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 1537 contributions
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Meeting of the Parliament
Transvaginal Mesh
Meeting date: 24 October 2023
Katy Clark
I start by paying tribute to the tireless campaigning of mesh-injured women. It is their campaigning that has been the driving force for much of the progress that we have seen on transvaginal mesh. The independent reviews, the creation of the complex mesh surgical service and the reimbursement scheme are all testament to their efforts.
That is one of the reasons why it is so disappointing that many of those women continue to experience so many problems in accessing the medical care that they need. Some have shared publicly their experience in dealing with GPs who still lack basic knowledge and understanding of the complications arising from transvaginal mesh implants. Others have spoken about the long referral times in order to access care and support at the complex mesh surgical service. Women who have been referred to the complex mesh surgical service have also described the lack of a full range of treatment and support options, and women who have had mesh surgically removed have spoken about the lack of aftercare support in relation to their mental health and the trauma that they have endured.
According to Professor Britton, whose initial report on the issue was published back in 2018, the Scottish Government has yet to act on her recommendations. That has been said a number of times in this debate. In her second report, which was published earlier this year, Professor Britton made a series of recommendations to improve the healthcare experience of mesh-injured women. Those recommendations include improving support mechanisms for women who wish to raise concerns with their GP following transvaginal mesh surgery, the creation of a mesh register to keep track of surgeries that have been carried out, and putting patient consent at the heart of healthcare. Labour urges the minister to come forward with recommendations and to deliver. We hope that she is able to give a commitment on that today.
My own office is still receiving new cases from mesh-injured women who are suffering complications and getting in touch. They are currently not getting adequate support from their GP, and they are unaware of the complex mesh surgical service. It is clear that the Scottish Government must do more to support those who are injured and that the issue continues to have an impact on too many lives even after a decade of campaigning by those affected.
The minister will be aware of the work that I have been doing with my constituents Roseanna Clarkin and Lauren McDougall on surgical mesh that is used to treat hernias. Informed consent has been discussed in the debate. Roseanna gave me permission to say that she was told that pig skin, and not the mesh that was used, would be used in her procedure. Such surgical mesh differs from transvaginal mesh, but many people are now suffering from similar complications and life-altering injuries to those that were observed in women who were implanted with transvaginal mesh.
Roseanna and Lauren have a petition before Parliament that calls for an independent review of the use of such mesh and for its use by NHS Scotland to be suspended pending the outcome of that review. I am grateful to the Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee for its on-going work on the petition. I know that many of that committee’s members were involved in the initial petitions on transvaginal mesh and recognise the parallels in the experiences of those who have been implanted with surgical mesh to treat hernias.
Despite years of campaigning, Roseanna and Lauren have found the Scottish Government unwilling to engage or failing to take their concerns seriously. The same disregard for the lived experiences of mesh-injured people delayed progress on addressing issues that related to transvaginal mesh. I fear that we are at risk of making the same mistake with surgical mesh that is used to treat hernias.
I therefore very much welcome the fact that the minister recently agreed to meet my constituents and me in the coming weeks to discuss the issue. The need for an urgent independent review could not be clearer, and I hope that the minister will give that further serious consideration.
I previously submitted freedom of information requests to every health board across Scotland in an attempt to establish the scale of the problem with surgical mesh that is used to treat hernias. Many health boards did not hold the requested information or did not respond, but the health boards that did provide information showed the scale of the problem. In NHS Ayrshire and Arran, 8 per cent of patients who were implanted with surgical mesh to treat hernias said that they had complications, and the figure in NHS Lanarkshire was 10 per cent.
Meeting of the Parliament
Transvaginal Mesh
Meeting date: 24 October 2023
Katy Clark
I very much look forward to hearing the minister’s response to my points.
16:48Social Justice and Social Security Committee
Pre-budget Scrutiny 2024-25
Meeting date: 5 October 2023
Katy Clark
Gordon MacRae has already spoken about reprioritisation. You will be aware that the medium-term financial strategy analysis highlighted a funding gap for the Scottish Government. In the light of that, how should the Scottish Government respond, and how should it prioritise its budget?
Social Justice and Social Security Committee
Pre-budget Scrutiny 2024-25
Meeting date: 5 October 2023
Katy Clark
Would anyone like to comment on whether there have been any improvements in the transparency of the budget? Do you have any specific suggestions as to how the process could be improved?
Meeting of the Parliament
First Minister’s Question Time
Meeting date: 5 October 2023
Katy Clark
To ask the First Minister what assessment the Scottish Government has made of any impact of operational changes in the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service on response times to recent incidents, including the fires at the Ayr Station hotel and Kitty’s nightclub in Kirkcaldy. (S6F-02428)
Meeting of the Parliament
First Minister’s Question Time
Meeting date: 5 October 2023
Katy Clark
I associate myself with the First Minister’s tribute to our firefighters. He will be aware that the appliance at Kirkcaldy was taken out of operation at midnight later on the day of the fire.
Is the First Minister aware of the serious concerns that the Fire Brigades Union has raised about the impact of the withdrawal last month of 10 appliances, which included the withdrawal of a specialist appliance at Ayr, which the FBU says meant that local firefighters had to wait for an appliance to arrive from Castlemilk, given that the Kilmarnock one had broken down? Will he meet FBU Scotland to discuss its concerns about the impact of budget cuts on public safety?
Criminal Justice Committee
Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
Meeting date: 4 October 2023
Katy Clark
An example that was used by Louise Hill was the fact that children are not being allowed to give evidence remotely or virtually. Should there be a legal mechanism to allow the commissioner to be involved in such a case, so that there could be intervention? Would that kind of area need to be explored to make the commissioner’s role effective?
Criminal Justice Committee
Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
Meeting date: 4 October 2023
Katy Clark
I am grateful for those answers. Thank you.
Criminal Justice Committee
Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
Meeting date: 4 October 2023
Katy Clark
I do not expect you to give a legal answer.
Criminal Justice Committee
Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
Meeting date: 4 October 2023
Katy Clark
I can now—sorry, convener. My screen said that the host was not allowing me to unmute myself. Apologies for that.
Graham O’Neill spoke powerfully about the need to strengthen the powers of the commissioner, and Louise Hill spoke about the implementation gap. That is a powerful criticism not just of the Scottish Government and the justice system but of Parliament itself in its scrutiny role.
I am interested in why we would believe that another voice of criticism, perhaps focusing on some of the failures of the system, is unlikely to be effective unless it has the power to intervene in cases. The panel may all have a view on that. Graham O’Neill has already said that that power should be there. Is that the view of everyone on the panel?
