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
Portfolio Question Time
Meeting date: 22 March 2023
Foysol Choudhury
The UK Government’s Illegal Immigration Bill will mean that those arriving in the UK via illegal means will not be eligible for asylum claims and they will be detained on arrival in the UK. Dungavel immigration removal centre is Scotland’s only detention centre. It can detain up to 130 men and 12 women. It is likely that there will be a huge increase in the number of people being detained there as the process for securing a successful asylum application will become much harder due to the restrictive rules. What action is the Scottish Government taking to liaise with the UK Government on the issue, as it is likely to completely overwhelm that detention centre in Scotland?
Meeting of the Parliament
Wellbeing Economy
Meeting date: 22 March 2023
Foysol Choudhury
You can have my microphone, if you want.
Meeting of the Parliament
BBC in Scotland (100 Years)
Meeting date: 22 March 2023
Foysol Choudhury
I thank and congratulate Jenni Minto for bringing a celebration of 100 years of the BBC to the Scottish Parliament.
In November last year, alongside Jenni Minto, I was a co-sponsor of an event in the Parliament to mark the 90th anniversary of the BBC World Service. I am happy to speak again about the issue, but this time in a much more local sense. At that event, I spoke about the BBC as one of the most trusted broadcasters in the world. I hope that that will be reflected in the future of the BBC in Scotland.
The BBC is a national asset. Although it is not infallible, it is envied around the world for the quality of its products and the reliability of its journalism, and Scotland is privileged to have such a long-standing and professional service. The BBC serves a valuable role as a public broadcasting service in Scotland.
One of the standout features of the BBC in Scotland is its impartiality, and the ability of members of the public to tune in to BBC Scotland programming without political influence or coercion should remain one of its standout features.
That is why I was happy to hear of the BBC’s reinstatement of Gary Lineker last week. “Match of the Day” was certainly not at its best without its valued presenters. However, I am still concerned about the BBC’s decision not to broadcast a programme that is related to David Attenborough’s new series “Wild Isles”. I hope that, in the future, the BBC in Scotland continues to be a trusted voice that remains truly impartial and above political or economic pressures.
On a more positive note, the BBC in Scotland has done a great deal to showcase and promote Scotland’s vibrant culture sector. I echo the words of the motion about the BBC’s ability to truly express the “depth of Scotland’s culture” across a range of educational and entertainment programmes. It has played and will continue to play a vital role in the creativity of this nation.
In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, Scotland’s culture sector has seen closures of well-respected and beloved cultural institutions—most recently, the Filmhouse here in Edinburgh—and the sector has suffered greatly as a result.
The BBC in Scotland showcases a wide range of Scotland’s culture, including Gaelic language programming, Scottish films and television series and local news reporting, which supports the sector in its vital work. Continued support from the BBC in promoting Scotland’s vast areas of culture will help to revive the sector after a difficult few years.
It is now more important than ever that Scotland’s culture sector is showcased across this valuable broadcasting service, and I hope for the continued success of this national institution.
Social Justice and Social Security Committee
Charities (Regulation and Administration) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
Meeting date: 16 March 2023
Foysol Choudhury
Do you have any concerns regarding the provisions for charities to redact certain information from published accounts where there might be safety or security concerns?
10:00Social Justice and Social Security Committee
Charities (Regulation and Administration) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
Meeting date: 16 March 2023
Foysol Choudhury
I am sure that you would agree that a smaller organisation will probably need more support from OSCR and the Government. Can that be provided?
Social Justice and Social Security Committee
Charities (Regulation and Administration) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
Meeting date: 16 March 2023
Foysol Choudhury
Thank you, cabinet secretary.
Convener, I should have said that I am part of a small third sector organisation.
Social Justice and Social Security Committee
Charities (Regulation and Administration) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
Meeting date: 16 March 2023
Foysol Choudhury
Good morning, cabinet secretary. I have a small question. Do you believe that enough small organisations have been consulted? Have any areas of regulation not been sufficiently covered in the consultation process?
Social Justice and Social Security Committee
Charities (Regulation and Administration) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
Meeting date: 16 March 2023
Foysol Choudhury
Does the cabinet secretary have any concerns that the bill could disproportionately affect smaller charities—particularly ethnic minority charities that are already struggling to stay in business given the cost of living crisis?
Social Justice and Social Security Committee
Charities (Regulation and Administration) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
Meeting date: 16 March 2023
Foysol Choudhury
Thank you very much. Before I finish, I want to declare an interest: I am the chair of Edinburgh and Lothians Regional Equality Council, which is a registered charity organisation.
Meeting of the Parliament
Portfolio Question Time
Meeting date: 16 March 2023
Foysol Choudhury
The UK Government’s Illegal Migration Bill is likely to have a significant impact on migrants and asylum seekers in Scotland. Scotland’s legal profession alone will likely see the number of cases in their case loads skyrocket under the bill’s provisions for removal.
Many asylum seekers who have arrived here have risked their lives and arrived with nothing, so it is likely that the legal assistance that many asylum seekers would require would have to be done pro bono. Will the cabinet secretary advise what the potential impact of the bill will be on Scotland’s legal aid service?
