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 2173 contributions
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Rural Affairs and Islands Committee
Future Agriculture Policy
Meeting date: 19 February 2025
Jim Fairlie
I have been trying to make sure that that is the kind of relationship that we have built up over the course of this session. We want to do this with people, not to them. That is part of the process. The code has an important role to play in helping people to understand what they will be required to do. I hope that it is not taken as “Here is a stick—you must do this.” It is part of how we develop that relationship.
As I have said before, I think that the Scottish Government has done a very good job of building that relationship so that it is co-operative. I am sure that it would have been easier to have said, “There is the policy—get on with it.” The tens of thousands of words that James Muldoon was talking about are our opportunity to get a full understanding of how people feel about things—because how they feel about them is as important as the reality—and then to think about how we deliver a piece of work that they can buy in to. The whole point is to get people to buy in to it.
Rural Affairs and Islands Committee
Future Agriculture Policy
Meeting date: 19 February 2025
Jim Fairlie
We are looking at nutrient management plans. I do not want to get into the technical aspects of each individual area at this stage. We will develop it: as I have said, the code of practice will be developed and laid before the Parliament long before the end of this year.
Rural Affairs and Islands Committee
Future Agriculture Policy
Meeting date: 19 February 2025
Jim Fairlie
It is in their best interests to work with us to go on this transition. As I said in my answers to the convener, the code is not mandatory, but farmers want to get on board with it and be part of the process.
Rural Affairs and Islands Committee
Subordinate Legislation
Meeting date: 19 February 2025
Jim Fairlie
I disagree, convener. As I said, there was a crofter on the whole farm plan steering group and there was a discussion about having exemptions based on size, but that idea was rejected by that group, on which the crofting community was represented. Conversations are being had and I am more than happy to continue having them, but I can assure you that it is definitely not a one-way street. I sit on ARIOB, and points of view are put across.
Rhoda Grant said to me that it is a one-size-fits-all policy, but it is not. The whole point of the plans is that they create an opportunity for people to get involved at any level, and they do not necessarily have to pay to get the points that they need in order to be part of that scheme—I do not mean points as in points 1, 2 and 3; I mean the bits that they are required to do. It is certainly not a one-way street and it is certainly not one size fits all.
Rural Affairs and Islands Committee
Future Agriculture Policy
Meeting date: 19 February 2025
Jim Fairlie
No. At the moment, the consideration has been that small producers and crofters have been feeding into the system. Donald MacKinnon sat on ARIOB, and he is part of the on-going conversations.
As I said, however, I recently received a letter from Donna Smith that outlined her concerns, and I have asked her to come and speak to me. We will work our way through all the concerns that she included in her letter, and I hope that I will be able to give her some comfort. I am just surprised that it has taken until this stage to get that letter. I would much rather have had it sooner, so that I could have had a fuller conversation before this committee meeting. However, I will endeavour to ensure that we have that conversation to allay some of the fears that she has laid out in her letter to me.
Rural Affairs and Islands Committee
Future Agriculture Policy
Meeting date: 19 February 2025
Jim Fairlie
Okay.
Rural Affairs and Islands Committee
Subordinate Legislation
Meeting date: 19 February 2025
Jim Fairlie
Yes. I have given some written responses but, as I said, I am more than happy to sit down with Donna Smith to go through them.
An article in The Crofter magazine went through all the things that we are asking people to do and what those mean for the crofting community. A very positive response came back from that, because most of the things that we are asking crofters to do are—I am trying to think of the right words—simple, relatively easy and not cost burdensome.
The crofting community has the information. However, if Donna Smith wants to talk to me about it, we will have that conversation about how we make it as simple as possible.
Rural Affairs and Islands Committee
Subordinate Legislation
Meeting date: 19 February 2025
Jim Fairlie
Yes. As I said, Donald MacKinnon was part of the group that helped us to develop the legislation in the first place.
Rural Affairs and Islands Committee
Subordinate Legislation
Meeting date: 19 February 2025
Jim Fairlie
What do you mean?
Rural Affairs and Islands Committee
Subordinate Legislation
Meeting date: 19 February 2025
Jim Fairlie
No, I cannot guarantee that that financial cost will be met. I can guarantee that there is help and support to ensure that the crofting community has the tools that it needs. As I have just stated, a lot of that is already free and the crofters can do it themselves.
I grant that this is anecdotal, but, as I have just recited, a crofter I know went to an RPID office. The staff did not fill out the form for that person but told them how to do it—they gave that help and advice. The support is available.
We are not trying to corral people or force them to do things that they do not want to do, but they have to be part of the system. Culturally, economically and community-wise, they are a vital part of what we are trying to do, so they have to be part of the system. That will allow us to ensure that we are recognised as one of the leaders in this area and, at the same time, ensures that those rural communities are supported. We will give that support.
