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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Meeting of the Parliament
Keeping the Promise
Meeting date: 6 November 2024
Foysol Choudhury
Four years have passed since the introduction of the Promise. Although I was not a member of the Scottish Parliament then, I was pleased to see parties united in the shared ambition that care-experienced children and young people grow up safe, loved and respected. I join members in reaffirming my commitment to that today.
I spoke during the debate on the implementation plan for the Promise two years ago. I discussed several areas then and will come back to some of those today. I will first focus on the care workforce. The Promise highlighted that many in the workforce felt overwhelmed and anxious, and were boxed in by professional language that made it difficult to build relationships with young people and their families.
February’s Who Cares? Scotland report on the Promise found that 22 local authorities have implemented destigmatising language in their practice, and that 27 have training courses for school staff on understanding care experiences. However, training levels differ and courses are not always mandatory. Although there are positive steps, improvements need to be made across the board. We cannot have a postcode lottery of support for care-experienced young people.
Members will note the impact of care experience on education prospects. The most recent outcomes data for looked-after children shows that attainment and attendance rates are down 3.5 per cent year on year. That is greatly concerning, because those are key outcomes. If the Promise is to be delivered, improvement is needed urgently.
Education and training can do a great deal in tackling prejudice and creating the conditions for care-experienced people to succeed. That extends to my next point. Project Esperanza, with which I hosted a round-table meeting earlier this year, offers training to practitioners to deliver race-sensitive and faith-sensitive services. The Promise called for shifts in the culture around care, and that should include building understanding and creating an anti-racist culture. Training on race and faith for social workers is needed, because the Promise must be fulfilled for all, including people with minority ethnicities, who are overrepresented in the care system. Supporting the workforce with training relating to stigma and the care experience is one of the themes of “Plan 24-30”, and we should put that into practice over the next five years.
Third sector organisations play a vital role. The Promise oversight board’s second report called for greater use of the support that is provided by third sector partners. That should be taken on board. The Scottish Government delivers funding to third sector organisations via the Promise partnership fund and other funding streams. The Corra Foundation, which administers the Promise partnership fund, found that 36 per cent of organisations in receipt of funding experience staffing issues, including burnout, and that 39 per cent stated that short funding cycles and time constraints affect work on systems change. I recognise that those are common issues across third sector organisations, but those organisations’ key role in delivering the Promise should be recognised and treated as such.
I will conclude by discussing data. The Promise oversight board noted that there is a range of data sources, which are not always shared between agencies, and it recommended that we improve the quality and completeness of the data. The blueprint on the creation and control of data was due to be released in June 2023, but it has yet to be delivered. Although care should be led by those who receive it, a strong data environment can inform future practice and allow greater transparency.
Ultimately, many of the issues that have been raised today can be resolved through legislation. Today’s debate and the fact that the 2030 target date is fast approaching make it all the more clear that the proposed Promise bill is needed. Members know how serious and wide ranging the subject is and how important it is that we get this right. We cannot let the Promise be broken. We cannot let down our young people.
16:08Meeting of the Parliament [Draft]
Climate Change (Emissions Reduction Targets) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3
Meeting date: 5 November 2024
Foysol Choudhury
On a point of order, Presiding Officer. I am sorry, but I could not get connected. I would have voted no.
Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee
Continued Petitions
Meeting date: 30 October 2024
Foysol Choudhury
This is my last question. Would you like to see any further changes to how national parks are governed or supported that would help to maximise benefits, or that you think could help to resolve stakeholders’ concerns about the designation of new areas?
Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee
Continued Petitions
Meeting date: 30 October 2024
Foysol Choudhury
When I asked the witnesses in the previous session whether they were aware of the proposals, a lot of them said that they were not. How can the Government get those people involved?
Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee
Continued Petitions
Meeting date: 30 October 2024
Foysol Choudhury
NatureScot made other recommendations to improve how national parks are run. For example, it said that there should be more involvement of communities and different sectors in developing national park plans, and that funding streams should be available to deliver the plans.
What are your views on those suggestions?
Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee
Continued Petitions
Meeting date: 30 October 2024
Foysol Choudhury
Thank you, convener. The Scottish Government has proposed to make changes to national park legislation in a bill that is due to come out later in this parliamentary year. What are the implications of that process running alongside the investigation of a new designation? Are stakeholders aware of the changes that are being proposed?
Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee
Continued Petitions
Meeting date: 30 October 2024
Foysol Choudhury
That was a very powerful statement by Tess White, and I think that we should invite the chief constable or Police Scotland to give evidence at a future meeting and keep the petition open.
Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee
Continued Petitions
Meeting date: 30 October 2024
Foysol Choudhury
Did I hear you say that you are not aware of the proposed changes? What should the Scottish Government do to get the stakeholders more involved when it is making any changes to legislation?
Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee
Continued Petitions
Meeting date: 30 October 2024
Foysol Choudhury
NatureScot has also made other recommendations on how national parks should be run. For example, it recommends that there should be more involvement of communities and different sectors in developing national park plans, and that funding streams should be available to deliver the plans.
What are your views? Would further changes to how national parks are governed or supported address your concerns about existing or future national parks?
Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee
Continued Petitions
Meeting date: 30 October 2024
Foysol Choudhury
The Scottish Government has proposed changes to national parks legislation in a bill that is due to be introduced later this parliamentary year. Did you engage with that consultation? If so, were you able to take that proposal into account in the development of the nomination that you are involved in?
