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.
The web version of the Official Report has three different views:
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.
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.
There are two types of keyword search:
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.
It’s also possible to run basic Boolean searches. For example:
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:
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.
Displaying 2148 contributions
Meeting of the Parliament
Meeting date: 10 January 2024
Siobhian Brown
A non-harassment order can be made in certain circumstances by a criminal court or civil court. The criminal or civil court can make a non-harassment order that runs for an indefinite period of time if it considers that to be appropriate. A person can apply for an exclusion order from a civil court to exclude from the family home their spouse or civil partner or, in certain circumstances, their cohabiting partner. Those orders end automatically in certain circumstances, such as when a couple divorce. Anyone who remains at risk of abuse or harassment after an exclusion order or a non-harassment order ends could apply to the civil court for a further non-harassment order or an interdict.
Meeting of the Parliament
Meeting date: 10 January 2024
Siobhian Brown
Non-harassment orders are intended to provide a means of ensuring that on-going harassment can be prevented. They can be especially important in protecting victims from on-going abuse by a partner or ex-partner who has been convicted of a domestic abuse offence, particularly if there are long-term coercive or controlling behaviours. However, discretion lies with the court in each individual case to determine whether to impose an NHO.
Meeting of the Parliament
Meeting date: 10 January 2024
Siobhian Brown
The Scottish Government recognises the significant disruption and harm to businesses and individuals from retail crime and continues to support the innovative Scottish partnership against acquisitive crime—SPAACE—strategy.
Police Scotland leads the partnership, working with retailers and other organisations including Retailers Against Crime and Neighbourhood Watch Scotland. The focus is on prevention, deterrence and, where appropriate, enforcement. The strategy seeks to minimise opportunities for that type of crime, to protect individuals and businesses, and to deliver clear advice and guidance on prevention.
I urge all retailers to continue to engage with Police Scotland and other partners to help safeguard their business and the people who work there.
Meeting of the Parliament
Meeting date: 10 January 2024
Siobhian Brown
We recognise the vital role that retail workers play in our society and we want to ensure that they are protected. Workers across all sectors should be safe at work and should never have to experience abuse or violence when simply doing their job.
The Protection of Workers (Retail and Age-restricted Goods and Services) (Scotland) Act 2020, which came into force in August 2021, created a statutory offence of threatening, abusing or assaulting a retail worker, ensuring that the seriousness of that behaviour is highlighted through a specific offence. From August 2021 to March 2023, 543 charges that were brought under the act led to a conviction in criminal court.
Although there has been a long-term reduction in levels of recorded non-sexual violence—25 per cent between 2006-07 and 2022-23—along with its partners, the Scottish Government is continuing to implement the violence prevention framework. That is backed by £2 million-worth of investment this year to fund a range of activities that will help to prevent and divert people away from violence.
Meeting of the Parliament
Meeting date: 10 January 2024
Siobhian Brown
Our current legal aid funding arrangement ensures that around 70 per cent of people are eligible for a form of civil legal aid in Scotland. Means testing remains an important lever to ensure that we retain the wide scope of cases for which legal aid is available in principle. We have invested significant funding in front-line services, and we work closely with statutory agencies to improve their response to victims and survivors. We also provide support to the Scottish Women’s Rights Centre.
Meeting of the Parliament
Meeting date: 9 January 2024
Siobhian Brown
The Scottish Government is concerned to hear reports of XL bully dogs being moved to Scotland for rehoming. I have made it clear to the United Kingdom Government that there should be no impact on Scotland as a consequence of the policy that has been implemented. The UK Government’s response said that if an XL bully owner from England or Wales travelled to Scotland and sold or otherwise transferred or abandoned the dog to someone in Scotland, it is unlikely that that would be an offence.
The criminal law should provide clarity on whether an offence has been committed. The unintended consequence of the UK Government’s policy is that we are now seeing an influx of XL bully dogs to Scotland. It is important to ensure that Scotland does not become a safe haven or a dumping ground for XL bully dogs from England and Wales.
I confirm to Jamie Greene and the Parliament that, in the light of recent events, ministers are urgently reviewing the policy on XL bully dogs. Public safety will be paramount in our deliberations, and Parliament will be updated on a timetable for any policy change imminently.
Meeting of the Parliament
Meeting date: 9 January 2024
Siobhian Brown
Whereas the UK Government announced its decision to ban this dog breed with no advance notice or consultation—
Meeting of the Parliament
Meeting date: 9 January 2024
Siobhian Brown
As I have said, urgent consideration is being given to the matter. I would say to any dog owner that they will need to understand the effect of any possible ban that is introduced in Scotland. At this time, any purchase of an XL bully dog would be made in a context that may suggest that it would be preferable not to acquire such a dog at the present time in Scotland.
Meeting of the Parliament
Meeting date: 9 January 2024
Siobhian Brown
No new breed type has been banned in the list for more than 30 years, and it is important to listen carefully to the views of dog control experts in order to inform our policy approach in the area. As I said in my first answer, the matter is under urgent review and the Parliament will be told about any policy change imminently.
Meeting of the Parliament
Meeting date: 9 January 2024
Siobhian Brown
A working group has been considering current legislation. I understand that the Welfare of Dogs (Scotland) Bill that has been introduced by Christine Grahame aims to highlight and raise awareness of responsible dog ownership—which, I think, we can all support. The Government welcomes any proposals that seek to improve animal welfare, and I look forward to working with Ms Grahame on the bill.