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 1169 contributions
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Finance and Public Administration Committee
Subordinate legislation
Meeting date: 17 January 2023
Tom Arthur
Not at all. I have listened carefully and sought to respond to those views in context. I welcome all stakeholders’ views, and the time that they take to share them and their expertise with the Parliament. In the Government, we have to take a balanced set of decisions. The consequence of not taking the decision on the ADS would be less revenue at a time when we are facing significant challenges across the public sector. We have to take decisions in the round, which is the approach that we have taken on LBTT, as with all our tax decisions. They are consistent with the policies, principles and objectives that are set out in our framework for tax.
Finance and Public Administration Committee
Subordinate legislation
Meeting date: 17 January 2023
Tom Arthur
The SFC has forecast that we will continue to see significant revenue being raised by the additional dwelling supplement. Activity in the property market from those who are liable to pay the additional dwelling supplement is forecast to take place next year and in successive years. From 2025-26, there is a forecast for growth in the ADS. The decision to increase the tax must be considered in the broader context of the forecast growth in LBTT overall and the forecast growth in the ADS, specifically, over the five-year period.
Finance and Public Administration Committee
Subordinate legislation
Meeting date: 17 January 2023
Tom Arthur
It is clear that there will be a number of factors at play; to suggest that the sole factor is a policy decision to increase the ADS from 4 per cent to 6 per cent is not credible. A range of factors impact on the supply of housing and the majority of those, which have the most significant impact, are outwith our collective control.
Finance and Public Administration Committee
Subordinate legislation
Meeting date: 17 January 2023
Tom Arthur
I recognise that organisations that represent stakeholders have a primary responsibility to advocate for their stakeholders but, in setting budgets, we in Parliament and the Government have a responsibility to look at matters in the round. Although there is a clear policy intent of supporting first-time buyers, there is also a policy intent of generating revenue. We all recognise the significant challenges that public finances face currently and going forward.
I recognise that it is entirely right for organisations that represent particular sectors and groups to advocate on their behalf, but the Government has to consider things in the round and how policies will impact on all sectors and people in Scotland.
Finance and Public Administration Committee
Subordinate legislation
Meeting date: 17 January 2023
Tom Arthur
With regard to any proposals for future changes, we have been undertaking a significant review of the ADS. We will always keep our policies on tax, and more general policies, under review. I am happy to hear suggestions about any changes that should be made. I ask that those proposals be made in a way that is consistent with our framework for tax.
Finance and Public Administration Committee
Subordinate legislation
Meeting date: 17 January 2023
Tom Arthur
Ultimately, the SFC has set out its position. The changes that we have made will lead to a net increase of £34 million, once behavioural change is factored in. More broadly, looking at the revenues forecast for the coming years, a number of factors are at play—most obviously, prevailing economic conditions, as we enter an economic slowdown. We have also seen an increase in interest rates, which will naturally impact on demand for properties and, consequently, on the number of transactions that affect forecast revenue. Over the five-year horizon in the SFC’s forecast, we see revenues picking up.
Finance and Public Administration Committee
Subordinate legislation
Meeting date: 17 January 2023
Tom Arthur
The policy intent is to allow first-time buyers to compete more effectively. It is axiomatic that a home mover or a first-time buyer will not be subject to the ADS, whereas an investor or someone buying a second home, a holiday home or a buy to let property will be subject to the ADS. In terms of the tax liability, it allows for first-time buyers and home movers to compete more fairly, and it increases parity within the system. That is the policy intent.
Finance and Public Administration Committee
Subordinate legislation
Meeting date: 17 January 2023
Tom Arthur
It will be relatively soon. I think that we are in the realm of weeks rather than months.
Finance and Public Administration Committee
Subordinate legislation
Meeting date: 17 January 2023
Tom Arthur
I note that, for any home mover who is not subject to the ADS, the nil threshold goes to £145,000. For a first-time buyer, it is up to £175,000. That is where the benefit is conferred.
For clarity, I point out that the rate of the ADS is now 6 per cent. Because of the provisional affirmative procedure, it was effective at 6 per cent from 16 December.
Finance and Public Administration Committee
Subordinate legislation
Meeting date: 17 January 2023
Tom Arthur
I add that the ADS does not apply to properties below £40,000. I also advise that there is an excellent suite of LBTT calculators on the Revenue Scotland website.
