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 1235 contributions
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Finance and Public Administration Committee
Subordinate Legislation
Meeting date: 7 January 2025
Ivan McKee
That was quite a roundabout argument. There are lots of things that would impact people’s ability to have the funds to put down a deposit; rent is only one part of that. Other aspects are the cost of living, the measures that we are taking to support first-time buyers, and the increase in ADS, which I think will help to shift the balance in the market in favour of first-time buyers and others who are buying a property in order to live in it.
The argument that you are making is that the landlord is charged the additional ADS, which is then charged to the tenant, who would be unable to pay a deposit as a consequence. I think that the impact of the additional ADS would be diluted in that process and I suggest that there are other things that are probably more significant for the tenant’s ability to compete in the market, if they choose to do so. There is a lot of data on that across the piece, which you could look at, which could help to make that argument.
Finance and Public Administration Committee
Subordinate Legislation
Meeting date: 7 January 2025
Ivan McKee
We have just completed an ADS review that pulled up some specific items, or wrinkles, as you might want to call them, in the system, which we are addressing. An LBTT review is coming up shortly.
Finance and Public Administration Committee
Subordinate Legislation
Meeting date: 7 January 2025
Ivan McKee
Those properties are not going anywhere. If they are not bought by an investor to let, they will be bought by someone who will live in them. If those properties are being bought by someone who is going to live in them, we would not necessarily see that as a negative consequence. The issue of build to rent and investment coming in to add new capacity to the system, which is hugely important, is a separate issue, but it is outside the scope of ADS, because it does not apply to large numbers of properties.
Finance and Public Administration Committee
Subordinate Legislation
Meeting date: 7 January 2025
Ivan McKee
As I have said, investment in new builds and large purchases are outside the scope of the policy. There has been a slight increase in the number of registered properties, and the number of individual landlords is broadly flat, so the policy is not having a detrimental impact on the sector in the way that some may posit.
Finance and Public Administration Committee
Subordinate Legislation
Meeting date: 7 January 2025
Ivan McKee
I have pages and pages of data in front of me. We know the number of transactions. We know what is happening with revenue, we know how that plays out against the forecast that the SFC put together for the previous increase, and, indeed, for this increase, we know what the tax elasticities are in the assumptions that it has made. We know what the numbers of registered landlords and registered properties are, we know what the revenue forecasts are and we know how the reduction in ADS transactions compares with the shift in the overall number of LBTT transactions. We have a lot of data, and the data suggests that that is not having the detrimental impact on the market that some might suggest.
If there is any more data that the member thinks that we should be looking at, I would be interested to hear what that would be.
Finance and Public Administration Committee
Subordinate Legislation
Meeting date: 7 January 2025
Ivan McKee
Indeed.
09:15Finance and Public Administration Committee
Subordinate Legislation
Meeting date: 7 January 2025
Ivan McKee
I do not think that we can express it in those terms. First of all, as I indicated, the data shows that the numbers of registered landlords and registered properties are staying flat—indeed, there has been a slight increase in the number of properties in the recent period. That suggests that the anecdotal evidence that landlords are leaving the market is just that—it is anecdotal. At this stage, the data absolutely does not support it. As I said, we have seen a reduction in the number of second homes over a period of time, and I think that that trend predates the increases in ADS. Clearly, the policy is moving in the right direction.
As you rightly say, the amount of revenue raised in the most recent period has been in excess of the SFC forecast, taking into account the behavioural changes that it has factored in, so that policy objective is being delivered. It is self-evidently true that the measure puts buyers who do not have to pay ADS in an advantageous position over buy-to-let landlords, which is clearly the policy intent.
Finance and Public Administration Committee
Subordinate Legislation
Meeting date: 7 January 2025
Ivan McKee
That is an interesting point and I can see the member’s line of thinking. I am not aware that that specific analysis has been done, but I will undertake to look at that scenario to see whether we can furnish the member with data.
Finance and Public Administration Committee
Subordinate Legislation
Meeting date: 7 January 2025
Ivan McKee
It is an on-going process and will help to inform the broader LBTT picture. At each point in the budget cycle for the annual budget, we make decisions about what tax rates should be. At this point, I think that making the change in ADS rates is the right decision.
Finance and Public Administration Committee
Subordinate Legislation
Meeting date: 7 January 2025
Ivan McKee
Thank you very much, convener. Good morning to you and the committee, and a happy new year to you all.
The Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (additional amount: transactions relating to second homes etc) (Scotland) Amendment Order 2024 provides for the changes to the land and buildings transaction tax rates and bands that were set out in the Scottish budget on 4 December 2024. It increases the rate of the additional dwelling supplement from 6 per cent to 8 per cent, with the change intended to protect opportunities for first-time buyers and home movers by further helping them compete with buy-to-let investors and second home owners.
The change is also forecast to raise much-needed revenue at a time when public finances are under significant pressure. The Scottish Fiscal Commission estimates that it will raise an additional £32 million in 2025-26 and £31 million a year on average over the remainder of the forecast period through to 2029-30.
As you will be aware, the legislation provides for the rate increase to take effect the day after the Scottish budget statement—that is, on 5 December 2024. That is now a well-established arrangement for such changes; it prevents the possibility of forestalling, which would have reduced the revenue impact next financial year and would have run counter to the policy intent. It is also intended to provide certainty for taxpayers with the acknowledgement that the legislation must be approved by the Scottish Parliament in order to remain in force. As with previous rate changes, the order includes a transitional provision to ensure that anyone who entered into a transaction on or prior to 4 December will not pay the increased rate.
At this point, I take the opportunity to remind the committee of my entry in the register of members’ interests in respect of ownership of residential properties for let, and I look forward to members’ questions.
