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 1926 contributions
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Criminal Justice Committee
Subordinate Legislation
Meeting date: 21 February 2024
Bob Doris
I was keeping my head down, convener. I was not sure whether I was permitted to comment at this stage, as I am not a member of the committee.
I want to reiterate some of the views that committee members have expressed. First, I commend committee members on their interrogation of the statutory instrument—it has been a worthwhile exercise and is how scrutiny should take place. Christine Grahame will not thank me for this, because she will think that it is patronising—although it is not—but I commend her on her forensic endeavours in relation to the issue. If I was her, I would not be happy with the likely outcome of the vote this morning.
In my contribution earlier, I said that, however we frame it, passing the statutory instrument may make our communities a wee bit safer. It is not where I want to be or where the committee or Parliament want to be, but not to act would be wrong. As I said, passing this legislation is better than not passing any legislation. However, the real task relates to the next statutory instrument—when I may not be so kind to my Government—and to the details in relation to that, as well as to further work. We must have early sight of the Government’s thoughts on future work and reform in the area.
Thank you for allowing me to make those points, convener.
Criminal Justice Committee
Subordinate Legislation
Meeting date: 21 February 2024
Bob Doris
I have a final question. It is clear that there has been on-going dialogue with DEFRA about wider reform in relation to dog control in Scotland and also about a potential pan-UK approach to that. Have representatives of large dog breed owners been engaged in any of those discussions? When I and Mr MacGregor met Bedlay Gardens, the minister and Mr Wilson, Bedlay Gardens was really up for reform of the system in Scotland. It really wants to engage and be challenged, and it wants to innovate and transform the system in Scotland. Its expertise is surely crucial in taking forward some much-needed reforms.
Social Justice and Social Security Committee
Homelessness and Temporary Accommodation
Meeting date: 1 February 2024
Bob Doris
I suppose that it is a financial question, Mr McBride. I take the view that at the point of transition, when a positive outcome is reached, there should be cash from the United Kingdom Home Office and the UK Government to support that transition. The UK Home Office has taken a very different view. That said, though, it is everyone’s responsibility—the UK Government’s, the Scottish Government’s and all Scottish local authorities’, not just Glasgow’s—to get together and do the best they can. If there was more money, could you use that money to find a solution? What would that solution look like in the short term? What conversations are on-going about funding?
Social Justice and Social Security Committee
Homelessness and Temporary Accommodation
Meeting date: 1 February 2024
Bob Doris
I think that the committee would welcome a note on that.
Finally, Mr McBride, when I was speaking to people from Mears, I put it to them that we should be talking about permanent accommodation from day 1 of an asylum seeker family moving to the city. That means providing permanent accommodation, perhaps in Glasgow or in one of the other 31 local authorities across Scotland, and doing constructive work with them. Mears told me that it is not allowed to do that work. Is that a missed opportunity? Is that something that we have to do more of?
09:15Social Justice and Social Security Committee
Homelessness and Temporary Accommodation
Meeting date: 1 February 2024
Bob Doris
Can I push you slightly further on that, Mr Smith? I am not trying to box clever here. There will undoubtedly be an impact, and that impact will not be beneficial in the slightest. I get that. Is the impact that you are talking about a revenue budget impact as opposed to an impact of the capital cut? I am trying to get at what the short-term impact is likely to be of the capital cut. Once you have answered that, I will bring in Mr MacRae, because I imagine that Shelter Scotland will have strong views on the issue.
Social Justice and Social Security Committee
Homelessness and Temporary Accommodation
Meeting date: 1 February 2024
Bob Doris
I asked Mr Smith whether there is a cut to the capital budget in the coming financial year. Mr Smith has perhaps cited consequences for less revenue support, and those are two different budget streams, I understand. I genuinely just want Mr Smith to put on the record what the short-term impact is likely to be of the cut to the Scottish budget in capital terms rather than revenue terms. If I have misunderstood Mr Smith, I apologise.
Mr Smith, do you want to add anything before Mr MacRae comes in?
Social Justice and Social Security Committee
Homelessness and Temporary Accommodation
Meeting date: 1 February 2024
Bob Doris
Thank you.
Social Justice and Social Security Committee
Homelessness and Temporary Accommodation
Meeting date: 1 February 2024
Bob Doris
Yes. I thought that it was quite an important point to make, convener.
Social Justice and Social Security Committee
Social Security Scotland
Meeting date: 1 February 2024
Bob Doris
Will that be done proportionately and respectfully, and will it be a reasonable request to make of the client?
Social Justice and Social Security Committee
Social Security Scotland
Meeting date: 1 February 2024
Bob Doris
It is a minute supplementary, convener, and it was inspired by your own question.
The convener asked about systems improvements that are prioritised. We have a large workforce in Social Security Scotland, a lot of whom moved over from the DWP and took the opportunity to put in place new innovations. What role does the workforce have in suggesting innovations and systems improvements? After all, they are the ones who are at the coalface and who have to deal with the reality of how the systems work. Anything you can put on the record about that would be quite helpful.
