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 ˿ and committees will automatically update to show only the ˿ and committees which were current during that session. For example, if you select Session 1 you will be show a list of ˿ and committees from Session 1.
If you add a custom date range which crosses more than one session of Parliament, the lists of ˿ 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 2049 contributions
Social Justice and Social Security Committee
Meeting date: 9 November 2023
Bob Doris
I am keen to say yes, but I know that time is probably against us, so we would really appreciate it if you could follow that up in writing. I say to any Fire Brigades Union colleagues who are watching that that is due to time constraints. We are keen to hear what Dr Rushton has to say about firefighters, but we would appreciate it if she could provide that in writing. I suspect that the convener will have my guts for garters if we do not move on.
Social Justice and Social Security Committee
Meeting date: 9 November 2023
Bob Doris
Will we get a case study within the guidance? Guidance can be dry and dusty, so I think that social work professionals would like to see a case study of a situation such as the one that I outlined to you that shows them—perhaps more eloquently than I did—what they should be doing rather than what they perhaps are doing. When finances underpin what is done and there is a budgetary impact on a local authority, we have to ensure that there is best practice and not budgetary practice, if I can put it—delicately—like that.
Social Justice and Social Security Committee
Meeting date: 9 November 2023
Bob Doris
I am sure that the Notre Dame Centre would love to see you if your busy diary ever permits you to go along, minister. I would love to take you to show you what excellent work it does.
I will move on to my substantive question, which was going to be about the progress that the collaborative has made in recent months. However, I have a specific question on the progress that still needs to be made.
I had written down that there is a guidance rewrite group and that a national kinship assessment framework is being developed to get national consistency. I do not have an active case at the moment, but over the years, one of the issues with consistency has related to kinship care and bereavement.
I explain that as what happens when there is a gran or an auntie at hospital when a loved one passes away and the kids are in very vulnerable circumstances. Often, gran steps in and says, “I’ll take those kids home.” If gran does not do that, social work services will say to gran, “Would you please look after these young people? They are very vulnerable.” The outcome is the same; it was always going to happen. However, one situation would be deemed to be an informal volunteer-led relationship between the children and the local authority, and the other would be the local authority placing the child with the kinship relative.
09:45I understand that some local authorities show good flexibility in acknowledging that the formal placement would have happened anyway, but others do not. The approach is inconsistent. That matter has been raised with me over many years.
In relation to the work of the collaborative, the guidance rewrite group, the national kinship assessment framework and, indeed, access to the Scottish recommended allowance, can the minister give me an assurance that such situations are being taken into account and that guidance and best practice will be rolled out, putting the onus on local authorities to do the right thing by kinship carers in bereavement situations?
Social Justice and Social Security Committee
Meeting date: 26 October 2023
Bob Doris
Cabinet secretary, I have found these exchanges very helpful. The focus has been on what supports are available for applicants, but there are issues that have, as you said, been addressed and there have been improvements.
Quite rightly, that can be compared with what happens in the DWP and across the rest of the UK. In this committee, we should consistently draw comparisons between Scotland and the rest of the UK, because we want our system to be as modern, progressive, dignified and effective as possible. It is absolutely right that we undertake that type of scrutiny.
With that in mind, will you tell us how young people who get child disability payment are being supported with their applications for adult disability payment? In addition, can you contrast the experience of young people in Scotland, under our system, with what it would be if they lived elsewhere in the UK?
Social Justice and Social Security Committee
Meeting date: 26 October 2023
Bob Doris
That is very helpful. The support in filling out application forms is not currently available in the UK system. Is there an advocacy service or a signposting mechanism in the UK system? I ask that question in order to draw out the contrasts but also to check whether, if those things exist in the UK system, we could use them as benchmarks by which we can check whether the quality of our service is as it should be.
Social Justice and Social Security Committee
Meeting date: 5 October 2023
Bob Doris
I have a question for Graham O’Neill. What elements of the budget are most important for supporting refugees and asylum seekers? You have very powerfully put on record your thoughts on housing issues, so could you restrain yourself and not go down that road, because we know and are clear about that bit? What other aspects of the budget make an impact? What areas would you like to see more money spent on, despite my asking where the money would come from? I get all that.
Because of time constraints, I might not get back in, convener. I am conscious that the Illegal Migration Act 2023 constrains spend in the area, because it ends Scottish Government powers to support survivors of trafficking in Scotland. For instance, when I look at the budget for the three years from 2022 to 2025, I see that the Trafficking Awareness Raising Alliance—TARA—and Migrant Help are scheduled to get £6.35 million between them. That might be ultra vires for the Scottish Government to fund because of the 2023 act. As deputy chair of the cross-party group on migration, it would be remiss of me not to mention that during budget scrutiny. What areas of spend have had an impact, where would you like to see more money spent and do you have any comments on the restrictions on the Scottish Government?
Social Justice and Social Security Committee
Meeting date: 5 October 2023
Bob Doris
Mr Scott, you have made your case for £20 million for the winter heating payment. Alternatively, £40 million would be fantastic, as would £60 million. That is not the point that I am making. You have absolutely made your case. However, I ask you to be laser-like in saying what your priorities are, because we, as a committee, also have to decide on those.
Social Justice and Social Security Committee
Meeting date: 5 October 2023
Bob Doris
Taking the money from where?
Social Justice and Social Security Committee
Meeting date: 5 October 2023
Bob Doris
I am only cutting you off because I know that the convener needs to move on. I am trying to elicit from you whether we should maintain the current budget lines and use that money to continue to help that group, irrespective of the terms of the Illegal Migration Act 2023.
10:00Social Justice and Social Security Committee
Meeting date: 5 October 2023
Bob Doris
I will not come back in, convener, but Mr Scott will appreciate why I have to ask such a question, given that we are doing budget scrutiny.