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 1294 contributions
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Criminal Justice Committee, Health, Social Care and Sport Committee, Social Justice and Social Security Committee (Joint Meeting)
Drug Deaths and Drug Harm
Meeting date: 26 September 2023
Gillian Mackay
Very briefly, if there was one area of anti-stigma work that the panel would like to see prioritised, what would it be?
Criminal Justice Committee, Health, Social Care and Sport Committee, Social Justice and Social Security Committee (Joint Meeting)
Drug Deaths and Drug Harm
Meeting date: 26 September 2023
Gillian Mackay
I will come back on Kirsten Horsburgh’s comments. If we know what is in those drugs—if we do that level of regulation—what do you believe the public health outcomes will be? We know that one of the issues is that people are not aware of the strength of the drugs that they are taking. Often, they are told that one thing is in the drug, but it actually has something else in it as well. What do you believe the public health outcomes of that policy approach would be?
Criminal Justice Committee, Health, Social Care and Sport Committee, Social Justice and Social Security Committee (Joint Meeting)
Drug Deaths and Drug Harm
Meeting date: 26 September 2023
Gillian Mackay
Thank you.
Meeting of the Parliament
Decision Time
Meeting date: 26 September 2023
Gillian Mackay
On a point of order, Presiding Officer. I think that the wi-fi dropped. I was not able to connect, but I would have voted no.
Meeting of the Parliament
Portfolio Question Time
Meeting date: 20 September 2023
Gillian Mackay
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the Scottish Prison Service regarding supporting and enabling families of prisoners to have better access to visiting their loved ones while they are in prison. (S6O-02530)
Meeting of the Parliament
Portfolio Question Time
Meeting date: 20 September 2023
Gillian Mackay
As the cabinet secretary says, the times that some prisons have for visits, especially children’s visits, make it very expensive or impossible for some families to visit their loved ones. For example, getting to HMP Shotts from any distance, particularly on public transport, for 9.30 am on a weekend is just not possible, and Perth prison has no weekend family visits at all. That means that visiting is expensive. Overnight accommodation might be needed or children might need to be taken out of school, and if they cannot do that, they barely see their relative. None of that is good for rehabilitation, maintaining family ties or the wellbeing of the children involved. What more can the Scottish Government do to ensure that families of prisoners are not punished in those ways?
Meeting of the Parliament
Neonatal Services (Lanarkshire)
Meeting date: 20 September 2023
Gillian Mackay
I agree that it is vital to share all information that can be shared ahead of decisions being made to ensure that we bring communities along with us with these decisions. That includes staff and all clinicians who are working in the units.
“The Best Start” report recommended a new model of neonatal service provision based on the suggestion that the care for the smallest and sickest babies be consolidated to deliver the best possible outcomes, and that change is part of the new model. The report was produced in conjunction with clinicians.
Meeting of the Parliament
Neonatal Services (Lanarkshire)
Meeting date: 20 September 2023
Gillian Mackay
I begin by expressing my sincere thanks to all those who work in neonatal units across the country and who care for some of the sickest babies born in Scotland. I also thank everyone who has shared their story so bravely today.
Understandably, neonatal care is an extremely emotive subject, and it is vital that the concerns of parents and staff about the changes that are under discussion are heard and responded to. That is why it is so important that we clearly set out what those changes mean, how people in the NHS Lanarkshire health board area will be affected and, crucially, what services will look like.
University hospital Wishaw is in my region, and I have heard from people who are worried about what any changes to neonatal care will mean for staff, patients and their families. I am sure that many of us in the chamber have received correspondence from staff members who are concerned about those changes and why they are taking place. Alongside today’s debate, it is vital that the Scottish Government engages with staff from University hospital Wishaw and that a forum is provided for them in which to raise questions and have those answered.
It is important to recognise that this proposal is a result of recommendations from expert clinicians.
Meeting of the Parliament
Neonatal Services (Lanarkshire)
Meeting date: 20 September 2023
Gillian Mackay
I need to make some progress. I am genuinely sorry.
The report was produced in conjunction with clinicians, and it is worth stating that the recommendations on the new neonatal model of care are underpinned by strong evidence that population outcomes for the most premature and sickest babies are improved, with regard to delivery and care, in units that look after a high number of these babies, as we have heard from other members.
Outcomes for very low birth weight babies are better when they are delivered and treated in neonatal intensive care units with full support services and experienced staff. Therefore, babies who are born at under 27 weeks, who are lighter than 800g or who need complex life support will receive specialist complex care in these units.
It is important to stress that, although that will result in care for the smallest and sickest babies being delivered in a smaller number of specialist centres, no units will close as a result, and University hospital Wishaw will continue to provide excellent care of babies that require treatment in a neonatal unit. Local neonatal units will continue to provide care, and babies will be returned to their local area as soon as they are well enough.
However, that is certainly not to dismiss how distressing it can be for parents whose babies are treated outwith their local area at what will already be a very emotional time. I absolutely recognise the points that were raised by Mark Griffin, among others, about the issues when a baby is in one health board area and the family is in another. We need to ensure that families receive all possible support and that as many of those issues as possible are taken care of.
It is vital that babies receive the best care available, but it is equally vital that we support parents and carers, and I would be grateful if the minister could advise what emotional support is available to families whose babies are being treated outwith their local health board area.
These changes are the result of expert advice and are being made so that the smallest and sickest babies can receive the best neonatal care possible. They are a sign of Scotland’s improving neonatal healthcare, but it is so important that we take people with us and that we continue the dialogue with worried staff, parents and carers who also just want to see the best for their babies.
16:39Health, Social Care and Sport Committee
Pre-budget Scrutiny 2024-25
Meeting date: 19 September 2023
Gillian Mackay
Good morning. I will come back to Philip Whyte on something that Emma Harper picked up earlier about preventing people from falling into poverty and ensuring that they have enough money to live on in the first place. With that in mind, what impact does the panel believe that the introduction of a universal basic income or a minimum income guarantee could have on the health and social care system in terms of reducing strain and costs?
