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.
The web version of the Official Report has three different views:
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.
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.
There are two types of keyword search:
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.
It’s also possible to run basic Boolean searches. For example:
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:
If you search by an individual session, the list of ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ and committees will automatically update to show only the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ and committees which were current during that session. For example, if you select Session 1 you will be show a list of ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ and committees from Session 1.
If you add a custom date range which crosses more than one session of Parliament, the lists of ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ 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.
Displaying 867 contributions
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee
Meeting date: 14 March 2023
Lorna Slater
That would be required to extend the deadline. However, late applications are being accepted. That has not been a hard cut-off. Businesses can still apply, and they continue to do so.
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee
Meeting date: 14 March 2023
Lorna Slater
They need to register, but they can go through the process to get those labels. It was identified that redesigning packaging on the timescale given was a barrier to businesses, and Circularity Scotland came up with that really practical labelling solution so that that is no longer a barrier.
We are looking at what else we need to do with regard to the producers who have not signed up. Do they understand the package of measures that are on the table? I know that the committee took evidence from—
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee
Meeting date: 14 March 2023
Lorna Slater
That is how such schemes normally work. It is the case that return points need to take bottles back and store them until they are collected. I understand that, when a retailer registers to be a return point, it enters information on how many returns it expects to receive and how much storage space it has. That allows Biffa to put in its schedule how often materials need to be collected. That is normal for retailers. They will need to be able to store materials until they can be collected.
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee
Meeting date: 14 March 2023
Lorna Slater
When items are returned, they need to be stored until they can be collected. Businesses already have storage space for various recycling materials and packaging materials. What is proposed is very similar to that. It is up to each business to figure out how it can store the materials. Unless they are exempt, businesses have an obligation to be a return point if they sell the materials. Biffa and Circularity Scotland are very happy to work with businesses to find out how that will work for them.
There is no particular rule about how businesses must store the returns. They could adapt to store them behind the counter, and I have seen versions that involve having designated wheelie bins in a secure area. There is a variety of ways to adapt storage space, and businesses can make the right decisions for them.
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee
Meeting date: 14 March 2023
Lorna Slater
As far as I know, the exemption will last until a business wishes it to end. I am not aware of there being a certain timeframe, but I will be very happy to come back to the committee to provide clarity if that is not the case.
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee
Meeting date: 14 March 2023
Lorna Slater
No. They just need to then apply to be a return point operator. That is fine.
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee
Meeting date: 14 March 2023
Lorna Slater
Those exemptions were built into the regulations. That is not new; they were already in there. We streamlined the process to make it more straightforward for businesses to apply for exemption. We have brought in Zero Waste Scotland as our partner on that. There is no change to the regulations. We are just implementing them in what we hope is an easier and more practical way.
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee
Meeting date: 14 March 2023
Lorna Slater
I am not hearing strong calls for the system to be an opt-in system. The obligation remains for anyone who sells these materials to be a return point for them, unless they are exempt and have applied for an exemption.
We have made the exemption process as simple and as streamlined as we can. Now that businesses are starting to use that process—registration for return points is open—I am sure that they will give us feedback and we can continue to make the system simpler and more straightforward, although it is already fairly straightforward for businesses. They can say that they are exempt for health and safety reasons and they are not that comfortable with handling glass on their premises. They can apply for an exemption and that can be done in a straightforward way.
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee
Meeting date: 14 March 2023
Lorna Slater
That is correct.
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee
Meeting date: 14 March 2023
Lorna Slater
Can you repeat your second point?