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 1169 contributions
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Finance and Public Administration Committee
Subordinate legislation
Meeting date: 17 January 2023
Tom Arthur
We recognise that second and holiday homes can play an important part in local economies, but we also recognise that they can present many challenges as well, particularly around population retention and affordability. That is why we have taken this approach and why, through the joint working group that is looking at the resourcing of local government, including in relation to council tax, which was established following the Bute house agreement, we are, in conjunction with COSLA, looking at measures that can enhance local authorities’ ability to respond to such issues, including, for example, through the additional council tax supplement for second homes.
Finance and Public Administration Committee
Subordinate legislation
Meeting date: 17 January 2023
Tom Arthur
Your point about the concerns is well made, and I know that those concerns are shared by many people, notwithstanding the positive impacts that holiday lets can have. There is clearly a risk that, if critical mass is reached, it can undermine the density of population that is required to sustain a community.
One of the issues that were much explored during the passage of NPF4 was the applicability of local living and 20-minute neighbourhoods in a rural context. That presents challenges and requires a bespoke response, but those challenges are exacerbated in a situation in which there are vacant properties.
The points are well made and, although it is not a solution in itself, tax policy, whether it be through LBTT or enhancing the powers that are available to local government through council tax, is important in addressing that.
10:15Finance and Public Administration Committee
Subordinate legislation
Meeting date: 17 January 2023
Tom Arthur
As the convener and the committee will be aware, we are in the process of carrying out a review of the ADS and will have more to say about it relatively soon. We are carefully considering the consultation responses, and I will have more to say on that specific issue in due course. I am not currently in a position to go into any further detail on what the outcome of the review will be, but that issue has been considered as part of the review.
Finance and Public Administration Committee
Subordinate legislation
Meeting date: 17 January 2023
Tom Arthur
We gave that careful consideration as part of a broad review of the ADS that we did last year. It is a complex area, and it is important to get the balance right, but in the near future I intend to bring forward regulations for consultation. Those will respond to a number of the areas that have been raised as part of the review process. It will be a matter for the committee to consider, and I am happy to give further evidence when we are in the position to publish our intentions. We have not finalised our decisions, so I do not want to speculate about what our response will be to the review. However, I assure the committee that we will bring forward those measures quite soon.
Finance and Public Administration Committee
Subordinate legislation
Meeting date: 17 January 2023
Tom Arthur
What you have referred to would be specific to the ADS. For home buyers, the threshold is £145,000 and £175,000 for first-time buyers. It is important to take into account the distinction between property prices in Scotland and England, too: as of last October, the average property price in Scotland was, I think, around £195,000, whereas it is £316,000 in England.
Finance and Public Administration Committee
Subordinate legislation
Meeting date: 17 January 2023
Tom Arthur
I would also make the point that our devolved system of LBTT has been in place for some time. Following the pandemic, we have seen significant resilience and recovery in the housing market. I appreciate that, as we move into this year, the combination of the economic headwinds that we face in the wake of rising interest rates and the impact of the mini-budget, which has led to the withdrawal of mortgage products, will have an impact.
Looking at the revenue that we are raising, LBTT is a strongly performing tax and it is forecast to provide a net gain, once the BGA is factored in. The decisions that we take are balanced. We make them to support first-time buyers and to raise revenue, and that is what they are doing.
09:45Finance and Public Administration Committee
Subordinate legislation
Meeting date: 17 January 2023
Tom Arthur
We are consistent. The policy supports our broader policy on housing in “Housing to 2040”. That is Government policy that is already set out. All our decisions on tax are taken with regard to the wider considerations around Government policy. The approach is consistent and in line with our broader strategic objectives.
With regard to support for the PRS, I ask Ewan Cameron-Nielsen to come in on the exemption for six or more purchases.
Finance and Public Administration Committee
Subordinate legislation
Meeting date: 17 January 2023
Tom Arthur
Yes. The policy intent is to support first-time buyers. The example that you gave illustrates the impact that the change would have. Somebody who was buying a second property as buy to let at, to use the example that you gave, £100,000 would be liable for the ADS whereas a first-time buyer or a home mover who is not eligible for the ADS would not be required to pay any LBTT because they are under the threshold. As I said, for first-time buyers, it is up to £175,000.
Finance and Public Administration Committee
Subordinate legislation
Meeting date: 17 January 2023
Tom Arthur
We consider our policy decisions in the round. There are several factors that determine the supply and availability of housing. To suggest that the sole factor will be the ADS is simply not credible.
Finance and Public Administration Committee
Subordinate legislation
Meeting date: 17 January 2023
Tom Arthur
I am not familiar that the statement that the university issued or the broader context, so I cannot comment on that. However, we are talking about a transactional tax that does not impact on existing properties; it is about future acquisitions. Furthermore, as Ewen Cameron-Nielsen set out earlier, there are provisions in place to support the private rented sector when six or more properties are acquired in a single transaction.
