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.
Filter your results Hide all filters
Displaying 2148 contributions
|
Meeting of the Parliament [Draft]
Portfolio Question Time
Meeting date: 23 April 2025
Siobhian Brown
Antisocial behaviour involving vehicles is a shared challenge across the whole of the UK, and some powers, including those over vehicle licensing, are reserved. We are committed to working with the UK Government to improve community safety and to achieve our shared goal. E-bikes exceeding 250W or 15.5 miles per hour are classified as motor vehicles and require a driving licence, insurance and vehicle tax. Privately owned e-scooters cannot be legally used on public roads or pavements in Scotland, and off-road vehicles such as quad bikes require a licence to be used on public roads.
While the Scottish Government has not so far specifically requested an additional licensing scheme for e-bikes, I recognise that there are calls for further legislation. That is why I am keen to work with the UK Government on a cross-party basis to explore practical solutions. The member says that he has raised the matter twice, and I know that several members in the chamber have also raised it. Jim Fairlie and I have set up a group with interested MSPs, and I am happy to invite Kevin Stewart to the next meeting.
Meeting of the Parliament [Draft]
Portfolio Question Time
Meeting date: 23 April 2025
Siobhian Brown
I completely understand the concerns over the misuse of e-bikes and other vehicles, and we are committed to collaborating with the UK Government where we can. I have therefore asked for work to be taken forward as a priority to develop a cross-party approach to the UK Government on how we can do more work together to tackle antisocial behaviour involving vehicles. We are also committed to supporting the police to tackle these issues, including by providing record funding of £1.62 billion to Police Scotland for 2025-26, to enhance its response.
Meeting of the Parliament [Draft]
Portfolio Question Time
Meeting date: 23 April 2025
Siobhian Brown
I recognise the direct impact of those incidents on communities, especially antisocial behaviour and fire raising, as Claire Baker has raised. I engage regularly with the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, as it is in my portfolio remit. As yet, the issue of fire raising has not specifically been raised with me in those meetings.
The independent working group on antisocial behaviour published a report in February this year, and I am working with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities and Police Scotland to see how we can implement the report’s recommendations to tackle all types of antisocial behaviour.
Meeting of the Parliament [Draft]
Portfolio Question Time
Meeting date: 23 April 2025
Siobhian Brown
We are committed to supporting Police Scotland and local authorities, which lead local responses to antisocial behaviour, involving prevention, intervention and enforcement. That enables a partnership approach that focuses on community safety as a whole and takes into account local need.
I recognise the impact that antisocial behaviour can have on local communities, which is why we have increased police funding to a record £1.62 billion this year. In addition, since 2008, through our cashback for communities programme, we have provided £130 million to support young people who are most at risk of being involved in violence, antisocial behaviour and crime. For example, between 2023 and 2024, £354,462 was invested in diversionary work with young people in the Fife Council area.
Meeting of the Parliament [Draft]
Portfolio Question Time
Meeting date: 23 April 2025
Siobhian Brown
The legislation has not yet been implemented down south, in England and Wales. My officials have been told that the Home Office is drafting the regulation, but the Labour Government cannot indicate a timeframe for that at this stage. Before considering potential implications for Scotland and what options might be available for Scottish ministers in order to replicate the measures, my officials have requested updates from the Home Office on the regulation’s progress and, once it is implemented, its effectiveness in mitigating equipment theft.
Meeting of the Parliament [Draft]
Portfolio Question Time
Meeting date: 23 April 2025
Siobhian Brown
I know that the member has raised this issue before due to her interest in rural crime. It was previously thought that Scottish Government officials became aware of the Equipment Theft (Prevention) Bill, which was a United Kingdom Parliament private member’s bill, in May 2023. Ministers have now been made aware that there was some limited contact from the UK Government at official level in November 2022, which was not highlighted again until May 2023.
Meeting of the Parliament [Draft]
Portfolio Question Time
Meeting date: 23 April 2025
Siobhian Brown
I assure the member that we support Police Scotland and its partners in dealing with the misuse of vehicles. Enforcement is a matter for Police Scotland, and local policing teams are best placed to identify misuse and work to prevent future incidents. Police have the powers to enforce the law using public disorder or dispersal powers. I have reached out to the member to be part of the group on off-road vehicles, along with other MSPs.
Meeting of the Parliament [Draft]
Portfolio Question Time
Meeting date: 23 April 2025
Siobhian Brown
The Scottish Government recognises the harm that is caused to individuals, communities and businesses by rural crime, and we fully support the efforts of the Scottish Partnership Against Rural Crime in aiming to tackle rural crime across the country. SPARC is chaired by Police Scotland and draws together key organisations and stakeholders from across the justice and rural sectors to provide a robust multi-agency approach to rural crime. The most recent SPARC update, from January this year, shows that the number of incidents of rural crime and the monetary costs of such incidents are both down compared to the figures at this point last year.
Meeting of the Parliament [Draft]
General Question Time
Meeting date: 3 April 2025
Siobhian Brown
The wearing of disguises is not a new phenomenon, and it is a matter for Police Scotland to take account of as part of its operational response.
Any recorded instances are a very small proportion of reported crime. Police Scotland uses a range of powers to prevent and tackle antisocial and criminal behaviour. In certain circumstances, those can include stop and search and the removal of head and face coverings. A code of practice exists to ensure that that is done in a manner that is lawful, proportionate and accountable.
Meeting of the Parliament [Draft]
General Question Time
Meeting date: 3 April 2025
Siobhian Brown
The member is right to refer to the influence of social media and the impact that it can have. Although regulation of the internet is reserved to the UK Government, we have been engaging extensively with UK ministers on its Online Safety Act 2023 to strengthen protections for young people.
We responded to Ofcom’s consultation on illegal harms online last year, which influenced its codes and guidance in relation to duties for online providers to protect users from harm, including threats, abuse and hate offences. We continue to engage with Ofcom and the UK Government to understand the impact and effectiveness of those actions, and I am happy to keep Ben Macpherson updated.
