife to the railway and will reconnect two more shortly. Will the minister remind us why that action, which had not been taken by any previous Scottish Government, was necessary?
Meeting of the Parliament
Edinburgh Tram Inquiry Report
Meeting date: 2 November 2023
Jackie Dunbar
In the time that it has taken for the inquiry to conclude, the previous Scottish National Party-led Administration at City of Edinburgh Council approved an extension of the tram line to Newhaven, which successfully opened to the public this summer, on time and within budget. Edinburgh residents can take some satisfaction from the fact that lessons were clearly learned from the first tram scheme. Does the Edinburgh tram inquiry report provide, for mass transit in Scotland, any further lessons that have not already been applied in the past nine years?
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee
Scottish Water Annual Report and Accounts 2022-23
Meeting date: 31 October 2023
Jackie Dunbar
Thank you. If I may move on—
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee
Scottish Water Annual Report and Accounts 2022-23
Meeting date: 31 October 2023
Jackie Dunbar
I was going to ask if you are on track, but you have already answered that.
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee
Scottish Water Annual Report and Accounts 2022-23
Meeting date: 31 October 2023
Jackie Dunbar
Monica Lennon spoke about pay increases and about unions, and I would like to declare that I have a family member who works for Scottish Water. I have not taken part in anything, but in the interest of transparency, I thought that I would declare that to the committee.
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee
Circular Economy (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
Meeting date: 31 October 2023
Jackie Dunbar
They see that there are different opportunities.
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee
Scottish Water Annual Report and Accounts 2022-23
Meeting date: 31 October 2023
Jackie Dunbar
You are not referring to flushable wipes. I know that you would prefer that no wipes are flushed at all.
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee
Scottish Water Annual Report and Accounts 2022-23
Meeting date: 31 October 2023
Jackie Dunbar
It is helpful to get that message out, because some folk are trying to do their bit, but they do not realise that they are not helping.
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee
Scottish Water Annual Report and Accounts 2022-23
Meeting date: 31 October 2023
Jackie Dunbar
I will move on from sewage and pollution to questions about your net zero projects. In your annual report, you mention the challenges that you are facing in negotiating access to land for peatland restoration work. Can you expand on what barriers you are facing to gain that access and say what is being done to improve relationships with tenant farmers and landowners to deliver your net zero projects?
