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 łÉČËżěĘÖ and committees will automatically update to show only the łÉČËżěĘÖ and committees which were current during that session. For example, if you select Session 1 you will be show a list of łÉČËżěĘÖ and committees from Session 1.
If you add a custom date range which crosses more than one session of Parliament, the lists of łÉČËżěĘÖ 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 1744 contributions
|
Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee
Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill: Stage 2
Meeting date: 15 November 2022
Martin Whitfield
It is always a pleasure to follow Christine Grahame, even when she seeks to insult my poor amendment.
I intend to speak to amendments 124 and 120. As amendment 120 is a technical amendment that allows amendment 124 to fit in, I will deal first with the purposes behind them.
The registrar general will have an important role in the process, if it moves forward. The purpose behind my amendments is to draw out the fact—and I seek the view of the cabinet secretary on this—that our young people who are 16 and 17 already have substantial protections around them. It is a transitional period between childhood and adulthood, in which we seek to allow our young people as much freedom as possible, while still providing a scaffolding of support, should things go wrong or should decisions be contrary, perhaps, to an individual’s interests.
In answer to Christine Grahame, I picked the registrar general on whom to place the obligation to ensure that there is some protection, because their office is already under a statutory requirement to undertake assessments of people who present themselves as a result of a variety of legislation. They are therefore well capable of making such decisions.
The protections that are extended in this case are really very narrow. The first two, which are contained in proposed new subsection (2B)(a) in amendment 124, deal with the effect of obtaining the certificate and the importance of a statutory declaration. Anyone who undertakes to hear a statutory declaration needs to assure themselves that there is an understanding of the significance and importance of that document. The reference in the amendment to
“the effect of obtaining the certificate”
is to allow the registrar to ask those questions to satisfy themselves that the person fully understands the consequences of having a GRC.
Proposed new subsection (2B)(b) in amendment 124 is very important, as it ensures that the application has not been made “under coercion”. That sort of provision is echoed in a number of other situations; there is, for example, a requirement on a person registering a marriage to ensure that no coercion has taken place.
As for the point that has been made about the use of the word “capacity”, I would point out that it has a strict legal definition, and it defines the position of a young person in making such a significant decision about these matters.
Both amendments, particularly amendment 124, seek to remind the registrar general of their existing legal obligations and to allow them, in certain situations, to avail themselves of the ability to say “No”—on the assumption, of course, that the decision would always be “Yes.”
I am happy to leave it there, convener, unless I can give any further guidance.
Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee
Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill: Stage 2
Meeting date: 15 November 2022
Martin Whitfield
Given the indication from the Government, I will not move amendment 120 at this stage.
Amendment 120 not moved.
Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee
Decision on Taking Business in Private
Meeting date: 27 October 2022
Martin Whitfield
Good morning, and welcome to the 20th meeting in 2022 of the Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee.
Our first agenda item is a decision on whether to take business in private. Does the committee agree to take in private item 2 and future consideration of correspondence received from the acting Commissioner for Ethical Standards in Public Life in Scotland, future consideration of correspondence received in relation to complaints procedures, and future consideration of the legislative consent procedure? I am happy to rephrase that, to turn it into English—or are we happy to take those items in private?
Members indicated agreement.
Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee
Decision on Taking Business in Private
Meeting date: 27 October 2022
Martin Whitfield
I am grateful for that.
10:00 Meeting continued in private until 10:37.Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee
Cross-Party Group
Meeting date: 6 October 2022
Martin Whitfield
For our second agenda item, I welcome representatives of a proposed cross-party group on the Scots language. Good morning to Jackie Dunbar and to Emma Harper, who join us at the far end of the table. I will hand over to them to give us a short introduction on the proposed CPG.
Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee
Cross-Party Group
Meeting date: 6 October 2022
Martin Whitfield
Excellent. The clerks will pass that information on in due course.
09:50 Meeting continued in private until 10:43.Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee
Cross-Party Group
Meeting date: 6 October 2022
Martin Whitfield
As convener, I always get to ask one exciting question. From the evidence that we have heard today, you are using Scots as a collective description for several minority—perhaps unfairly so—languages in Scotland. Am I right in thinking that you are looking at the scope of minority languages covered by the term “Scots”? I love the fact that groups such as the Doric Society have signed up. I am just looking for clarification that it is about not just what we, in the south of Scotland, would call our lowland Scots, but is about Scots in the proper, collective definition.
Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee
Cross-Party Group
Meeting date: 6 October 2022
Martin Whitfield
Welcome and important.
Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee
Cross-Party Group
Meeting date: 6 October 2022
Martin Whitfield
Absolutely.
Do members agree to accord recognition to the proposed CPG?
Members indicated agreement.
Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee
Decision on Taking Business in Private
Meeting date: 6 October 2022
Martin Whitfield
Good morning. I welcome everyone to the 19th meeting of the Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee in 2022. Our first agenda item is a decision on whether to take items 4 and 5 in private. Do committee members agree to that?
Members indicated agreement.
