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 5980 contributions
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Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee
Future Parliamentary Procedures and Practices
Meeting date: 21 April 2022
Edward Mountain
I would say, having done it for a year, that it is not a second-class experience, but a fourth-class experience. I feel that I have not been given the chance to get into Parliament as much as I would have liked to talk in the chamber. There are no interventions and no chance of interventions, there are no interactions with other members and you cannot see anyone. I see a clock and my face on the screen. There are so many things wrong with hybrid that this Parliament would, I think, lose from it.
My next question is to both of you. I think that you are both saying that the hybrid system works for committees but that it might not work for plenary meetings. What pressure does the hybrid system put on the rest of Parliament when members are not there and cannot ask questions in the chamber but must put written questions to the Government? Does the hybrid system put pressure on the Parliament outwith the chamber and the committees? Sarah Childs is on the screen, so it is probably easier if she leads.
Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee
Future Parliamentary Procedures and Practices
Meeting date: 21 April 2022
Edward Mountain
I say at the outset that I have some sympathy with Andy Williamson about driving from Skye to Parliament in one day, which I have done on numerous occasions because my region includes it. It is quite a slog, especially if you are behind a timber lorry.
I think that Sarah Childs’s point about Government control of time is valid, but let us be clear: the Government controls the time because it controls the Parliamentary Bureau and it can say exactly how long each debate will be or whether there will be a ministerial statement. Members have no say in that. That is something that we ought to consider a little bit more. On Tuesday this week, the bureau met. A debate had been scheduled for Thursday, but it was pinged by the Government and changed unilaterally. I think that that it is disrespectful to the Parliament after its having programmed the debate two weeks previously.
My question is twofold. I take the point that Sarah Childs and Andy Williamson made about witnesses giving evidence at committees; I think that the hybrid system is really good for that. I want to ask about the chamber system. Do you both think that the chamber comes across in hybrid meetings as being open and transparent? Perhaps Sarah Childs would like to lead on that, then Andy Williamson can come in.
Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee
Future Parliamentary Procedures and Practices
Meeting date: 21 April 2022
Edward Mountain
I take your point on equity for members and ministers. The point that I was trying to make is that ministers and cabinet secretaries are adept at judging the number of questions that they will be asked, because the clerks will tell them when they have to start at the committee and usually when they will end, and they will take a long time to answer a specific question that they want to answer and try to talk the other questions out. I have seen it as a convener in the committee. At one stage, as convener, I had to cut off the microphone of one cabinet secretary who would not shut up, so that the other members of the committee could speak. That is the point that I was trying to make.
My second point is that I want to push back and understand slightly more about the party aspect of it. I will be clear that I am a deputy whip for my party, and it slightly concerns me that you think that it should not be the parties that control speaking slots, and I am interested to hear why. They do control speaking slots, because they are given a certain number of slots for every debate. How would we get round that to make sure that those people who are virtual all get equity? There is no doubt about it that, if you are virtual in the Scottish Parliament, you get to speak only when you have a speaking slot; you cannot intervene or do anything else. I know, convener, that you say that that will happen, but I will believe it when I see it. I would like Meg Russell’s views on that, please.
Rural Affairs, Islands and Natural Environment Committee
Draft Joint Fisheries Statement
Meeting date: 23 March 2022
Edward Mountain
Each of those industries contributes different amounts to Scotland, either financially or through, for example, supporting the local economy by encouraging people to live there. How will you balance out the economic benefits of each of those industries and not disadvantage the perhaps less economic activities of people such as, for example, creel fishers, who are also important to their local economy? I do not see how you will strike that balance. Do you think that you will be able to do so?
Rural Affairs, Islands and Natural Environment Committee
Draft Joint Fisheries Statement
Meeting date: 23 March 2022
Edward Mountain
On that, do we need greater regulation of inshore fisheries on the basis that we do not fully understand who is taking what, where, when, and how?
Rural Affairs, Islands and Natural Environment Committee
Draft Joint Fisheries Statement
Meeting date: 23 March 2022
Edward Mountain
It sounds like it all works very well and that you all work very well together. It sounds perfect.
Rural Affairs, Islands and Natural Environment Committee
Draft Joint Fisheries Statement
Meeting date: 23 March 2022
Edward Mountain
Helen, do you want to come in on that? I think that there has to be a space for nature in there somewhere, as well.
Rural Affairs, Islands and Natural Environment Committee
Draft Joint Fisheries Statement
Meeting date: 23 March 2022
Edward Mountain
I am sure that you do not always agree with what Allan Gibb says, but that is life.
Rural Affairs, Islands and Natural Environment Committee
Draft Joint Fisheries Statement
Meeting date: 23 March 2022
Edward Mountain
When the earlier panel of witnesses gave evidence to the committee, they said that there were some conflicts around where they could fish or carry out activities. I guess that we can all accept that there is a conflict around where certain activities can take place. We have to balance nature, renewables, aquaculture, fishing, and tourism, but I would not say that we have got it right at the moment. Will we be able to get that right? Will that come under the JFS, or is that something that you will come up with so that the JFS will be based on how we are going to use our coastline sustainably?
Rural Affairs, Islands and Natural Environment Committee
Draft Joint Fisheries Statement
Meeting date: 23 March 2022
Edward Mountain
When you are considering the issues, do you think that you will be able to think far enough forward? People who are involved in the aquaculture sector have said that it is no longer sustainable for their facilities to be as close to shore as they are at the moment, due to water temperatures and the problems with disease and lice, and they want them to be placed further offshore, which might bring them into conflict with wind turbines or wave energy facilities. How are you going to plan for the future so that the policies are flexible enough to cope with the demands of all the industries that Scotland wants to support?
