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 1387 contributions
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Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee
Elections Bill
Meeting date: 18 November 2021
Tess White
Thank you. My next question is about there being different regimes in the UK, which might cause confusion. Do you have any thoughts on that?
Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee
Elections Bill
Meeting date: 18 November 2021
Tess White
This seems like an easy question, but it is quite a tough one. If the witnesses could have one ask—one thing that needs to change to make electoral events open and accessible to all voters—what would it be?
Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee
Elections Bill
Meeting date: 18 November 2021
Tess White
I mean in relation to organic materials and enforcement of the regime.
Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee
Elections Bill
Meeting date: 18 November 2021
Tess White
I think the freedom of speech issue is key. As Dr Clark said, that needs to be explored.
Meeting of the Parliament
Road Safety (Falkirk)
Meeting date: 18 November 2021
Tess White
I am delighted to speak today; I pay tribute to my colleague Stephen Kerr for securing this debate on road safety in Falkirk.
Mr Kerr made a strong case for introducing a 20mph speed limit in Airth and Reddingmuirhead. Falkirk residents have been vocal in their support for the measure, with 87 per cent of respondents to a recent survey by Mr Kerr calling for a 20mph zone to be introduced on Main Street. In particular, the community complained about a lack of visible policing on Main Street and the risk to schoolchildren from speeding cars. Such concerns have been repeatedly shared with me in my region.
For local roads, I agree that councils are best placed to respond to the road safety requirements of the communities that they serve, so I caution against a top-down blanket approach being taken on 20mph zones. They can be effective at reducing casualties and accidents on the road, but they are not the only approach. Road humps, speed cushions, traffic islands, signs and markings provide alternative and sometimes more suitable traffic-calming measures. Such decisions are best taken at local authority level, based on local knowledge and community feedback.
Meeting of the Parliament
Road Safety (Falkirk)
Meeting date: 18 November 2021
Tess White
I agree with Stephen Kerr. Please could the minister not laugh from a sedentary position? The safety of children around schools is very important and—[Interruption.] Shame on you. I would like just like to say—
Meeting of the Parliament
Road Safety (Falkirk)
Meeting date: 18 November 2021
Tess White
Thank you, Presiding Officer.
Decisions on such matters are best taken at local authority level, based on local knowledge and community feedback.
I note that last year there was a 35 per cent decline in the number of road casualties across Scotland because of restrictions on travel. That significant reduction is, of course, extremely welcome.
Michelle Thomson asked for evidence. I will give her evidence. There were still almost 5,000 casualties, including 490 children. That is not a laughing matter. Six children lost their lives—
Meeting of the Parliament
Road Safety (Falkirk)
Meeting date: 18 November 2021
Tess White
No. I am talking about safety, so I would like to proceed.
Six children lost their lives—that is a higher figure than in the two years prior to the pandemic—and 176 children were seriously injured. There is the evidence. Those figures provide a sobering reminder of the critical importance of road safety for all users.
Now that restrictions on travel have been lifted, and as the winter approaches, with reduced visibility and adverse weather conditions, we cannot be complacent. Traffic calming measures have an important role to play, but their success depends on drivers respecting them, and on the measures being suitably enforced, where appropriate.
I understand that Aberdeenshire Council is investigating the correlation between certain age demographics, high collision rates on the roads, the work commute and the school run. I am particularly concerned about non-compliance with 20mph zones around schools in my region. For example, I have been contacted about concerns that have been shared by parents and teachers in relation to Marykirk primary school, where drivers regularly flout the 20mph speed limit on Kirktonhill Road. There are already too many near misses on our roads. Too often, we see action being taken when it is too late. I am committed to working with the school, local councillors and the police to ensure that children are safe on the school run. I appeal to residents and visitors to the area to reduce their speed around the school in order to ensure the safety of pupils, parents and teaching staff. It is simply not worth the risk.
Meeting of the Parliament
Road Safety (Falkirk)
Meeting date: 18 November 2021
Tess White
Safety is not a laughing matter. May I continue, Presiding Officer?
Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid)
Covid-19 Update
Meeting date: 16 November 2021
Tess White
The updated Covid strategic framework emphasises the importance of testing and anticipates a significantly increased demand on testing capacity this winter. Will the Scottish Government provide assurances that sufficient testing resources are in place to meet demand over the coming months?
