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 694 contributions
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Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee [Draft]
Continued Petitions
Meeting date: 9 October 2024
Alexander Stewart
Good morning.
Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee
Pre-budget Scrutiny 2025-26
Meeting date: 3 October 2024
Alexander Stewart
Good morning, cabinet secretary; it is good to see you. Given the concerns that we have heard from the sector over the past few weeks, when we have been taking evidence through the pre-budget process, and the opening comments that you have just made, it is clear that there is a need to ensure that the sector remains constant and that it also has the confidence that comes from having long-term clarity.
The need for financial stability has been raised by every organisation that we have heard from. Today, you have given some clarity about how you see the potential for that, but there is an “if” in relation to that potential, and that is before organisations have to deal with their staffing costs, the costs of producing work and even the cost of working towards net zero, all of which they must include in their equations about how they fund themselves. It is difficult for those organisations to predict where they will be in the future, and they need the Government, Creative Scotland and others to give them confidence in that regard.
Everyone tells us that they are doing more with less, but the cultural package that we provide is still strong and buoyant in the communities that we represent. Nationally, we have an organisational structure, but it is extremely fragile, and we do not know what will happen in the future.
How do you square that circle to ensure that those individuals and organisations can thrive and survive, which we all want them to do? They are doing all that they can within their own organisations, boards and management structures to do that, but it is extremely difficult for them to see what the future holds without having that stability. I note that, as I commented earlier, you said that it is an “if” situation.
Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee
Pre-budget Scrutiny 2025-26
Meeting date: 3 October 2024
Alexander Stewart
You have also talked about the review of Creative Scotland. It is very important that we have clarity as to where the organisation is going and what is going to happen with it. You touched on the number of applications that are made to the organisation, for which it is not able to provide support. In its own way, Creative Scotland is not fulfilling its obligations to the sector, because it cannot: it has to decide how it rations the money and its resources. Is it time for there to be a change in the creative sector? The review may have implications for Creative Scotland. Is there anything within that that you want to explain to us? Some people have said that the review could be the demise of Creative Scotland.
Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee
Pre-budget Scrutiny 2025-26
Meeting date: 3 October 2024
Alexander Stewart
I appreciate that. We all want to see the sector thrive and survive. As I say, it has been extremely resilient, having been supported by organisations, including the Scottish Government, to keep it in that place. However, if we do not get this right—unless the resources, the equation and the challenges change—it will mean the decline of the sector over the months and years ahead. If we do not change, it will not thrive.
Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee
Pre-budget Scrutiny 2025-26
Meeting date: 19 September 2024
Alexander Stewart
Absolutely.
Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee
Pre-budget Scrutiny 2025-26
Meeting date: 19 September 2024
Alexander Stewart
If the Scottish Government does not unlock enough of the £100 million to ensure that organisations and individuals who apply to you receive funding, you will turn down more and more applications and you will close down more organisations or be unable to support groups and activities across the piece. Within the review, Creative Scotland will become the organisation that is not helping the cultural sector to expand and progress. Could that be the decline of Creative Scotland?
Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee
Pre-budget Scrutiny 2025-26
Meeting date: 19 September 2024
Alexander Stewart
One word that has been used many times in relation to the sector is “confidence”. Today, I asked some of the previous witnesses whether they had confidence in Creative Scotland. It appears that they have, to a level, in the way that you manage your organisation and its processes. However, the issue is about the future and where we go with that.
You are very alive to the funding packages that you have. Extra funding has been given to youth music and other initiatives in some of the packages that have come forward for review. However, the sector itself is still in crisis and, although prediction is impossible, some elements in the sector still believe that there needs to be a root-and-branch change if organisations are to continue to thrive and survive. What are your feelings on that?
Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee
Pre-budget Scrutiny 2025-26
Meeting date: 19 September 2024
Alexander Stewart
Good morning. I will touch on the proposed review of Creative Scotland. As you have said when you have visited us in the past—and even today—you are having to manage a funding crisis in the sector. Others have given evidence, this morning and at other times, giving us an indication of where we are and what is taking place. What is your opinion of what that review will involve? Will it see progress in your organisation and the sector, or might it change the way in which your organisation works and progresses? Do you have a flavour of what the Government plans to look at and decide on for the future of Creative Scotland?
Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee
Pre-budget Scrutiny 2025-26
Meeting date: 19 September 2024
Alexander Stewart
I thank the witnesses for their comments so far. You have touched on risk and reward. Currently, it appears to be the case that there is much more risk than there is reward for the sector.
You have also touched on the flexibility that you need in order to ensure that you can bring artists or individuals into organisations. My take on that is that it is very difficult for you to do that at the moment, because you cannot reward those individuals with pay. You are asking your current staff to do much more with less, which means that they are under more strain. Your attempts to attract new talent and the individuals who will take on your roles in the future are being jeopardised.
How confident are you that the Scottish Government is getting the message right—that funding is coming, but it is coming in a tranche or two, and at different times in different years? How confident are you that Creative Scotland is the organisation that you can put your trust behind to ensure that you can thrive and survive for the future?
Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee
Pre-budget Scrutiny 2025-26
Meeting date: 19 September 2024
Alexander Stewart
As I said, if there was certainty, co-operation and confidence, the situation could change. The potential that would be unlocked, if we get it right, would be enormous, as you have all articulated. The knock-on effect of what you can create from being given a small amount of money can be enormous within a community or a sector, and it can lead to massive things in the future.
I can see that Caroline Sewell wants to come in. I am sorry, Caroline.
