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 788 contributions
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Rural Affairs, Islands and Natural Environment Committee
Good Food Nation (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
Meeting date: 9 February 2022
Jenni Minto
Jayne Jones spoke about being on a journey. We have heard evidence that there is a changing culture, as well. What changes in culture have you seen in your local authorities as a result of the decisions that you have made about food? What learnings have you got from the pandemic? How are Scottish Government policies, such the 1,140 hours of free childcare and free school meals, impacting on children in your local authority areas and how you shape your policies?
Rural Affairs, Islands and Natural Environment Committee
Good Food Nation (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
Meeting date: 9 February 2022
Jenni Minto
As Mike Callaghan has just said, collaboration is key. I would also reflect that one size does not fit all. Our local authorities all have responsibilities over different types of area. For example, last week we heard from Jill Muirie of Glasgow and she talked about the fact that more than 90 per cent of food that is bought in Glasgow is being transported there; it is not grown there. She mentioned partnering with other areas and other local authorities. I am interested to know from you, as two of the leading authorities in the collaboration around improving food and localness in your areas, what collaboration you have done with other local authorities.
Rural Affairs, Islands and Natural Environment Committee
Draft National Planning Framework 4
Meeting date: 9 February 2022
Jenni Minto
I want to follow on from that question. I have had correspondence from constituents about the consideration of biodiversity benefits in decision making. People have asked why there is an exemption for fish and shellfish farming.
Rural Affairs, Islands and Natural Environment Committee
Subordinate Legislation
Meeting date: 9 February 2022
Jenni Minto
I have a quick question. What would be the implication, from the point of view of delays, if we did not approve the regulations today, given that we are giving the Scottish Government an opportunity to set up a framework to support loans and grants to fishermen?
Rural Affairs, Islands and Natural Environment Committee
Subordinate Legislation
Meeting date: 9 February 2022
Jenni Minto
Therefore, the regulations provide an opportunity for fishing communities to apply for a wider range of grants and loans to support their businesses and their sustainability.
Rural Affairs, Islands and Natural Environment Committee
Draft National Planning Framework 4
Meeting date: 9 February 2022
Jenni Minto
I want to expand a bit more on that. As Rachael Hamilton pointed out, Bute is with the central belt action area, as is Dunoon. To be parochial about it, my constituency is divided among different action areas. There are islands that I would have expected to have been with other island communities in, for example, the islands hub for net zero project. I am pleased to hear that the map could be redrawn. I asked you about that, Ms Simpson, when you first came to the committee, so it is good to hear that there is a bit of flexibility in the action areas.
Rural Affairs, Islands and Natural Environment Committee
Draft National Planning Framework 4
Meeting date: 9 February 2022
Jenni Minto
Thank you for coming along. I attended the engagement event on Monday that Rachael Hamilton referenced, and I am interested in how the framework will support the growth of island communities. We took some evidence from Orkney, and the point was made that it used to be the case that a house and work were needed to encourage people to live there. Given what we have seen with the pandemic and the ability for people to work from home, it is now just the house that is needed. I am interested to know how learning from the pandemic is reflected in NPF4.
A specific question was asked about policy 31 and the infrastructure first approach. There was a suggestion that, in rural and island communities, there should be a buildings first approach, because there are a lot of derelict buildings that could be re-engineered to be homes. I would also like to hear your thoughts on that.
Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee
Scottish Government’s International Work
Meeting date: 3 February 2022
Jenni Minto
Professor Nolan, I want to follow on from my colleague Dr Allan’s questions about the use of distance learning during the pandemic and how we approach the practical side of education. I would just note that the Scottish Association for Marine Science in my constituency, which does an awful lot of work on biodiversity, climate change and suchlike, has explained to me what impact the drop in EU students has had. I suppose, then, that my question is twofold: first, how do we continue with the practical side of studies and, secondly, how do we enrich the experience of not just students from Europe but those home grown here in Scotland in our institutions, in the light of our recent leaving of the EU.
Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee
Scottish Government’s International Work
Meeting date: 3 February 2022
Jenni Minto
I would reflect positively on that. Last week, I attended Indian independence celebrations, a large element of which was the cultural side and the relationships between Scotland and India.
Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee
Scottish Government’s International Work
Meeting date: 3 February 2022
Jenni Minto
In a previous life, I worked with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, which did a tour to China that involved working with the British Council to provide education to children there. That was brilliant. Such projects add to Scotland’s opportunity to approach different organisations in the world.
When you have a project, what is the plan at the end of it? How is it expanded? How do you keep the connections? Do you have a continuing relationship with the client?
