About Research
What is the purpose of research in the Scottish Parliament?
Relevant, credible, and independent research is essential for good scrutiny and informed debate. Within the Parliament, research is used for:
- committee work
- constituents’ enquiries
- preparing for debates
The Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe) provides research for the Parliament.
What is the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe)?
SPICe is the Parliament’s internal research centre. We provide impartial, factual, accurate and timely information and analysis. Members and Parliament staff use this for parliamentary business.
The SPICe team:
- are information and subject specialists on a range of policy issues
- carry out research on behalf of the Parliament's committees, Members and their staff, and Parliament staff
- offer a confidential enquiry service to Members and their staff
- create electronic resources and graphics as well as reports and briefings
- help to commission and manage research from external providers
- maintain and publish parliamentary data and information
- provide library, collections management and documentation services to the Parliament
Where can I access research?
SPICe works with MSPs to support all areas of their parliamentary business work. We also work with committee clerks to support committees. We bring policy knowledge and technical expertise to their work. We provide:
- enquiry service
- policy briefings
- Bill briefings
- advice on work programmes
- support in commissioning research
Publicly-available research
We provide impartial information and analysis on many subjects. Publicly-available outputs of this work are available in:
- SPICe Research Briefings - for detailed analysis on subjects including Bills making their way through the Scottish Parliament, the budget and other current policy issues
- SPICe Spotlight blogs - for concise analysis on current topics
- Committee meeting papers in Committee pages
- Committee reports and briefings in individual Bill pages
Intergovernmental Activity Hub
The SPICe intergovernmental activity hub collates information on intergovernmental activity between the Scottish Government and the UK Government, Welsh Government and Northern Ireland Executive.
Engaging with SPICe
Follow us on SPICe X, formerly known as Twitter, @SPICe_Research
There are several ways for academics to work with our SPICe team