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 825 contributions
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Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee
National Care Service (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
Meeting date: 10 January 2023
Oliver Mundell
I have a specific point for the minister. Is it possible for Parliament to amend Government regulations?
Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee
National Care Service (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
Meeting date: 10 January 2023
Oliver Mundell
You have deliberately limited the scope of the bill by using this method. Members will have limited opportunities to amend the legislation when it comes to the detail, because you have put it all to one side for later. That is not proper parliamentary process and it does not allow the Parliament to do its job of holding you to account properly, which creates a real risk and danger for people who will rely on the legislation.
I do not think that we can say that the Parliament or the Government has a very good record when it comes to delivering for many of the people who will be impacted by the legislation. It seems wrong that you are asking us to put so much confidence and trust in a process that means that there will be no scrutiny. Even if people disagree with what you are doing, you will be able to go ahead anyway. The Parliament will not be allowed to do its job. I do not see how you, as a member of the Parliament and a minister in the Government, can think that that will lead to effective co-design or robust legislation. It is just wrong.
Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee
National Care Service (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
Meeting date: 10 January 2023
Oliver Mundell
It could be a promotion.
Meeting of the Parliament
Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3
Meeting date: 21 December 2022
Oliver Mundell
On a point of order, Presiding Officer. I seek your clarification, under rule 2.2 of the standing orders, about the basis on which we continue to sit. The last business motion that we passed was motion S6M-07320, which advised that decision time would be at 6.30 pm today. Clearly, the bureau has met and made a decision to change that, but it is not clear why a business motion has not been brought to the Parliament as a whole.
Some members have already expressed concerns about the change to decision time. Others have expressed concerns about the fact that portfolio question time will not take place. Surely, if a decision has been taken by the bureau, it would be reasonable for such a decision to be put before the whole Parliament, so that we can properly revise the business motion.
20:45Meeting of the Parliament
Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3
Meeting date: 20 December 2022
Oliver Mundell
On a point of order, Presiding Officer. I seek your guidance. Where members do not move amendments at stage 3, am I right in thinking that it is open to other members to move them to a vote?
Meeting of the Parliament
Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3
Meeting date: 20 December 2022
Oliver Mundell
Yes.
Amendment 93 moved—[Oliver Mundell].
Meeting of the Parliament
Motion without Notice
Meeting date: 20 December 2022
Oliver Mundell
On a point of order, Presiding Officer. In the light of the vote that has just taken place on motion S6M-07325, I am keen to understand, under rule 7.2 of the standing orders, how you plan to call members to speak to the amendments that are lodged in the business that we will shortly move to.
Meeting of the Parliament
Topical Question Time
Meeting date: 20 December 2022
Oliver Mundell
Rural schools have already seen whole subjects removed from the timetable. Surely the minister cannot be proud of the fact that, in parts of Scotland, people cannot take whole subject areas. That is not educational opportunities for all. How can it be right that my Dumfriesshire constituents, in the likes of Moffat academy, have fewer opportunities today than I had when I was at school? The minister cannot be proud of that.
Meeting of the Parliament
Motion without Notice
Meeting date: 20 December 2022
Oliver Mundell
On a point of order, Presiding Officer. Under rule 7.2 of the standing orders, given the circumstances and the seriousness of the bill under consideration, it would be useful for Parliament as a whole—and certainly for me as a member—to understand your expectation of how members will be able to participate in the business. I seek your guidance on how you plan to select speakers on this occasion.
Meeting of the Parliament
Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3
Meeting date: 20 December 2022
Oliver Mundell
On a point of order, Presiding Officer. I seek clarification on the role of the Presiding Officer in selecting stage 3 amendments and on the role that the Presiding Officer and Parliament play in ensuring that the amendments that come before us are ECHR compliant.
