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 2999 contributions
Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee
Meeting date: 23 September 2021
Mark Ruskell
As part of that renewal, do you see the creative sector leading that public participation? Previously, councils or particular agencies might have tried to lead that process. How much involvement do you see the creative sector having? You said that there has been £6 million for one fund. Is that funding particularly for high street regeneration work? Does it involve participatory conversations with communities to regenerate areas?
Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee
Meeting date: 23 September 2021
Mark Ruskell
I will start with a question for Isabel Davis. You might have noticed that the recent co-operation agreement between the Green MSPs and the Scottish Government commits to
“additional resources to Screen Scotland for the purpose of facilitating year-round engagement between the Scottish and international film & television industries, with a particular emphasis on the USA.”
What is your reaction to that? What should the priorities be to ensure not only that the best of Scottish talent is working internationally but that we start to bring some productions into Scotland, too?
Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee
Meeting date: 23 September 2021
Mark Ruskell
I have a brief supplementary question for Alison Reeves. How does what you were talking about materialise when it comes to funding and discussions with, for example, health and social care partnerships? Are music projects going to the national health service locally to have a discussion about social prescribing, and getting funding to do that kind of work, or is it just a useful add-on? Is it that the NHS and general practitioners might be aware that voluntary projects are happening locally but there is no direct funding?
Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee
Meeting date: 23 September 2021
Mark Ruskell
I refer to Lucy Casot’s points about managing assets over time, particularly in relation to future proofing, reducing energy costs, investing in buildings, and making them climate resilient. I used to sit on the trustee board of the Stirling Smith art gallery. We were going through a period of expansion and were changing the business model a bit. It was challenging to get advice, support and bespoke funding. What does that landscape look like? Is bespoke funding available now for museums, galleries and other organisations to invest in those changes, or are you looking to build that into your mainstream funding if you are going to the National Lottery Heritage Fund, say, to fund that sort of work?
Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid)
Meeting date: 23 September 2021
Mark Ruskell
For years, Greens have highlighted how the relentless growth of aviation is wrecking the climate, so I warmly welcome that major shift from the Scottish Government, which is a recognition, based on science, that aviation demand will have to fall if we are to have any chance of meeting climate targets. Does the minister agree with me that domestic mainland flights often undermine demand for intercity rail services and that that must be factored into the forthcoming aviation strategy?
Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid)
Meeting date: 22 September 2021
Mark Ruskell
Okay. I will give way.
Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid)
Meeting date: 22 September 2021
Mark Ruskell
I thank Labour colleagues for bringing this debate. It is important that we thank the workers for their commitment to delivering rail services during the pandemic, and it is important that we push Abellio to get round the table with our unions and resolve the industrial dispute well ahead of COP26.
The motion references world car free day, which is a reminder of why we urgently need to transform our transport system. If we do not get the system right, the 70 per cent of people who have access to a car will simply drive more, while the people who do not have access to cars will be even further disadvantaged.
Rail must be at the heart of the Government’s plan for a 20 per cent reduction in traffic. The transfer of ScotRail into public ownership next year must mark a relaunch of rail in Scotland and a genuine people’s railway. We must have a service that is run in the public interest, with a direct role for passengers and workers in service planning and delivery, so that we reach out to communities who are currently not served by the rail network and to passengers who—let us be honest—could be served a lot better.
I am concerned that the focus of the Docherty report and the subsequent ScotRail timetable proposals is on service cuts and facility closures across Scotland’s rail network, rather than on changes that can genuinely create room for expansion and improvement of services. In the report, it was claimed that the recommendations were due to changed passenger behaviour and the need for economic recovery from Covid but, as members said, it is still too early to say how rail use will recover post-pandemic, given that many workplaces have, understandably, yet to invite workers fully back to the office.
ScotRail is currently consulting on its national proposed timetable and the consultation closes for responses on 1 October.
Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid)
Meeting date: 22 September 2021
Mark Ruskell
I do not think that I have time in hand—or do I, Presiding Officer?
Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid)
Meeting date: 22 September 2021
Mark Ruskell
No, and I will tell the member what I am doing to listen to the travelling public and channel their comments to the minister and to ScotRail. I have been active in encouraging constituents across my region to make their voices heard. More than 300 people have engaged with the consultation portal that I set up and have told ScotRail what they think of the cuts. ScotRail confirmed to me today that it will attend a town hall event next week, which I am organising online, to explain the timetable changes to people and hear directly from passengers across my region about how the changes will affect them. People have a voice and they are having their say on the issue.
How ScotRail deals with the responses to the consultation will be a big test. We expect full transparency about the concerns that are raised and the action that it will take to address them before it passes on final proposals to the minister for a decision.
I acknowledge that some change will be necessary. No one wants to see empty trains running, and the rail network must be used efficiently. There might be timetable changes that meet passenger demand better than the current timetable does.
However, the changes that we have seen so far are concerning. For example, the Kirkcaldy to Perth service will take up to 30 minutes longer, with no direct train between the two places and less frequent journeys. Journeys in Fife will require a change at Inverkeithing, which will increase journey times. Passengers in Strathearn might benefit from more regular services from Gleneagles, but for Perth residents the current problems with journey times will be compounded. If the message is that it will become harder to take the train between Perth and Scotland’s other cities, that will be incredibly damaging to the Government’s target of securing a 20 per cent reduction in vehicle mileage.
I hope that the minister will listen to passengers—I am sure that he will do so—and to the workers. We look forward to the successful relaunch of a people’s railway next year.
16:09Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee
Meeting date: 21 September 2021
Mark Ruskell
Does HIE have a perspective? There has been discussion about, for example, a marine coastal national park. Is that on your radar?