The What's New page brings together information from across the Parliament's website. This section explains how the filters work, where the information is drawn from, and how regularly it updates.

'Today' filter

When you use the 'Today' filter, you will see all the pages published on the current day as well as those from the previous day. 

For example, if you select 'Today' in the Official Reports section first thing in morning, then you’ll see everything published today and everything published from midnight the previous day. If you check the page later in the afternoon, it will show anything that has been over published over the course of the current day.

Parliamentary information is often published throughout the day, and users check for updates throughout the day, so we felt this was the most useful way of allowing users to keep track of recent publications. However, we’re keen to get feedback on whether the approach we’ve taken is meeting people’s needs so do let us know.   

'Last 7 Days' filter

When you use the 'Last 7 Days' filter, you will see all pages published from 7 days ago up until the current time. For example, if you select 'Last 7 Days' on the Official Reports section on the morning of 29 May, the page will show all reports published from midnight on 22 May until that time. 

For some categories of parliamentary business, we felt there was often too much information to make the 'Last 7 Days option helpful.  This applies to the Motions, Questions Asked, and Questions Answered sections. In these cases, the section only shows the 20 most recent items published and there is a link to the full list in the Votes and Motions or Questions and Answers pages.

Again, we'd be interested to hear users' views on how this works.

How the sections work

Questions asked
This section shows the most recent questions which have been lodged by MSPs. It uses the date the question was lodged.

Questions answered
This section shows the most recent answers to parliamentary questions which have been published. It uses the date the answer was given.

Votes
This section shows the results of the most recent votes in the Debating Chamber. It uses the date the vote took place.

Motions
This section shows the most recent Motions which have been submitted by MSPs. It uses the date the Motion was lodged.

Official Reports
This section shows the most recent Official Reports which have been published. It uses the date the Official Report was published, not the date of the meeting.

Bills
This section shows when a Bill has been introduced to Parliament, moved to a new stage, or been approved by Parliament. It also shows if a Bill has Fallen or been Withdrawn.

Committee reports
This section shows the most recent reports published by parliamentary committees. It uses the date of publication. 

Calls for views
This section shows the most calls for views (or consultations) which have been published. It uses the date that a call for views opened. 

Committee memberships
This section shows when MSPs have joined or left a Parliament committees. It uses the start or end date of their membership of a committee.

News releases
This section shows the most recent news releases published by the Parliament. It uses the date of publication.