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 1525 contributions
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Meeting of the Parliament
Portfolio Question Time
Meeting date: 16 November 2022
Elena Whitham
At this stage, we are not in the budgetary process, but we will take that into consideration. We absolutely want the police to be able to respond and implement the act that we have passed.
Meeting of the Parliament
Correction
Meeting date: 16 November 2022
Elena Whitham
Elena Whitham MSP has identified an error in her contribution and provided the following correction.
At col 19, paragraph 2—
Original Text—
As part of the licensing conditions, those who have been found guilty of antisocial behaviour will have to disclose that when they are applying for a licence.
Corrected Text—
As part of the licensing conditions, those who have been found guilty of antisocial behaviour where the misuse of fire, fireworks or pyrotechnic articles has been a factor will have to disclose that when they are applying for a licence.
Meeting of the Parliament
Portfolio Question Time
Meeting date: 16 November 2022
Elena Whitham
The licensing system will put in place robust checks and balances before someone is permitted to purchase, possess and use fireworks in Scotland. Mandatory elements such as the training course and the requirement to disclose relevant convictions upon application will ensure that licence-holders know how to use fireworks in a safe, lawful and considerate manner. The measures that are set out in the groundbreaking legislation, combined with the wider activities that are set out in the fireworks action plan—such as education and awareness raising with our partners—are part of our holistic approach to addressing the harm and distress that fireworks can cause.
Meeting of the Parliament
General Question Time
Meeting date: 10 November 2022
Elena Whitham
First, I want to take this opportunity to thank those who are involved in the “A Model for Scotland” campaign group for their work in raising awareness of this key issue. I am aware that they have representation on the reference group that has supported the development of the fundamental principles that, once finalised, will underpin our future framework for Scotland to challenge men’s demand for prostitution and support those who experience it.
I am committed to continuing to work across the Scottish Government, the Scottish Parliament and stakeholders as our collective approach to tackling prostitution further develops, contributing to our aim to be a society that treats all with kindness, dignity and compassion. That will, of course, include continuing to engage with the “A Model for Scotland” campaign. I look forward to continuing that work with the campaign, and I will meet the people involved in it, and those with lived experience, as soon as I can.
Meeting of the Parliament
General Question Time
Meeting date: 10 November 2022
Elena Whitham
The safety and wellbeing of all fire and rescue officers is of utmost importance to the Scottish Government. This year, we increased funding to the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service by £9.5 million, but decisions on the allocation of its £352.7 million budget is a matter for the SFRS board and chief officer.
I am aware that the SFRS has been engaged with the Fire Brigades Union and the work undertaken by the University of Central Lancashire for a number of years now, and its well-established contamination working group has taken action across all aspects of operations to reduce exposure to harmful contaminants, including investment in new fire appliances and fire station facilities.
Meeting of the Parliament
General Question Time
Meeting date: 10 November 2022
Elena Whitham
The Scottish Government provided new powers to local authorities specifically to make the sort of decisions about sexual entertainment venues in their areas that the member has outlined, and I am committed to ensuring that we can take the legislation forward and support local authorities on the way. I would be happy to meet local authorities to discuss that matter.
Meeting of the Parliament
General Question Time
Meeting date: 10 November 2022
Elena Whitham
We have every confidence in the system that is in place for fatal accident inquiries. We keep matters under review in consultation with the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, and we continually consider and evaluate whether there are ways in which the system can be improved further.
The Crown Office has significantly reformed its processes to reduce the time taken to investigate deaths and to bring FAIs to court more quickly. Those reforms have already resulted in reductions in the duration of death investigations, and it is expected that they will continue to do so. Parliament considered and modernised the law on FAIs in 2016, and there are currently no plans to revisit the legislation.
Meeting of the Parliament
General Question Time
Meeting date: 10 November 2022
Elena Whitham
We are taking work forward through a framework for Scotland to challenge men’s demand for prostitution and support those with experience of prostitution. To underpin the framework, we have worked with an expert group of stakeholders to develop fundamental principles that will ensure that equality, human rights and safety are at its heart. Work is progressing well and, once finalised, the principles will be adopted and published.
In designing the framework, we will reflect the key aims of the equally safe strategy and the vision for justice in Scotland, including how best to effect delivery.
Meeting of the Parliament
General Question Time
Meeting date: 10 November 2022
Elena Whitham
I am aware of Professor Stec’s work and its valuable contribution to building our knowledge and understanding of contaminants that could be harmful to firefighters, and I am absolutely happy to meet the member and discuss the issue further. I know that the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service has implemented enhanced cancer-focused screenings, with questions being asked and discussions had during routine medical assessments, and the health and wellbeing department continues to provide a service for post-diagnosis support in relation to employees with cancer. As I have said, I am very happy to meet the member to discuss the issue further.
Meeting of the Parliament
General Question Time
Meeting date: 10 November 2022
Elena Whitham
As the member knows, any negotiations for pay are done at a United Kingdom level. As things stand, our budget allocation for the fire service has increased year on year. As yet, we are not engaged in budget negotiations.
