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 (Hybrid)
Brexit (Skills Impact)
Meeting date: 16 June 2021
Alison Johnstone
The member should wind up.
Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid)
Business Motions
Meeting date: 16 June 2021
Alison Johnstone
The next item of business is consideration of business motion S6M-00396, in the name of George Adam, on behalf of the Parliamentary Bureau, setting out a business programme.
Motion moved,
That the Parliament agrees—
(a) the following programme of business—
Tuesday 22 June 2021
2.00 pm Time for Reflection
followed by Parliamentary Bureau Motions
followed by Topical Questions (if selected)
followed by First Minister’s Statement: COVID-19 Update
followed by Ministerial Statement: OECD Report on Curriculum for Excellence
followed by Stage 1 Debate: Coronavirus (Extension and Expiry) (Scotland) Bill
followed by Financial Resolution: Coronavirus (Extension and Expiry) (Scotland) Bill
followed by Committee Announcements
followed by Business Motions
followed by Parliamentary Bureau Motions
6.30 pm Decision Time
followed by Members’ Business
Wednesday 23 June 2021
2.00 pm Parliamentary Bureau Motions
2.00 pm Portfolio Questions:
Finance and Economy;
Education and Skills
followed by Ministerial Statement: Tackling Child Poverty Progress Report
followed by Stage 2 Debate: Coronavirus Extension and Expiry (Scotland) Bill
followed by Business Motions
followed by Parliamentary Bureau Motions
followed by Approval of SSIs (if required)
6.30 pm Decision Time
followed by Members’ Business
Thursday 24 June 2021
12.00 pm Parliamentary Bureau Motions
12.00 pm First Minister's Questions
2.30 pm Parliamentary Bureau Motions
2.30 pm Stage 3 Proceedings: Coronavirus (Extension and Expiry) (Scotland) Bill
followed by Business Motions
followed by Parliamentary Bureau Motions
6.30 pm Decision Time
Tuesday 31 August 2021
2.00 pm Time for Reflection
followed by Parliamentary Bureau Motions
followed by Topical Questions (if selected)
followed by Scottish Government Business
followed by Committee Announcements
followed by Business Motions
followed by Parliamentary Bureau Motions
5.00 pm Decision Time
followed by Members’ Business
Wednesday 1 September 2021
2.00 pm Parliamentary Bureau Motions
2.00 pm Portfolio Questions
followed by Scottish Government Business
followed by Business Motions
followed by Parliamentary Bureau Motions
followed by Approval of SSIs (if required)
5.00 pm Decision Time
followed by Members’ Business
Thursday 2 September 2021
12.00 pm Parliamentary Bureau Motions
12.00 pm First Minister’s Questions
followed by Members’ Business
2.30 pm Parliamentary Bureau Motions
2.30 pm Portfolio Questions:
Health and Social Care
followed by Scottish Government Business
followed by Business Motions
followed by Parliamentary Bureau Motions
5.00 pm Decision Time
(b) that, for the purposes of Portfolio Questions in the week beginning 30 August, in rule 13.7.3, after the word “except” the words “to the extent to which the Presiding Officer considers that the questions are on the same or similar subject matter or” are inserted.—[George Adam]
Motion agreed to.
Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid)
Business Motions
Meeting date: 16 June 2021
Alison Johnstone
The next item of business is consideration of business motion S6M-00411, in the name of George Adam, on behalf of the Parliamentary Bureau, setting out changes to tomorrow’s business.
Motion moved,
—That the Parliament agrees to the following revisions to the programme of business
for Thursday 17 June 2021—
after
followed by Ministerial Statement: Provisional Outturn 2020-21
insert
followed by Scottish Government Debate: Appointment of Law Officers
delete
5.00 pm Decision Time
and insert
5.30 pm Decision Time—[George Adam.]
Motion agreed to.
Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid)
Decision Time
Meeting date: 16 June 2021
Alison Johnstone
The result of the division on motion S6M-00382, in the name of Richard Lochhead, on mitigating, tackling and responding to the skills impact of Brexit, as amended, is: For 91, Against 29, Abstentions 1.
Motion, as amended, agreed to,
That the Parliament agrees that a skilled and productive workforce is vital to addressing labour market inequalities, creating fairer workplaces and delivering an inclusive, green recovery; recognises that employers in sectors disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic are now reporting skills shortages as a result of the ending of free movement, and that colleges and universities share concern over the impact of Brexit on staff and student mobility; agrees that delivering a skilled and sustainable workforce will require action and collaboration from both the Scottish and UK governments, along with employers and key partners; welcomes the Scottish Government’s continued commitment to upskilling and retraining, including through the extension of the National Transition Training Fund to 2021-22 and commitment to invest an additional £500 million over the current parliamentary session to support new jobs and reskill people for the future; notes the disappointingly low uptake of the National Transition Training Fund to date and believes that upskilling and reskilling Scotland will require more ambitious interventions; acknowledges that the Scottish Government must do more to enhance the standard of living in Scotland, work with the UK Government to support flexible visa schemes and build on previous initiatives, such as ‘Fresh Talent’, in order to effectively address the skills shortages within key sectors of the economy and make Scotland an attractive location to live, work, study and do business; recognises the need for an effective industrial strategy, and calls on the Scottish Government to develop such a strategy to prevent the loss of skilled jobs, promote upskilling in the workplace and promote the extension of trade union recognition to prevent exploitation of migrant labour and secure future fiscal sustainability.
Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid)
Decision Time
Meeting date: 16 June 2021
Alison Johnstone
The third question is, that motion S6M-00382, in the name of Richard Lochhead, on mitigating, tackling and responding to the skills impact of Brexit, as amended, be agreed to. Are we agreed?
Members: No.
Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid)
Brexit (Skills Impact)
Meeting date: 16 June 2021
Alison Johnstone
Please do finish.
Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid)
Brexit (Skills Impact)
Meeting date: 16 June 2021
Alison Johnstone
We move to the closing speeches.
17:04Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid)
Brexit (Skills Impact)
Meeting date: 16 June 2021
Alison Johnstone
I am aware of that occurrence. I will certainly consider your comments and the context in which the member participated.
16:46Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid)
Brexit (Skills Impact)
Meeting date: 16 June 2021
Alison Johnstone
Please wind up, Mr Rowley.
Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid)
Time for Reflection
Meeting date: 15 June 2021
Alison Johnstone
Good afternoon. I remind members that social distancing measures are in place in the chamber and across the Holyrood campus. I ask members to take care to observe those measures, including when entering and exiting the chamber. Please use the aisles and walkways only to access your seats and when moving around the chamber.
The first item of business is time for reflection. Our time for reflection leader today is the Rev Andy Philip, chaplain, St Mary’s Episcopal cathedral, Edinburgh.
