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 3346 contributions
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Meeting of the Parliament [Draft]
Housing (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3
Meeting date: 23 September 2025
Graham Simpson
I hear what Willie Rennie says. However, at stage 2, he was arguing for the issue to be in the bill—and I think that he agrees with me that it should be in the bill.
I read out words from the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations, which wants amendment 160 in particular to be agreed to. As the SFHA points out, things can change, and Governments can change. We might have a change of Government next year—some of us hope for that.
In addition, as Willie Rennie knows fine well, if we leave things to regulation, there is less scrutiny; with regulation, the Parliament just does not have the chance to shape things that it has at this point.
Meeting of the Parliament [Draft]
Housing (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3
Meeting date: 23 September 2025
Graham Simpson
Edward Mountain said that he is looking forward to getting an explanation of amendment 151. It states that ministers must, by regulation, make provisions that require councils to publish data on rent. Amendment 263 is a linked amendment. Data is a good thing.
However, when I lodged those amendments—first, in response to Meghan Gallagher—I had not been invited to the round table that she was invited to—which, I understand, did not actually take place, due to a lack of interest. I also had not had sight of the cabinet secretary’s letter on data; I saw that only after I had lodged my amendment 151. Had that letter been sent to me, I would not have lodged the amendment. I will not be moving it, because I have subsequently seen that letter and I am reassured by it.
On Emma Roddick’s amendment 149, I am persuaded. Ms Roddick often manages to persuade me on things, and she has done so today.
Meeting of the Parliament [Draft]
Housing (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3
Meeting date: 23 September 2025
Graham Simpson
I have just one amendment in the group, which is amendment 239. At the moment, councils do not have to factor in the needs of students when producing local housing strategies; they do not have to mention student housing at all, which is a rather bizarre situation. At stage 2, I proposed that we rectify that, but I agreed to hold off from pressing an amendment, as the cabinet secretary at the time said that she would work with me on the issue. I have discussed it with the current cabinet secretary, and she sympathises, but that has not translated into out-and-out support. She sympathises with a number of my other amendments but cannot quite bring herself to back them. The amendment is an easy fix that would mean that councils could not overlook the needs of students when writing their housing strategies. I intend to press it.
As we have heard, Pam Duncan-Glancy’s amendment 370 builds on that, with a call for guidance on the strategies. She has my support on that, as she often does, and I will also support her other amendments in the group.
I turn to some of the other amendments in the group. Maggie Chapman raised the issue of deposits for foreign students and called for a review, which does not seem unreasonable. We debated the issue at some length at stage 2, and it definitely needs to be tackled.
Maggie Chapman also calls for the Scottish Government to set up a guarantor scheme. I wonder about the cost of that. I sympathised with the proposal, but one of the advantages of being in my current position is that I can change my mind during debates, as I have done already, so I will probably not support that proposal.
I was struck by the comments of Edward Mountain, who also raised the issue of guarantors and has proposed a scheme in which landlords could increase the level of deposit. That seems to me to be a neat solution that should not be dismissed out of hand, so I will support it, too.
Meeting of the Parliament [Draft]
Housing (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3
Meeting date: 23 September 2025
Graham Simpson
I have just one question. I was not sure about the amendment before, but I am quite taken by it now—as I said, I can change my mind. Has Emma Roddick liaised with the Scottish Association of Landlords on the amendment? What is its view?
Public Audit Committee
Cairngorm Funicular Railway
Meeting date: 17 September 2025
Graham Simpson
Perhaps there will be another committee visit. I will certainly sign up for that.
I need to ask about the finances. Has the funicular ever made money? Has it ever made a profit, or has it always operated at a loss?
Public Audit Committee
Cairngorm Funicular Railway
Meeting date: 17 September 2025
Graham Simpson
My final question is about the restaurant. I presume that it is not open if the funicular is not open, which must have caused real issues with that side of the business. Do you deal with that separately? How has it done over the years and how is it doing now?
Public Audit Committee
“Flooding in communities: Moving towards flood resilience”
Meeting date: 17 September 2025
Graham Simpson
The costs have spiralled because it is taking so long to start the work, and things tend to cost more the longer you wait—and we have been waiting quite a long time for the scheme.
I raised the issue because it is such a major scheme that I think it is of national significance—I do not mean only for Scotland; it is of significance UK wide. It is my view that, due to its significance, including for the economy of Scotland, we could involve the UK Government. The scheme shows the complexities of flood protection and the challenges for Government at all levels.
Public Audit Committee
Cairngorm Funicular Railway
Meeting date: 17 September 2025
Graham Simpson
How long would the track be, and where would it be? Would it be accessed from the top of the mountain?
Public Audit Committee
Cairngorm Funicular Railway
Meeting date: 17 September 2025
Graham Simpson
The facility is open at the moment; there are some planned closures, but it is running. Is it making a profit now?
Public Audit Committee
Cairngorm Funicular Railway
Meeting date: 17 September 2025
Graham Simpson
It sounds like it. Apart from the issues to do with snow, what main factors have contributed to the cost overruns?
