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.
Filter your results Hide all filters
Displaying 1215 contributions
|
Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee
Moveable Transactions (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
Meeting date: 1 November 2022
Tom Arthur
The rules will be set out through regulations. I am interested to see what views the committee comes to in its stage 1 report. There will be consultation and engagement on the rules. It is clear that there is a lot of detail still to come on the operation of the registers, but we want the system to be as user friendly as possible and to command confidence at the same time as being robust. Hamish Goodall might want to add something on that.
Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee
Moveable Transactions (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
Meeting date: 1 November 2022
Tom Arthur
I am conscious of the concerns that have been raised by consumer advice and money advice stakeholders. I have studied carefully the evidence that was given to the committee at the start of October, and, as I said, I had a meeting with organisations that work in that area last week. I want to reflect carefully on those concerns, and I recognise that the committee will want to touch on other areas around the statutory pledge.
I also want to be clear at the outset that I will consider very carefully the committee’s stage 1 report, because I recognise that you have had to contend with evidence that, in some contexts, may be conflicting or may come from different perspectives. That includes some of the written evidence that you have received in recent days. I will want to fully reflect on that matter.
With regard to assignation in the context of consumer credit, Hamish may have up-to-date information.
Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee
Moveable Transactions (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
Meeting date: 1 November 2022
Tom Arthur
I will not be in a position to provide early sight of the regulations. We must recognise that it is a live bill and it will be for Parliament to determine its final shape, should Parliament be content to pass it. However, we will, of course, consult on the rule making for both of the registers and, given that it would be an exercise of delegated powers, I am happy to keep the committee informed as the consultation and engagement process develops.
Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee
Moveable Transactions (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
Meeting date: 1 November 2022
Tom Arthur
That speaks to the point about the principal actors who are going to utilise the bill and what their interests will be. Hamish Goodall expanded on the issue in some detail. Fundamentally, it will be in their interests for the approach to be self-regulating. However, as I have said, we have adopted a proportionate approach in which there is the flexibility to intervene if that is required at a later date.
Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee
Moveable Transactions (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
Meeting date: 1 November 2022
Tom Arthur
Yes. That is what I alluded to in my response to Mr Kidd. I recognise that that point has been raised in evidence to the committee. I come back to the point that the option would have to be considered in terms of affordability and cost, but, as I have said, I am happy to consider it and am keen to see the conclusions that the committee draws.
Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee
Moveable Transactions (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
Meeting date: 1 November 2022
Tom Arthur
I would be happy to reflect on that. As you highlighted in your question, there are two approaches: either we develop an automatic mechanism or we have periodic uprating that would be effected by statutory instrument. However, with regard to an automatic instrument there would be a wider range of considerations on matters such as its design and its reference to other statistics—for example, the RPI, which you mentioned. I would be happy to consider the matter in general and to come back to the committee on it in my response to its stage 1 report.
Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee
Moveable Transactions (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
Meeting date: 1 November 2022
Tom Arthur
I am giving active consideration to that, at the moment. I cannot yet offer you a model of what such a balance would look like—it is the subject of live discussion. I take your point about early start-ups, sole traders and microbusinesses, where the lines between individual use and business use of property can be vague and hard to define. From reflection on my own professional background in music before I entered politics—I am sure that the convener will empathise with this example—it is clear to me that a musical instrument can be for both personal and professional use. I am not saying that that is the best example. However, it is an area for consideration, particularly in respect of people who are establishing themselves in business. Reference was made to a vehicle that could be for both personal and business use. It can be hard to distinguish between the two.
I recognise the points that have been made by the FSB. We would not want there to be an unintended consequence whereby, in seeking to afford consumers greater protection, we disapplied the bill’s provisions to businesses—especially start-ups with a high concentration of moveables that they cannot use as collateral. We want to avoid that. That needs to be given careful consideration, so we are actively doing that.
Hamish Goodall might want to add to that, or Vuyi Stutley might want to come in with her reflections on those points.
Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee
Moveable Transactions (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
Meeting date: 1 November 2022
Tom Arthur
I am happy to look at the evidence that you received. The bill that we introduced reflects the recommendations of the SLC.
Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee
Moveable Transactions (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
Meeting date: 1 November 2022
Tom Arthur
Absolutely: I would be happy to do that.
Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee
Moveable Transactions (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
Meeting date: 1 November 2022
Tom Arthur
I would be happy to do so. I also make the point that the legal protections apply to the bill as drafted. I would be happy to discuss potential amendments and ways in which the bill could be changed. I am happy to keep the committee informed of any decisions that the Government makes ahead of stage 2 and about how any changes would relate to the broader protections that are available.
