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 14171 contributions
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Meeting of the Parliament
Asylum Policy and Legislation (United Kingdom Government)
Meeting date: 10 January 2024
Alison Johnstone
We move to winding-up speeches.
16:29Meeting of the Parliament
Parliamentary Bureau Motions
Meeting date: 10 January 2024
Alison Johnstone
The next item of business is consideration of three Parliamentary Bureau motions. I ask George Adam, on behalf of the Parliamentary Bureau, to move motion S6M-11822, on approval of a Scottish statutory instrument, motion S6M-11823, on designation of a lead committee, and motion S6M-11824, on committee meeting times.
Motions moved,
That the Parliament agrees that the Wine (Miscellaneous Amendment) (Scotland) Regulations 2024 [draft] be approved.
That the Parliament agrees that the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee be designated as the lead committee in consideration of the legislative consent memorandum on the Automated Vehicles Bill.
That the Parliament agrees that, under Rule 12.3.3B of Standing Orders, the Finance and Public Administration Committee can meet, if necessary, at the same time as a meeting of the Parliament between 11.40 am and 12 noon on Thursday 18 January 2024.—[George Adam]
Meeting of the Parliament
Decision Time
Meeting date: 10 January 2024
Alison Johnstone
We move to the division on amendment S6M-11803.1, in the name of Miles Briggs, which seeks to amend motion S6M-11803, in the name of Emma Roddick. Members should cast their votes now.
The vote is closed.
Meeting of the Parliament
Decision Time
Meeting date: 10 January 2024
Alison Johnstone
I propose to ask a single question on the three Parliamentary Bureau motions. Does any member object?
As no member objects, the final question is that motion S6M-11822, on approval of a Scottish statutory instrument, motion S6M-11823, on the designation of a lead committee, and motion S6M-11824, on a committee meeting time, all in the name of George Adam, on behalf of the Parliamentary Bureau, be agreed to.
Motions agreed to,
That the Parliament agrees that the Wine (Miscellaneous Amendment) (Scotland) Regulations 2024 [draft] be approved.
That the Parliament agrees that the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee be designated as the lead committee in consideration of the legislative consent memorandum on the Automated Vehicles Bill.
That the Parliament agrees that, under Rule 12.3.3B of Standing Orders, the Finance and Public Administration Committee can meet, if necessary, at the same time as a meeting of the Parliament between 11.40 am and 12 noon on Thursday 18 January 2024.
Meeting of the Parliament
Decision Time
Meeting date: 10 January 2024
Alison Johnstone
The result of the division is: For 89, Against 30, Abstentions 0.
Motion agreed to,
That the Parliament recognises the impact of UK Government asylum policy and legislation in Scotland, including the effect of the complex asylum system on people who have applied for protection, restrictions on the right to work and limited support available to people awaiting a decision, the increased reliance on contingency asylum accommodation caused by a backlog in Home Office decision-making, risks of maximisation policy and inadequate engagement with Scottish local authorities or public services prior to procurement of contingency accommodation, the streamlined asylum process and limited move-on period allowed once a decision has been made, and consequent impact on both newly-recognised refugees and local authorities, and the restricting of the right to seek asylum in the UK under the Illegal Migration Act 2023; is opposed to the UK Government’s pursuit of plans to relocate people to third countries to have asylum claims considered there; recognises the ruling of the Supreme Court in relation to the safety of Rwanda, and acknowledges the comments of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) that the Migration and Economic Development Partnership (MEDP) between the UK and Rwanda undermines the established international refugee protection system and that the UNHCR does not consider the MEDP to comply with the UK’s obligations under international law; notes the engagement of Scottish local authorities in asylum dispersal, and agrees that the UK Government needs to engage positively with devolved governments, local authorities and public services across asylum matters to reduce negative impacts on people, communities and services.
Meeting of the Parliament
Urgent Question
Meeting date: 9 January 2024
Alison Johnstone
I regret that I am unable to take further questions from members as we must protect time for forthcoming items.
Meeting of the Parliament
Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee Report: “How Devolution is Changing Post-EU”
Meeting date: 9 January 2024
Alison Johnstone
The next item of business is a debate on motion S6M-11698, in the name of Clare Adamson, on behalf of the Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee, on “How Devolution is Changing Post-EU”. I would be grateful if members who wish to speak in the debate were to press their request-to-speak buttons. I call Clare Adamson to speak on behalf of the committee.
14:39Meeting of the Parliament
Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee Report: “How Devolution is Changing Post-EU”
Meeting date: 9 January 2024
Alison Johnstone
I call Angus Robertson. You have up to 11 minutes, cabinet secretary.
14:51Meeting of the Parliament
Decision Time
Meeting date: 9 January 2024
Alison Johnstone
There is one question to be put as a result of today’s business. The question is, that motion S6M-11698, in the name of Clare Adamson, on behalf of the Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee, on its report “How Devolution is Changing Post-EU”, be agreed to.
Motion agreed to,
That the Parliament notes the conclusions and recommendations contained in the Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee’s 5th Report, 2023 (Session 6): How Devolution is Changing Post-EU (SP Paper 453).
Meeting of the Parliament
Time for Reflection
Meeting date: 9 January 2024
Alison Johnstone
Good afternoon. The first item of business this afternoon is time for reflection, and our leader today is Professor Bob Akroyd, moderator of the general assembly of the Free Church of Scotland.
