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: 17 May 2022
Mark Ruskell
You mentioned the 20 per cent uplift in funding for Home Energy Scotland, but is that model of individual advice—telephone advice, detailed renewables reports, on-going engagement and so on—really cutting it? Is it getting through to the maximum number of people or do we need to think differently about how that advice is delivered? Could that be done through other agencies? Could it be done through, say, the national health service or other areas that engage with people who are struggling with the cost of living crisis?
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee
Meeting date: 17 May 2022
Mark Ruskell
Roger, do you have anything to add?
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee
Meeting date: 17 May 2022
Mark Ruskell
Teresa, do you want to come in on that?
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee
Meeting date: 11 May 2022
Mark Ruskell
Good morning, minister. We have had very sobering evidence on the impact on households that are suffering fuel poverty. We are told that, for many, there is no longer a choice between heating and eating; they cannot do either. We have been told that many people on very low incomes are now spending more than half their income on energy alone. You said earlier in the session that you cannot protect or provide complete insulation for people who are in fuel poverty, but do you recognise that the package of measures that you announced several months ago will, when we get to the autumn, probably not be enough to support those people, who will be in spiralling debt and will face even greater levels of fuel poverty? You will have to think again about measures that you can ramp up in order to protect those people.
One proposal that has been brought to the committee from Scottish Power was the establishment of a deficit fund, which, rather than giving people a £200 loan on their electricity bill, would give them a £1,000 grant to enable them to get out of fuel poverty and wipe out their debts. Are you considering such initiatives? What might need to be done in the autumn if people are continuing to spiral into fuel poverty and debt?
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee
Meeting date: 11 May 2022
Mark Ruskell
It would be great if our ministers had full control over energy, including the energy markets, but of course we do not. That responsibility lies with you. What I would like to see is investment across the UK in getting families out of fuel poverty, and it is quite clear that the measures at the moment are not working. Indeed, what we are being told is that families are continuing to spiral into debt.
You talked earlier about ideological opposition to nuclear power. Why do you have an ideological opposition to a windfall tax? After all, the European Union’s plan to reduce reliance on oil and gas favours a windfall tax; Italy has introduced a 25 per cent windfall tax, raising €10 billion as a result; and Spain has introduced such a tax, too. Surely as a short-term emergency measure a windfall tax would help boost the kinds of programmes that you and I know are needed across the UK to get families into a position where they are coming out of fuel poverty—clearly something that would not be resisted by oil and gas majors, which are making billions and billions of pounds. Why is a windfall tax currently off the table? What would have to change in the current energy crisis for you to reconsider introducing it?
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee
Meeting date: 11 May 2022
Mark Ruskell
It is hard to see how the investments that the oil and gas industry may or may not make in renewables are going to benefit consumers who are in fuel poverty today, spending more than half their income on energy.
I will ask my final question. You do not believe that a windfall tax is the right approach. Presumably, you do not want to take money out of general taxation to invest in support for those who are in fuel poverty. Do you believe that that cost should be put back on to energy consumers—that that is where the money should come from to support those who are most in fuel poverty?
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee
Meeting date: 10 May 2022
Mark Ruskell
The witnesses have presented really interesting evidence this morning.
Monica Lennon talked about the impact on individual households. It is clear that, for some people and households, the situation is and will continue to be devastating. The witnesses said that they cannot predict what energy prices will be in October this year, let alone in October 2023. I am concerned about the people who might end up in spiralling debt.
Keith Anderson, from Scottish Power, has proposed the setting up of a deficit fund to help people who are in deep debt when it comes to their energy bills by, in effect, giving them £1,000 to get them out of fuel poverty—or at least to stop them sliding even deeper into fuel poverty. The money would be paid back, I assume by all consumers, over 10 years. What is your analysis of the proposal? How does it compare with what the UK Government has announced?
10:15Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee
Meeting date: 10 May 2022
Mark Ruskell
I am not asking you to make a decision. That is obviously the role of politicians. However, in your role as regulator, surely you are able to look at everything that is in the toolbox. Scottish Power made that suggestion several weeks ago. Keith Anderson was at this committee several weeks ago. He made the suggestion of the deficit fund at Westminster—I think—a month ago now.
Why is it that you are not looking at that right now? Why have you come to the committee today without a clear view on what the impact of that idea would be on consumers? What else is in the toolbox? What other options might there be that you are actively looking at, not in the sense of, “We think you should do this, minister,” but very much in the sense of, “Look, this would be the impact if you went down this or that route”—as advice, or at least data, to Government and parliamentary committees?
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee
Meeting date: 10 May 2022
Mark Ruskell
If you had some form of independent analysis of that specific proposal and how it measures up against what the Government is currently proposing, including pros and cons, that would be very useful for the committee.
I have another question that I hope does not fall into another area where you will say, “Well, that’s nothing to do with us.” The cost of fuel oil—or liquefied petroleum gas—is a massive issue, particularly in Scotland and particularly for off-gas communities, which are seeing price spikes and enormous volatility in the cost of fuel oil. To be honest, they have been seeing that for years, but particularly so at the moment. That is driving rural fuel poverty, often in homes that are very hard to heat and to retrofit.
If I can tempt you to say something on it, what is your thinking about regulation of oil and LPG? Does that need to be brought into the regulatory framework, or what might the options be?
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee
Meeting date: 10 May 2022
Mark Ruskell
As regulators, you have a duty to protect the short-term and long-term interests of energy consumers. Are you saying that you have no role in modelling or working out the impact of a policy such as that in relation to advising Government?