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 2616 contributions
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee
Meeting date: 3 October 2023
Mark Ruskell
That is useful to know.
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee
Meeting date: 3 October 2023
Mark Ruskell
Are no other changes planned on the back of ESS’s review?
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee
Meeting date: 3 October 2023
Mark Ruskell
Have you fed that directly into the biodiversity strategy and the forthcoming climate plan?
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee
Meeting date: 3 October 2023
Mark Ruskell
Okay, thanks. I will stick with David Harley for my next question, and then I might bring Nick Halfhide back in. I want to ask about the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023, which is now in place, although the dramatic cliff edge of a lot of EU legislation being rescinded did not materialise. You have perhaps noted the committee’s interest in the withdrawal of the legislation on the national air quality performance framework and the lack of clarity about what it will be replaced with. Does SEPA have reflections on the 2023 act and where we are now, and on its implications for environmental standards?
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee
Meeting date: 3 October 2023
Mark Ruskell
In the conversations that Zero Waste Scotland has had with particular sectors and businesses at a particular scale, what has the feedback been? Are there any concerns about unintended consequences or other issues?
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee
Meeting date: 3 October 2023
Mark Ruskell
My only point is that the committee has not had adequate notice of or time to consider the instrument. I do not object to what is proposed, but I am concerned about the 28-day rule continually being broken. I seek your guidance, convener, as to what we can do to urge Governments to ensure that the committee is treated with respect and that we have enough time to consider anything that comes before us.
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee
Meeting date: 3 October 2023
Mark Ruskell
I come back to natural capital finance. There is quite a debate about how those markets can be regulated in a way that builds in the right values and ensures that they have integrity. I am interested to hear your thoughts on that. I want you to comment specifically on the finance pilot and the memorandum of understanding that has been signed on that. The headline figure is that there is £2 billion-worth of funding. Will additional public finance come in on the back of that £2 billion? What is the mix of private and public funding? In addition, it would be useful to get your general thoughts on natural capital finance.
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee
Meeting date: 3 October 2023
Mark Ruskell
That is clearly an area of interest for the committee. I am sure that we would, as details emerge, like to see exactly how projects are emerging on the ground. It might be too early to see that at this point.
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee
Meeting date: 3 October 2023
Mark Ruskell
Staying with David Harley, the question is about the Environmental Standards Scotland “Air Quality Investigation Improvement Report”, which made a number of recommendations on how SEPA should progress its enforcement on air quality issues. What changes are planned on the back of that report? How has it affected your enforcement action on the ground?
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee
Meeting date: 3 October 2023
Mark Ruskell
Do you agree that dialogue with industries is really important? For example, I have heard criticism from the onshore wind industry that NatureScot did not consult with the industry on the development of the peatland guidance. Are you aware of that? How does NatureScot prioritise good-quality engagement with the various sectors that obviously have a vested interest in developing land, including the renewables sector? Clearly, we need to find a way through on these issues and ensure that development can proceed, but in a way that supports the objectives on climate and biodiversity.