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 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.
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Displaying 1041 contributions
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Criminal Justice Committee
Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
Meeting date: 15 November 2023
Angela Constance
I point to the fact that the Children and Young People’s Commissioner operates in an environment that is quite legislation heavy—for example, it involves the children’s hearings system, and a small proportion of children and young people become involved in the criminal justice system. Therefore, it is a fair comparison. All the things that you mentioned, such as court rules and procedures, scheduling, the environment and pre-recorded evidence, have a direct link with trauma-informed practice and trauma-informed approaches. Although the operational delivery of those matters rests elsewhere, the purpose of the bill, in cementing and placing duties on people to demonstrate trauma-informed practice, is to be a lever. It is not the only lever, but it is certainly a lever for changing how operational decisions are made and implemented.
Criminal Justice Committee
Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
Meeting date: 15 November 2023
Angela Constance
Victim Support Scotland has been one of the biggest advocates for a victims and witnesses commissioner. It published a paper making the case for such a commissioner in 2021. I know that Victim Support Scotland’s Kate Wallace has given evidence to the committee.
Criminal Justice Committee
Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
Meeting date: 15 November 2023
Angela Constance
In broad terms, yes. The provisions in the bill seek to do two things. We indeed want systemic change, and we want to develop a shared understanding and consistency of approach. We want all that, on the one hand. On the other hand, there is a recognition that justice agencies will need flexibility to implement the provisions in a way that is tailored to their context, for the very reasons that you have outlined. The bill does that by creating a statutory definition of trauma-informed practice that requires agencies to have regard to trauma-informed practice in their work with victims and witnesses. The provisions are crafted in a way that empowers courts to set rules and procedures on trauma-informed practice in both criminal and civil business.
How trauma-informed practice is defined is informed by the trauma-informed knowledge and skills framework for the justice sector, although, as with any legal definition, that has to fit in with legislation. Some definitions, such as those used in the Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill, are dependent on previous legislation. As with any legislation, we are not starting from scratch.
Criminal Justice Committee
Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
Meeting date: 15 November 2023
Angela Constance
I assure members that we have lots of discussions about resources with our partners on an on-going basis.
I think that the costs for parts 1, 2 and 3 of the bill are pretty well defined and clear. I am conscious that organisations such as the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service are smaller from the point of view of overall budget and size of operation than the likes of Police Scotland, and that we must give some cognisance to smaller organisations.
However, it is appropriate for me to test any supplementary evidence from stakeholders about costs. It is important to remember that not all of what the bill seeks to do is about additional resource, although I do not demur from the reality that there is a cost to the bill.
Some of this is not about additional duties but about changing what we do at the core. I argue that, if we get it right and embed trauma-informed practice, that will support and encourage a more efficient justice system. It will particularly affect how we schedule, in that the implementation of trauma-informed practice is a clarion call to organise the system to reduce delays. It is all interrelated. Some of this is about approach, culture and practice, as well as being about resources.
Criminal Justice Committee
Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
Meeting date: 15 November 2023
Angela Constance
I certainly want their use to be reduced. I acknowledge that it is a matter of live debate just now, and that I need to be cognisant of a range of voices. I know that, for victims, uncertainty is a factor that causes real distress. I am being somewhat cautious because I think that, at this point in time, if we took a more inflexible approach, that would cause further harm and distress, and I therefore think that a more flexible approach is the appropriate response.
Criminal Justice Committee
Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
Meeting date: 15 November 2023
Angela Constance
Yes. I would be a bit nervous about an amendment on something so substantive, but that does not mean that there is not merit in pursuing that work further.
Criminal Justice Committee
Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
Meeting date: 15 November 2023
Angela Constance
We have a lot more work to do. You are a chancer.
Criminal Justice Committee
Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
Meeting date: 15 November 2023
Angela Constance
We have a long journey to go on together, Mr Findlay. We will be pals by the end of it.
Criminal Justice Committee
Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
Meeting date: 15 November 2023
Angela Constance
I was about to mention Chief Superintendent Derek Frew’s comments, Mr Findlay.
Criminal Justice Committee
Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
Meeting date: 15 November 2023
Angela Constance
I will ask officials to speak on that point, but in part 5 of the bill there is an obligation on all the actors and players in the sexual offences court to be trauma informed. We will discuss that part of the bill later. There is also a desire and a commitment for the judiciary to be trauma informed.
