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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Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee
Regulation of Legal Services (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
Meeting date: 24 October 2023
Stuart McMillan
The bill as introduced contains 21 delegated powers. We have focused on eight of them, which appear to have been the focus of comments that you have made in response to the lead committee’s call for views. As a committee, we will report on all 21 of the proposed delegated powers in our report to the lead committee. Do you have any comments on any of the other delegated powers that are contained in the bill?
Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee
Regulation of Legal Services (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
Meeting date: 24 October 2023
Stuart McMillan
Thank you for that. I note that Rachel Wood said that we would be receiving something in writing, and the committee certainly looks forward to that.
As colleagues have no more questions, I thank Morag Ross KC and Rachel Wood for their extremely useful and helpful evidence this morning. The committee might well follow things up in writing afterwards if we have any further questions.
With that, I move the committee into private session.
11:39 Meeting continued in private until 12:04.Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee
Instruments subject to Negative Procedure
Meeting date: 24 October 2023
Stuart McMillan
Under agenda item 3, we are considering three instruments. An issue has been raised on the following instrument.
Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee
Instruments subject to Negative Procedure
Meeting date: 24 October 2023
Stuart McMillan
The instrument makes amendments to the Council Tax Reduction (State Pension Credit) (Scotland) Regulations 2012 and the Council Tax Reduction (Scotland) Regulations 2021 to ensure that certain types of payments, largely based on compensation or redress schemes, are disregarded for the purposes of calculating entitlement to council tax reduction. The instrument also makes provision to ensure that the capital of a person who is liable to pay council tax has no impact on their entitlement to second adult rebate.
In correspondence with the Scottish Government, the committee asked whether the Government considers it appropriate to insert the new paragraph 46 under part 5 of schedule 4 of the 2021 regulations, under the heading “Payments”, as the amendment does not concern a payment; it concerns the whole of a person’s capital. The Scottish Government recognised that it would be helpful to the reader to insert a new part number and heading into schedule 4 of the 2021 regulations at the next available opportunity, which it anticipates will be February 2024, when other substantive amendments to the 2021 regulations are expected to be made.
Does the committee wish to draw the instrument to the attention of the Parliament on the general reporting ground, in that it inserts under the heading “Payments”, a new paragraph that concerns the whole of a person’s capital rather than a payment?
Members indicated agreement.
Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee
Instrument not subject to Parliamentary Procedure
Meeting date: 24 October 2023
Stuart McMillan
Is the committee content with the instrument?
Members indicated agreement.
Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee
Regulation of Legal Services (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
Meeting date: 24 October 2023
Stuart McMillan
Under item 5, we are taking evidence on the Regulation of Legal Services (Scotland) Bill.? I welcome Esther Roberton, the author of “Fit for the Future—Report of the Independent Review of Legal Services Regulation in Scotland”. Esther and I sat on the board of the Scotland’s Futures Forum think tank until I left earlier this year.
Esther, do not worry about turning on your microphone during the session as that will be done by broadcasting. There is no need to answer every question. You are welcome to follow up any question in writing after the meeting, if you wish.?
We move to questions, which I will open. Will you give the committee an overview of the work that you undertook in 2017-18 on the regulation of legal services and the main points of your report?
Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee
Regulation of Legal Services (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
Meeting date: 24 October 2023
Stuart McMillan
I have one final question in this area. Would the requirement for the Lord President to grant consent in relation to the powers in section 5 be of any assurance to you?
Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee
Minister for Parliamentary Business
Meeting date: 26 September 2023
Stuart McMillan
Perhaps a protocol is not the right avenue to go down, but even guidelines of some type might help to speed the process up. From memory, I think that it was put to the committee that it can potentially take well over a year—perhaps a year and a half—for a section 104 order to be dealt with. That does not have a negative impact on practitioners as such, but it is still the case that older legislation is used for specific elements, rather than the new legislation that people very much welcome.
Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee
Decision on Taking Business in Private
Meeting date: 26 September 2023
Stuart McMillan
Welcome to the 26th meeting in 2023 of the Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee. I remind everyone present to switch their mobile phones to silent.
The first item of business is to decide whether to take items 6 to 9 in private.??Is the committee content to take those items in private?
Members indicated agreement.
Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee
Minister for Parliamentary Business
Meeting date: 26 September 2023
Stuart McMillan
Under agenda item 2, we will take evidence from the Minister for Parliamentary Business, George Adam MSP. This is one of our regular sessions with the minister on the work of the Scottish Government that is relevant to the committee. The minister is accompanied by three Scottish Government officials: Steven MacGregor, head of the Parliament and legislation unit; Rachel Rayner, deputy legislation co-ordinator in the legal directorate; and Greig Walker, retained EU law act management lead.
I welcome you all to the meeting and remind you not to worry about turning on your microphones, because that will be done by broadcasting.
I invite?the minister to make some opening remarks.
