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 893 contributions
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Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee
A9 Dualling Project
Meeting date: 7 February 2024
Foysol Choudhury
Yes.
At the previous session, Transport Scotland advised the committee that it was 92 per cent through the statutory process back in 2011. When the original timetable for the project was set out, the estimated time required to complete the statutory process was six years. We are now at double that time. What engagement have ministers had with Transport Scotland during that time?
Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee
Continued Petitions
Meeting date: 7 February 2024
Foysol Choudhury
Yes.
Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee
Continued Petitions
Meeting date: 7 February 2024
Foysol Choudhury
We should write to the Scottish Government to seek—sorry, I have lost my place.
Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee
Continued Petitions
Meeting date: 7 February 2024
Foysol Choudhury
That is right. We should ask about the age of people using the services. How many people have attempted to access support through the mental health hubs and how many were under 12 years of age?
Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee
A9 Dualling Project
Meeting date: 7 February 2024
Foysol Choudhury
I have just a small question for the cabinet secretary. Given the time that has been taken and the dates that have been missed, do you have concerns about the project sticking with the current times that have been given?
Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee
Continued Petitions
Meeting date: 7 February 2024
Foysol Choudhury
I seek clarification on an issue that my colleague Mr Ewing has raised. How would a national independent whistleblowing officer bridge the gap in current safeguarding provision? I know that a lot has been said about that, but do you have anything further to add?
Meeting of the Parliament
Portfolio Question Time
Meeting date: 7 February 2024
Foysol Choudhury
To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with the United Kingdom Government regarding actions that can be taken to preserve energy networks following periods of bad weather. (S6O-03055)
Meeting of the Parliament
Social Security (Investment)
Meeting date: 7 February 2024
Foysol Choudhury
A quarter of families in Scotland are now living in poverty, and urgent action is required across a range of areas to protect families from the immediate impact of the cost of living crisis and austerity. Parents need to have a consistent and sufficient income to plan ahead and make decisions for their children. Parental employability funds exist to assist in lifting people out of poverty, but they have been stripped of more than £20 million in a year by the SNP Government.
We welcome the news that the Scottish Government has finally listened to the Scottish Labour Party and has provided resources to wipe school meals debt. However, the policy is limited to a year and, without sustained investment, the debt will begin to build up again almost immediately.
Adverse childhood experiences have been found to have a lifelong impact on mental health. One of those experiences is a childhood that is spent below the poverty line. According to Public Health Scotland, children who are born into poverty are more likely to experience mental health problems. Prevention of adverse childhood experiences, such as poverty, is essential for fostering the long-term mental wellbeing of young people. Public Health Scotland has advised that the majority of people’s mental health problems will develop before the age of 24, with 50 per cent of mental health difficulties being established by the age of 14. The SNP is set to miss its own statutory child poverty target, with 23 per cent of children in relative poverty in 2021-22.
Children who are born into impoverished areas will eventually face significant hurdles in their life. The longer children live below the poverty line, the bigger the impact it has on their overall health, development and wellbeing. If the Scottish Government fails to meet its own 2030 child poverty targets, it will place an even bigger strain on the NHS. Mental health services and social security will be affected as a result.
Meeting of the Parliament
Portfolio Question Time
Meeting date: 7 February 2024
Foysol Choudhury
Storm Isha saw thousands across Scotland lose power, with some people not being reconnected for more than a day. That greatly impacted those with disabilities or mobility issues who require electrical equipment to live and complete tasks in their homes. What discussion has the Scottish Government had with the energy networks in Scotland regarding additional help and reimbursement for those who have additional needs, when they are left without power due to energy disruption and blackouts?
Meeting of the Parliament
Social Security (Investment)
Meeting date: 7 February 2024
Foysol Choudhury
I want to make progress.
The Scottish child payment is a welcome investment in lifting children out of poverty, but there needs to be a more targeted approach to addressing the consequences of a childhood lived below the poverty line. This week, the Glasgow Centre for Population Health has an exhibition in Parliament, and many members will have already visited its stand. The centre’s recent report outlines that the cost of living crisis and austerity are affecting mortality rates across Scotland. In 2019, it was reported that a boy who was born in Muirhouse had a life expectancy that was 13 years less than that of a boy who was born in neighbouring Cramond. That is still the reality for many children who grow up in poverty. Across the nation, healthy life expectancy is decreasing, but it is decidedly lower for those who are from the most deprived areas across Scotland.
