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 4938 contributions
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Meeting of the Parliament [Draft]
First Minister’s Question Time
Meeting date: 15 May 2025
John Swinney
We work very closely with NFU Scotland and the agriculture sector. As the member of the Scottish Parliament for Perthshire North, which involves extensive agricultural interests, I spend a lot of my time engaging with the agriculture industry. If Mr Eagle is worried about that, let me assure him that the Government is very much engaged on those issues.
When it comes to the protection and promotion of the agriculture sector, I venture to suggest that the farming sector feels better supported in Scotland than it is in the rest of the United Kingdom and that this Government’s approach to the sector is more sympathetic to its needs and interests. That will, of course, be the case during my leadership of the Scottish Government. The issues that Mr Eagle raises about the trade deal are vital and material in relation to the farming industry, and we will do all that we can to address those issues with the UK Government.
On Mr Eagle’s point about trade engagement, one of the trade arrangements that I have always been very supportive of, and that I am keen for us to have more of, is a good trading relationship with the European Union. That relationship was shattered by the stupidity of Brexit and the actions of the Conservative Government, and I want to get us back into those arrangements as quickly as I possibly can.
Meeting of the Parliament [Draft]
First Minister’s Question Time
Meeting date: 15 May 2025
John Swinney
Around 250 projects are benefiting from the nature restoration fund so far. We are extending the fund, which will provide essential investment for the steps that we are taking to halt biodiversity loss in Scotland’s species, woodlands, rivers and seas, and to encourage them back on the road to recovery.
Meeting of the Parliament [Draft]
First Minister’s Question Time
Meeting date: 15 May 2025
John Swinney
I am the First Minister of Scotland and I always accept my responsibilities in the exercise of Government responsibilities.
Russell Findlay mentioned engagement with island communities. I engage regularly with island communities on issues with ferry services, and my Cabinet Secretary for Transport was recently in South Uist engaging with island communities and delivering practical solutions to those affected by ferry disruptions. That is what the Government will focus on. We will accept our responsibilities and will deliver on our commitments to island communities, which is what the Government is doing.
Meeting of the Parliament [Draft]
First Minister’s Question Time
Meeting date: 15 May 2025
John Swinney
I make it clear that the time taken to build the Glen Rosa is unacceptable. Yesterday, the Deputy First Minister set out to Parliament many of the reasons why that is the case. The delay has, obviously, caused disruption to island communities and the Scottish Government is focusing on ensuring, through the measures that the Deputy First Minister outlined yesterday, that early progress is made on the Glen Rosa so that it can join the Glen Sannox in service at the earliest possible opportunity.
Meeting of the Parliament [Draft]
First Minister’s Question Time
Meeting date: 15 May 2025
John Swinney
I unreservedly accept my responsibility for everything that happens in the name of my Government. [Interruption.]
Meeting of the Parliament [Draft]
First Minister’s Question Time
Meeting date: 15 May 2025
John Swinney
That is to operate the services to our communities, which are now more extensive than when we came to office.
We have delivered the Glen Sannox into service. We have purchased the additional vessel of the Loch Frisa. We have chartered the MV Alfred and the MV Arrow to provide additional resilience. We have commissioned two new vessels for Islay, two new vessels for the Little Minch routes and seven new vessels for some of the smaller routes. We have progressed investment in key ports and harbours and we are confirming revenue funding and strategic support to the island ferry services in Scotland.
This Government will keep true to its commitments—[Interruption.]
Meeting of the Parliament [Draft]
First Minister’s Question Time
Meeting date: 15 May 2025
John Swinney
As a consequence of decisions that I have made, for which I am very happy to be accountable, we have made investment in two new vessels—the Glen Rosa and the Glen Sannox—two additional vessels are coming for the Islay route, two new vessels are coming for the Little Minch route and seven small vessels are coming.
On CalMac sailings, statistics for the last full year show that there were 170,215 scheduled sailings on the CalMac network. Only 3.4 per cent of sailings were cancelled due to technical or other reasons; the overwhelming majority of cancellations on the route were, understandably, because of weather-related issues.
I am acutely conscious of the challenges with the island ferry network, but, despite those issues, the network performs very strongly for island communities, and the Government’s investment will help to build resilience in the years to come.
Meeting of the Parliament [Draft]
First Minister’s Question Time
Meeting date: 15 May 2025
John Swinney
The Scottish Government will consider the full details of the trade deal and all of its implications for Scotland when those details are clear. We understand that only general terms have been agreed, with much detail requiring further negotiation.
Meeting of the Parliament [Draft]
First Minister’s Question Time
Meeting date: 15 May 2025
John Swinney
I understand the pressures that exist in Arran, and I have met many of the businesses and organisations that Mr Sarwar mentioned, but I will point out a number of things in response.
The principal vessel that is responsible for servicing the Arran network, the MV Caledonian Isles, required extensive repair and is expected to re-enter service on 9 June. It will be able to operate from the port of Ardrossan, which is its main and home port. In the interim, two vessels have been providing sustainable services from Troon—I accept that that is a different location from Ardrossan—the MV Glen Sannox and the MV Alfred, which, according to the information that is available to me, have been delivering appropriate and adequate capacity for the Arran route at all times. CalMac has made judgments to ensure that the route has been sustainable.
The Cabinet Secretary for Transport made it clear that the Government is engaged in active discussions about acquiring the Ardrossan port in order for us to undertake the necessary improvements and strengthening of the port, which have not taken place to date because it is in private ownership.
The Government is delivering a sustained ferry service to the island of Arran, which is providing adequate capacity, and the Government will continue its investment programme, which will be strengthened by the arrival of the Glen Rosa and the other steps that I mentioned in relation to Ardrossan.
Meeting of the Parliament [Draft]
First Minister’s Question Time
Meeting date: 15 May 2025
John Swinney
Horse riders are recognised as vulnerable road users, and we work with partners such as the British Horse Society to improve safety. A vulnerable road users working group, which includes the British Horse Society, met on 1 May.
We very much support the activities that Christine Grahame referred to. Common ridings are a critical part of the identity of the Scottish Borders, and gala days around the community are important celebrations of local activity. In our awareness campaigns, we will urge all drivers, particularly those who are unfamiliar with rural roads, to follow the highway code by passing horses at no more than 10mph and giving at least 2m of space for horses as they pass.
