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 788 contributions
Health, Social Care and Sport Committee
Meeting date: 17 December 2024
Jenni Minto
Again, my understanding is that herbal products do not necessarily contain nicotine, but they contain substances that can have a carcinogenic impact, as well as tar. That is why they are included in the legislation.
Health, Social Care and Sport Committee
Meeting date: 17 December 2024
Jenni Minto
There is currently a need for people to confirm their age when they are buying products if the retailer is at all concerned, so that is something that is accepted. The point—which I have made before—is that between 80 and 90 per cent of people who start smoking do so when they are under 20, so by the time the legislation moves through, if it is successful, it is clear that there will be fewer people starting to smoke.
I go back to the point that the legislation is here to help us stop the start, and that is a strong message that everyone should recognise.
Health, Social Care and Sport Committee
Meeting date: 17 December 2024
Jenni Minto
I am sorry, Dr Gulhane—I lost the train of that question.
Health, Social Care and Sport Committee
Meeting date: 17 December 2024
Jenni Minto
There are a lot of questions wound up in that. I go back to the development that we are currently doing on the register of tobacco and vape products. That involves changing a platform, which will become a much more useful tool for putting out information to retailers and for getting information back from retailers. The register is really important.
As with any change in regulation, if the bill goes through, we will need to work closely with retailers and have those conversations to ensure that they know about the legislation. That is absolutely key to making this work.
With regard to ensuring that parents are aware of the impacts of tobacco and vaping, I have already highlighted project youth, also known as the Icelandic model, which has had amazing results in improving the health of younger people. In Scotland, at the beginning of this year, we had the take hold campaign, which was specifically aimed at parents and carers to ensure that they understand the impact of vaping on young people’s health. I was really pleased that women’s football used the advert at their cup final at Tynecastle, which pushed it out to an audience that needs to be aware of the impacts.
I also refer to the answers that I gave to Mr FitzPatrick and Mr Whittle—education through curriculum for excellence ensures that children understand the impacts of things on their health.
Health, Social Care and Sport Committee
Meeting date: 17 December 2024
Jenni Minto
Snus has been banned since 1992.
Health, Social Care and Sport Committee
Meeting date: 17 December 2024
Jenni Minto
I agree that education is incredibly important. In four or five local authorities, we have a pilot called project youth, which is also known as the Icelandic model, and it works directly with schools, the parents and the wider community on issues such as health, including the negativities around smoking and the impact that it can have on children’s lives as they grow up.
Moreover, we have, through curriculum for excellence, a lot of teaching on health improvements and on things that can support a person’s health and other things that can have negative health impacts. I am very much old enough to remember the snus that we were talking about earlier, but I also remember how, when I was in primary school and doing a project using advertisements, all the ads were for cigarettes.
That situation has completely changed now. I think that we have made a really important step forward in schools, and it is something that we need to continue. When the Scottish Children’s Parliament was at Cabinet a couple of weeks ago, one of the things that its members had a conversation directly with the cabinet secretary on was reducing the use of vapes, because they felt so strongly and passionately about the issue.
Health, Social Care and Sport Committee
Meeting date: 17 December 2024
Jenni Minto
The retail side is handled through our register, which I talked about earlier and which includes shops that stock vapes. With regard to spaces and where people can vape, as I said, we will consult on that once the bill has passed. With regard to displays and flavours, there is UK-wide legislation on that, and we will work with the UK Government on its implementation.
Health, Social Care and Sport Committee
Meeting date: 17 December 2024
Jenni Minto
As I said in my opening remarks, between 80 and 90 per cent of people who start smoking do so before they are 21. From my perspective, it is important to recognise that and to recognise the importance of prevention before people start. You raise really important points about the recognition of products. If you go into anywhere that sells tobacco, the grey blinds are pulled down and you cannot see the products. With vapes, there is basically a rainbow of colours and flavours that are very attractive to young people. Evidence would show that flavours such as candy floss, gummy bear and watermelon are there to attract children. That is why it is so important to have UK-wide legislation, because it gives consistency across the four nations for consumers and for retailers.
Health, Social Care and Sport Committee
Meeting date: 17 December 2024
Jenni Minto
We are working just now—because it is part of our tobacco and vaping framework, which was launched last year—to ensure that we have a register that is fit for purpose, not only for those of us who are tracking the retail elements of nicotine products but for retailers, to ensure that they get the right information. The investment is going into the register just now. Of the four nations, we are the only one that has a register for tobacco and vapes, and that is very positive.
Health, Social Care and Sport Committee
Meeting date: 17 December 2024
Jenni Minto
It is included in the legislation so that it is all in the same legislation and so that there is consistency.