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 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.
Displaying 899 contributions
Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee
Meeting date: 18 March 2025
Kaukab Stewart
I gave the bit about fostering good relations some thought and I listened to the views that were presented to the committee by other witnesses. I have a two-fold approach to fostering good relations. We want to make sure that we maintain and advance cohesive communities. That is essential. We also have to make sure that we always deal with conversations with communities in a compassionate way. The two-fold bit is that communities can come together and public organisations and bodies have a role to play there. Moving on from that, it is also about increasing understanding between different communities, and education is needed to make sure that we do that in a compassionate way that shows that building strong, cohesive communities is important.
12:15There was an example of that during the summer when there were the unfortunate situations in Southport. As a minister, my approach when tensions were heightened—it was led by the First Minister; there was leadership right from the top—was to bring together people with different views and experiences in order to communicate, to aid understanding and to provide clear expectations and leadership. You are right, in as much as the fostering of good relations does not get the profile that it deserves. It is quite hard to do that bit. Nick Bland may have more to say.
Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee
Meeting date: 18 March 2025
Kaukab Stewart
I totally understand the issue. The statistics are stark, which is why we are taking a lead on the matter and, as I said, my focus on those issues is relentless. As a minister, I am mindful that my duty is to serve all the protected characteristics. As a black and minority ethnic woman, I have extra knowledge of the matter, so I assure Pam Gosal that it is definitely in my mind to be aware of the intersectionalities.
However, the same principle—that we are not one thing—applies to all protected characteristics. One day, your colour might be the most important thing; on another day, your gender might be causing the barrier; on another day, it might be your socioeconomic background or communication skills. That is where mainstreaming comes in, to ensure that we are in fact cognisant of all those different strands.
I will bring in Nick Bland to speak about the regulation on pay gap reporting. Pay gap reform is quite complicated and it might be beneficial to hear a bit more about it.
Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee
Meeting date: 18 March 2025
Kaukab Stewart
I agree that there is a need to be clearer and to have a more integrated approach to embedding equality into the work of all public bodies. I am not going to sit here and say that everything is hunky-dory. There are people in our communities who still face inequalities, and it is incumbent on us all to recognise that.
I stress that we are aware of the issue and that we are working on it very actively. I assure the committee, and I hope that I can demonstrate to it, that we are using all the levers that we can, which are probably more limited than we would like them to be; however, that is the nature of what we are working within.
Taking that integrated approach to embedding equality is important, and it applies to the PSED more broadly as well. That is why we will publish our equality and human rights mainstreaming strategy later this year.
On the issue of pay gap reporting in particular, in our consultation, most respondents were supportive about expanding reporting, but we need to do that in a way that makes a real difference. As I said, I accept that there is a disparity in perception around this. I am not minded to get public authorities and public bodies to gather data just for the sake of it. Data is very important, but we must triangulate the qualitative and the quantitative as well as lived experience and direct stakeholder engagement. That is the best way to make it robust.
Part of that is about recognising that you must take people with you. I understand and accept that some people will say that they have been doing such work for a while and that it is not going fast enough. However, we all recognise that it is a complex area. There are examples of public organisations that are already extending their reporting, voluntarily, to include disability and ethnicity data—the Scottish Government, for instance, does that voluntarily. We can learn from existing practice.
Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee
Meeting date: 18 March 2025
Kaukab Stewart
You are right that there are multiple questions in there. I will do my best to address them; if I do not, I am quite happy for you to write to me and I can give you further information.
My role as an equalities minister is to balance the rights of various people. As you quite rightly said, there are nine protected characteristics, which were protected over time because it was recognised that people with those characteristics face additional barriers, systemic discrimination and harms. We want to ensure that people in each of those categories have a better life and have access to what everybody else has access to.
My job is to balance those rights in a compassionate and kind way that is within the law. It is not a competition, nor is it a hierarchy. If we strip back the approach and look at what underpins it, it is a human rights approach. If we accept that human rights must be at the heart of everything that we do to advance equality, we see the human who is in front of us and make sure that they have dignity and respect and are not in difficult positions.
I understand that there is a bigger debate around the issue, which has become very polarised, and that there are very strong feelings—it is difficult—but my position is that rights are not a competition or hierarchy. If we start from a point of dignity and fairness then, of course, nobody should be getting undressed in a situation that they feel uncomfortable in.
Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee
Meeting date: 18 March 2025
Kaukab Stewart
I understand the nub of what you are saying. I will give you an example from my experience—the member will be aware that I do not often talk from my experience because my job is to represent everybody and do the best that I can for them—that may be relevant here, which is for you to judge. Many years ago, a similar debate was had around BAME and Muslim women who were fleeing domestic violence and getting accommodation in women’s refuges. In that space, their harms were being compounded because they did not have access to culturally sensitive food, and they did not have access to other women who were like them—people take comfort in having such a service.
The women were also victims of racism in that space, and when those issues were talked about, it was discovered that, “Yes, there is a practical way forward,” and solutions were looked at that accommodated everybody’s needs—our needs as BAME women are complex and nuanced. After that, women’s refuges were set up specifically for women from ethnic minorities so that they did not have to suffer the additional harm that is caused by racism in such a space. I hope that that gives the member some comfort that I take seriously and understand the complexities. My job as a minister is to balance that with as much fact as I can, to reassure people and to make sure that the letter of the law is being followed.
12:30Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee
Meeting date: 18 March 2025
Kaukab Stewart
You have touched on the prison service, so I will bring in Cat McMeeken.
Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee
Meeting date: 18 March 2025
Kaukab Stewart
Yes. I do not understand the point that you wish me to address—I am sorry.
Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee
Meeting date: 18 March 2025
Kaukab Stewart
We fund many organisations to provide specific services—I am thinking of suicide helplines, advocacy work and all sorts of other things. Of course, those organisations also do other work. For instance, we may ask charities to deliver a particular service on behalf of the Scottish Government, but they may provide a range of other services, and in amongst that, they may well be advising other organisations. It is a matter for the police from whom they take their advice. It would not be up to me to comment on that.
Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee
Meeting date: 18 March 2025
Kaukab Stewart
I understand that there are two separate parts to that, which are both valid. My original point was that, under a human rights-based approach, we have the equalities legislation, which is very clear and which allows for exemptions. I recognise that there will be situations in which decisions will be made on a case-by-case basis, because the numbers will be exceptionally small. Those cases will need to be sensitively and compassionately understood.
Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee
Meeting date: 18 March 2025
Kaukab Stewart
We have decided to take a phased approach to reform, because, as I said at the beginning, we need to take people with us. I understand where the member is coming from and possibly some of the frustrations around how we hold people accountable for compliance. The question is whether we take a punitive or a supportive approach: I have been very clear that I have decided to take a supportive, phased approach by providing that scaffolding. have set out my expectations very clearly and I will continue to do so.
I will bring in Nick Bland on the technicalities, because I think that you were asking about wages.