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 1207 contributions
Education, Children and Young People Committee
Meeting date: 31 January 2024
Natalie Don-Innes
I am urging the committee to get it right. The bill, as it stands, makes provisions for victims and witnesses, but, as I said, deceased victims are not covered. We need to have further discussion on that, and there are vehicles in which we could make progress on it. I have been quite clear.
Education, Children and Young People Committee
Meeting date: 31 January 2024
Natalie Don-Innes
As far as I know, the round table is happening in late February, and I cannot confirm that stage 3 will be completed by then. There are other avenues for looking at reporting restrictions; that sort of thing would not necessarily be restricted to this bill, although it could be done in it.
I am not sure what the member is getting at. What I am laying out is that I want to have as much discussion and consultation as possible on this important issue, and the round table is a key part of that. If it seems right that that would be in time for stage 3, then it could be.
Education, Children and Young People Committee
Meeting date: 31 January 2024
Natalie Don-Innes
The Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill is one, and, as I said, there could be other vehicles for it.
Before I take any further interventions, I will highlight one account that perhaps emphasises the importance of getting this right. During the passage of a bill on the issue in Ireland, senators highlighted the negative impact that a related Court of Appeal judgment had had on bereaved families and why a bill was required to rectify the situation. Senator Fiona O’Loughlin explained:
“The mother of an 11-year-old boy who had been murdered was compelled recently to disguise her identity on television as though she was some type of criminal who could not be identified on the news. By revealing her identity, the identity of her dead child would also have been revealed. It is manifestly unfair to the families of deceased children that the law operates as it does.”
That account demonstrates the complexities involved in legislating on anonymity and the need to understand how it will impact those who are affected. Although something might seem like the right thing to do, it is absolutely essential that it is done in the right way. It is not about kicking it into the long grass, but about ensuring that we get it right for the families concerned.
Education, Children and Young People Committee
Meeting date: 31 January 2024
Natalie Don-Innes
Of course. The round table has been organised and it is going ahead. I am not talking about it this morning simply in order to delay things. As I said, organisations and stakeholders have been contacted. The round table is the result of a series of engagements between the cabinet secretary, ministers and the associated organisations and stakeholders.
The round table is on 20 February. I have been clear, both today and last week, that there are a number of different issues outside this one alone that I need to discuss with members with regard to further amendments or positions for stage 3. I want to ensure that we can consider issues in good time ahead of stage 3. I am not able to confirm the timings for that just now, but I will make efforts to ensure that we are able to discuss these matters prior to stage 3.
I am happy to write to the committee with any further information on the timeline for how things are going to go ahead.
Education, Children and Young People Committee
Meeting date: 31 January 2024
Natalie Don-Innes
I have already outlined the fact that I am not the person who is arranging the round table. It is the result of a series of discussions between the cabinet secretary, stakeholders and other organisations. I believe that they are positive about the fact that the round table is to take place. There might be a number of reasons for its not taking place until 20 February, but I am not able to go into those at the moment.
Education, Children and Young People Committee
Meeting date: 31 January 2024
Natalie Don-Innes
Provisions in sections 12 and 13 set out the “relevant information” that would be within the scope of reporting restrictions, whether prior to or during any criminal proceedings, respectively. That includes information about a person’s name and address, the identity of any school or other educational establishment that they attend, and any still or moving picture of the person.
The amendments in this group would ensure that information identifying the place at which the person works would be within the types of information included in reporting restrictions. Amendment 23 amends section 12 in that regard, and amendment 47 does likewise in relation to section 13. The two amendments ensure that a fuller range of identifying information is included in the “relevant information”, which is important in ensuring maximum benefit from the reporting restriction safeguards for children.
That change is also important given that the bill contains provisions enabling reporting restrictions to apply or be extended beyond the age of 18 for a child suspect or accused and, by virtue of amendments that have already been debated in group 13 and that will be debated in group 17, for child victims and witnesses. It is likely that individuals of that age will be in employment. That is consistent with the reporting restrictions that have been included in the Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill in relation to victims of certain offences listed within that bill.
I move amendment 23, and I ask members to support the other amendment in this group, amendment 47.
Amendment 23 agreed to.
Amendment 24 moved—[Natalie Don]—and agreed to.
Amendments 126 and 125 not moved.
Amendment 25 moved—[Natalie Don]—and agreed to.
Education, Children and Young People Committee
Meeting date: 31 January 2024
Natalie Don-Innes
I am sorry, convener, but I was responding to comments from another intervention, so it was just a bit difficult there.
On Ms Duncan-Glancy’s comments, I have been clear that I believe that the amendments would result in duplication and complexity. I have laid out the reasoning for not supporting Ms Duncan-Glancy’s amendment 205. I believe that that support should be in place prior to the point at which it meets the court process, and I have laid out the avenues for that to be possible. If Ms Duncan-Glancy is saying that that is not always happening or that it needs to be improved, then we need to look into that. However, I think that the support for domestic abuse is required at a much earlier stage than the point at which it meets the court process.
Education, Children and Young People Committee
Meeting date: 31 January 2024
Natalie Don-Innes
That would be very concerning, and the implications would stretch much further than the bill. However, we would still be compliant with the UNCRC in that regard.
Education, Children and Young People Committee
Meeting date: 31 January 2024
Natalie Don-Innes
Yes, I would say so. As I will come on to, there are already vehicles in the children’s hearings system to allow the impact on a victim to be taken into consideration.
Education, Children and Young People Committee
Meeting date: 31 January 2024
Natalie Don-Innes
Can you repeat your second question?