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 1524 contributions
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Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee
Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Bill
Meeting date: 3 September 2024
Fiona Hyslop
There is much to do. I have met Louise Haigh. I would like to thank again the parliamentary authorities, the committee and the committee clerks for their co-operation on the LCM, because, obviously, we had to do this at pace during the summer, because Parliament was in recess, and I did not want us to be left out of it, which could have happened. I am very appreciative of my officials and of the UK Government officials. I am working with the minister to align things because something happened when our parliamentary terms did not align. That has been good co-operation.
I have not yet met Sir Peter Hendy, the new UK Minister for Rail, although I did meet him when he was in his previous position as chair of Network Rail. I hope and intend to meet him.
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee
Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Bill
Meeting date: 3 September 2024
Fiona Hyslop
It will be an open procurement, to ensure that we have value for money and deliver what we need in terms of passengers, track and train. As you might appreciate, I do not want to comment on any individual company.
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee
Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Bill
Meeting date: 3 September 2024
Fiona Hyslop
Any replacement will need to ensure that it supports a greener fleet. That is one of the clear points that I want to make. However, it will be an open procurement, so I cannot give a figure until the procurement is concluded. I hope that you can appreciate that. A reduction is my commitment, but I cannot say by how much, because the procurement is only just starting.
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee
Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Bill
Meeting date: 3 September 2024
Fiona Hyslop
The impact is still to be assessed. I see that it is operating and I have no difficulty with it, but it is not the main issue that we are dealing with just now.
My first answer was clear that where there are opportunities in terms of track access, open access has worked. It has, in many cases, replaced services that have been withdrawn, but it is a different operating model, a different pricing model and has a different position. The UK Government can do that for particular reasons. It is not an area that I have had discussions with the UK Government about, so I am just saying that the jury is out on it, but the way that it has operated to date has helped to use existing track availability.
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee
Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Bill
Meeting date: 3 September 2024
Fiona Hyslop
The other thing to let the committee know is that we obviously have the new climate change plan, which the committee will consider. As I have told you before, we will have to refresh the decarbonisation plan, which we will do, and it will come shortly after the climate change plan because we have to align it with that.
In terms of where we are now, I cannot get into the detail of carriages yet. If there is anything that I can follow up on about where that sits within the 2022 commitment, I will be happy to do so. It sits in our wider plans for Scottish rail. As I said, we are already taking action. Barrhead is electrified and work on East Kilbride is commencing, which will have an interchange and so on. Obviously, there are challenges elsewhere.
Seventy-five per cent of passenger journeys are currently on electric trains, which is good. However, you were talking about numbers of trains. Again, there is an interplay. Since public ownership, there has been a 7 per cent increase in the number of passenger seats. When it comes to 200 journeys operating to full timetable, we acknowledge that we are not currently doing that.
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee
Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Bill
Meeting date: 3 September 2024
Fiona Hyslop
I undertake to ensure that the point is made to the UK ministers and that they are asked whether they can identify how the costs will be met.
On the more substantive point, which is about how we get efficiency out of Network Rail and deliver value for money for the £4.2 billion that the Scottish Government is contributing over CP7, I have already made arrangements to meet the ORR biannually. I will meet its board to ensure that the ORR ensures that Network Rail delivers. The ORR is the regulator to ensure that we get value for money and delivery. That is the substantive mechanism to ensure that Network Rail delivers. I have, if anything, intensified my discussions with the ORR.
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee
Transport Policies and Performance
Meeting date: 4 June 2024
Fiona Hyslop
I am sure that the people at ScotRail are avid watchers of the committee’s meetings. We will make sure that we draw to their attention your concerns and those of Mr Simpson about ticketing.
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee
Transport Policies and Performance
Meeting date: 4 June 2024
Fiona Hyslop
I will try to answer the question, but I remind everyone that we are in the pre-election period and that whatever happens will depend on the UK Government election. I expect that whoever will form the next UK Government will introduce rail reform legislation.
On the proposed establishment of Great British railways, I would just note that on the day that the election was called, just before I went over to Arrochar for the meeting about the Rest and Be Thankful, I was giving evidence to the select Transport Committee at Westminster on what was the Rail Reform Bill. I think that all political parties at UK level are interested in having an integrated rail body. Alex Hynes, who previously headed up Network Rail and ScotRail, was seconded to take that forward. Obviously, we will have to wait to see what happens after the election.
I am sure that the committee clerks can liaise with the Transport Committee on this, but I and Huw Merriman, who was a UK transport minister at the time, were the last to give evidence on the matter, and my understanding is that the committee was going to produce a curtailed report. The evidence that I gave will be on the record, as will Mr Merriman’s. I understand that the Labour Party, too, has made statements on the matter. I do not want to go any further than that.
What I will say—I have written this in previous correspondence—is that I do not think that the devolved areas were being protected as much as they could and should have been protected. I will remind the clerks about this, but I think that I have already given the committee copies of my correspondence to the UK Government on my concerns about the bill. That said, I am probably skating into territory that I should not skate further into.
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee
Transport Policies and Performance
Meeting date: 4 June 2024
Fiona Hyslop
Let us see where we get to in terms of the process.
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee
Transport Policies and Performance
Meeting date: 4 June 2024
Fiona Hyslop
The Scottish Government’s preference has always been for greater devolution of rail powers to Scotland.
It would probably be wise, convener, to return to that question when we know the formation of the new UK Government and what will happen to the bill. However, I suspect that, whatever party forms the UK Government, the principle of that bill will advance in some shape or form.
