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 1071 contributions
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee
Meeting date: 28 February 2023
Jenny Gilruth
Yes, I do. Something that I picked up with Transport Scotland a few months ago brings me back to Mr Kerr’s question about the choreographing of all those things—CHFS3, project Neptune and the ICP—because my concern as minister was that we could not go out and consult on three different things. I do not think that that is wise. We are trying to learn lessons through project Neptune and gather some information through Angus Campbell’s hugely important work in that regard.
However, I recognise what Ms Lennon has said about consultation fatigue. In my view, that is what happens when people do not see things changing, and they get fed up. The next important step is to show people what change will look like in future and to follow that up. Angus Campbell’s work, which concludes at the end of next month, will be vital in setting out what the next steps will be and where the community wants us to go and ensuring that that is where we get to and that we avoid the issues that Ms Lennon has outlined.
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee
Meeting date: 28 February 2023
Jenny Gilruth
Unbundling is not an option that is favoured by the Scottish Government. I think that that decision was reached in 2014, although Chris Wilcock will correct me if I am wrong. At that time, a decision was made that unbundling would not be the approach that we would take.
Ultimately, if I thought that unbundling would be a silver bullet, it would be on the table. I am not sure that it is. In my job, I hear different things from communities on a daily basis, and it is not clear to me that unbundling would work, given the variety of routes and vessels that we have in CalMac.
It is important that we concentrate on delivering a better service across the network. That is certainly the decision that was taken historically in relation to unbundling. It could also be a distraction from the focus on improving resilience and reliability. We will not be reopening that question as part of project Neptune. I know and understand that people have different views on it, but it is not something that the Scottish Government will be considering at the current time.
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee
Meeting date: 28 February 2023
Jenny Gilruth
It is important that we have trade union representation. Having Roz Foyer on the SRH board brings a strength to our relationship with trade unions but also to the delivery of the service model. Therefore, absolutely, it is a model that we should look to roll out across more of our public bodies, because direct engagement and representation are really important.
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee
Meeting date: 28 February 2023
Jenny Gilruth
Absolutely. The committee’s inquiry is really important and I am keen that we use it and the recommendations that you will provide us with to inform the draft ICP, CHFS3 and where we get to on project Neptune. I very much welcome it.
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee
Meeting date: 28 February 2023
Jenny Gilruth
I am happy to provide the committee with that.
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee
Meeting date: 28 February 2023
Jenny Gilruth
Yes, there is. I think that we have a couple of examples of where that has happened in recent times.
Both operators—today we are talking a lot about CalMac, but we must not forget Serco NorthLink—have mechanisms in place for prioritising medical appointments, which is really important. The point that Mr Ruskell makes about last-minute journeys is not lost on me. It is consistently raised with me when I go out and speak to island communities. It is worth pointing out that CalMac has—in very recent times, actually—agreed to some changes to the criteria for short-notice medical appointments, which I know has been welcomed by island communities.
Transport Scotland might want to say more on this, but it has been working very closely in the past couple of weeks with the Mull & Iona Ferry Committee to look at a potential pilot on vehicle deck space for islanders who are travelling at short notice. It is fair to say that that work is at a pretty early stage but, from what I am told, it has been broadly welcomed by the Mull & Iona Ferry Committee. Officials might want to say more on that.
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee
Meeting date: 28 February 2023
Jenny Gilruth
I was not asked for comment on the story, so I am glad that I have now got that on the record.
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee
Meeting date: 28 February 2023
Jenny Gilruth
Obviously, as a Scottish Government minister, I support rejoining the EU. Therefore, I would start from a tendency to support alignment to ensure that that process was streamlined.
However, despite the fact that we have left the EU, a lot of the legislation that was previously in place is now covered by the Subsidy Control Act 2022. It is not clear to me from the advice that I have had from officials whether we have the freedom to do things markedly differently from what was previously envisaged. However, some of that is legal advice that sits with the Scottish Government legal directorate. I am more than happy to take further advice on the matter, because the models that are proposed through project Neptune, which Angus Campbell is consulting on at the moment, will depend on Ms Hyslop’s point about the model that was adopted back in 2006.
In terms of the structures, we need to test those principles with island communities, and that consultation is hugely important in that regard.
We are looking at whether the EU subsidy changes allow for more flexibility around the length of contracts. We would have proceeded with that issue even if we were still in the EU. There is potentially an opportunity to do things differently in that area.
In relation to the overall opportunities, I am not yet clear that we will be able to do things radically differently. Officials have been working with SGLD colleagues on that and I expect to get advice on it later this year. That will coincide with Angus Campbell’s consultation work and allow us to see the overall picture of what we are legally able to do.
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee
Meeting date: 28 February 2023
Jenny Gilruth
I am not necessarily sure that it is appropriate. That has been the model historically, and I, as the minister, have not yet had evidence to the contrary to provide me with a range of options. Monica Lennon will accept that I, as the minister, would expect to receive advice on that. I have not yet had that advice, but I am not necessarily convinced that that is the most appropriate model.
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee
Meeting date: 28 February 2023
Jenny Gilruth
In my experience in three different roles in Government, I cannot think of another example. However, I might be wrong about that. Other examples might exist in other ministers’ portfolios.