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 772 contributions
Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee
Meeting date: 26 March 2024
Jenni Minto
Thank you for that question, which is really important. Everyone here recognises the pressure that the Scottish Government’s budget is under. However, as I said earlier, we have set aside £1.7 million to support the plan in the next financial year. It is my job, with my critical friends, to ensure that our funding allocation is directed in the right way.
Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee
Meeting date: 26 March 2024
Jenni Minto
I do, absolutely. That came across in the committee’s evidence sessions. As I watched them, I could see the importance of having that anecdotal evidence. I appreciate that it is not data, but it adds to the data and makes it more accessible. That is why I am pleased that Public Health Scotland has appointed the co-ordinator whom I mentioned. I am also pleased about the collaboration that is happening across the sector. As Dr Clutterbuck said in his evidence, that is not new. In fact, this area of medicine has been a trailblazer in recognising the importance of various elements working together. The health boards, and indeed the whole of the health sector, can look at that.
I understand people’s frustration. Am I working hard to move things on? Yes, I am. Further, I hugely respect the work that was done prior to my taking on this role.
Health, Social Care and Sport Committee
Meeting date: 19 March 2024
Jenni Minto
Clearly, if we are talking about a new building, there would be a timeline for that, which would allow for consultation. However, I hear what you say about what would happen if we planned to quickly extend or reduce a zone. Therefore, I am very happy to come back to the committee on that. We also need to recognise that it is important to ensure, when changing a zone, that people who are holding vigils, as well as those who are seeking services, are made aware quickly.
Health, Social Care and Sport Committee
Meeting date: 19 March 2024
Jenni Minto
That would be my view. However, I will write to the committee to confirm that.
Health, Social Care and Sport Committee
Meeting date: 19 March 2024
Jenni Minto
I think that I was clear in my opening statement that anti-abortion demonstrations will still be able to occur in Scotland. We have been very clear about that. The only places for which we are legislating that they cannot happen—if the bill is passed—are within protected safe zones around establishments in Scotland that provide abortion services, of which there are currently 30.
Health, Social Care and Sport Committee
Meeting date: 19 March 2024
Jenni Minto
That is a really important question. Rather than ask Johanna Irvine to reply at this point, I think that we will write to the committee with a response to it.
Health, Social Care and Sport Committee
Meeting date: 19 March 2024
Jenni Minto
I think that that is a similar example to the one that Mr McKee gave. As I indicated, churches often put out signs, and their intent is more welcoming. I agree with Ross Greer that intent does not exist in that example, and that it is not reckless, either.
Health, Social Care and Sport Committee
Meeting date: 19 March 2024
Jenni Minto
I do not believe that they were. My officials engaged regularly with anti-abortion groups when shaping the legislation.
Health, Social Care and Sport Committee
Meeting date: 19 March 2024
Jenni Minto
That goes back to your previous question about balancing the different rights of people. We have done a lot of work to ensure that we have the right balance by indicating where a safe access zone begins and ends. If someone is accessing healthcare, they will want to do that ideally in the safest of environments, and because the bill is specific and is narrowly restricted to protests against abortion, we have balanced that correctly.
Health, Social Care and Sport Committee
Meeting date: 19 March 2024
Jenni Minto
I accept that. That is why we have to ensure that the consultation is at the right level with the right people and that we always balance the different pieces of human rights legislation. The question would definitely be whether it was proportionate, and we would have to make sure that that was the case. That is the key thing that we would need to consult on.