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 2630 contributions
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee
Meeting date: 24 September 2024
Mark Ruskell
What would that look like? Would there be a requirement in the plan to deal with public participation and engagement? As I mentioned, the 2019 act had at its heart a specific requirement for a citizens assembly, but that is only one way to cut it with regard to public engagement. I am interested in your thoughts about how we cement public engagement in the plan as we move forward.
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee
Meeting date: 24 September 2024
Mark Ruskell
I want to pin things down a bit more. Are you saying that you would be happy for a draft budget to be presented alongside a draft plan, because you cannot finalise a plan until you have finalised a budget? There is a chicken-and-egg element. What is helpful when you are making decisions about the budget in line with the action that might be possible, without plans being completely finalised ahead of setting the budget, if you know what I mean? It is very much a chicken-and-egg situation.
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee
Meeting date: 24 September 2024
Mark Ruskell
Yes. I want to ask Cornilius Chikwama about Audit Scotland’s view on where the Scottish Government is. Audit Scotland produced a report some time ago that looked at the need for effective assurance, enhanced governance and workforce planning within the director general for net zero’s area. This meeting is an opportunity to reflect on whether governance is set up correctly in relation to the bill. Does Audit Scotland have concerns about progress in that regard, or are you content with the fact that the Government is taking on the reforms that you have highlighted?
Meeting of the Parliament
Meeting date: 19 September 2024
Mark Ruskell
I am sure that both the minister and Jenny Gilruth are aware of the Fife neurodevelopmental assessment pathway project, which is a multi-agency approach that enables children and families to get the support that they need while they are waiting for an assessment.
When I visited a Fife school that was involved in the pilot, a couple of years ago, it was clear that that was transforming the learning environment for young people and helping neurodiverse children to unlock their potential. Has the Government reviewed the impacts of that pilot? What consideration is being given to rolling out that type of approach in other parts of Scotland?
Meeting of the Parliament
Meeting date: 18 September 2024
Mark Ruskell
I thank Lorna Slater for giving us the opportunity to have some fun with the buttons in the chamber and to reflect on those momentous times 10 years ago.
I was a yes activist in Stirling and a local Green councillor at the time. I will never forget seeing 16-year-olds in their school uniform turning up, class by class, to vote in that referendum. It was an incredible time of political empowerment. Emma Roddick reflected that it was perhaps one of the first times when she felt that her voice mattered politically. Oh, their voices did matter so much. It is a delight to see so many of those yes activists now taking seats in our local government and in this Parliament, and I hope that many more will take their own seats in the years to come.
I remember some great days, knocking on doors in the Raploch in Stirling. It was barbecue weather and folks—friends, family and neighbours—were out in their front yards and having a really good debate and natter about all the issues that were relevant to the referendum, from pensions to Trident. That was in a community that, historically, had had an incredibly low turnout at every single election, so to see that empowerment and to be part of that conversation was fantastic. I learned when to shut up sometimes, too, but it was wonderful.
That stands in contrast to what we saw a couple of years after that with the referendum to decide our future in the European Union, which was tarnished by the lies of the leave campaign and was built on ignorance. If I have one personal regret in politics, it is that I probably did not spend anything like as much time as I would have liked knocking on doors and talking to people about the benefits of the European Union and our role in that European family of nations. Due to the timing—it was so close after the Holyrood elections—I did not spend that time. I really regret that, because I wanted to bring the spirit of the independence referendum into the question whether we should remain in the European Union.
What is absolutely clear is that Brexit has been an utter disaster. We live in a world that is more interdependent than ever. We live in a world in which states need to show solidarity with each other, whether on tackling the climate crisis, delivering global security or delivering shared prosperity. However, that is not incompatible with independence. In fact, membership of the European Union requires independence. It requires sovereign states to join, work together and flourish. If members have any doubt about that, they should go to Ireland and see a flourishing and independent nation that is doing just that within the European Union.
When I see the sort of poll results that came out this week showing that 56 per cent of Scots want an independent Scotland within the European Union, my heart fills with hope for the future. Back in 2014, when I went to vote yes for an independent Scotland, I took my eight-year-old son with me. I took a huge amount of pride in voting yes and had a huge amount of hope for his future. Now, my hope is that, now that he has grown up and is a man, he will have the opportunity to make his own choice for the future of this country. I hope that, along with the majority of Scots, he will vote for an independent Scotland in the European Union.
18:15Meeting of the Parliament
Meeting date: 18 September 2024
Mark Ruskell
We know and acknowledge that community-based, trauma-informed facilities are key to breaking those cycles of pain and reoffending and that that remains at the heart of the new facility at HMP Stirling and the excellent work that goes on there.
That said, this recent report from the inspectorate confirmed what my constituents have been saying for over a year, which is that major design flaws at HMP Stirling have caused protracted issues with noise that have been distressing for people living both inside and outside the prison. Can the cabinet secretary update me on what lessons have been learned to ensure that future facilities do not have the same mistakes built into them? Can she assure me that the SPS will provide a clear timeline on the delivery of noise mitigation measures at HMP Stirling as soon as possible?
Meeting of the Parliament
Meeting date: 18 September 2024
Mark Ruskell
To ask the Scottish Government when it last met with the Scottish Prison Service to discuss the findings of His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons for Scotland’s report on the full inspection of HMP and YOI Stirling. (S6O-03727)
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee [Draft]
Meeting date: 17 September 2024
Mark Ruskell
I am wondering where the big mystery is with the climate change plan. The UK Climate Change Committee has given the Government advice for a number of years. It has set out what the pathway to 2045 looks like. You have had annual advice from the UK CCC. What it will present next spring will not focus primarily on the next climate change plan but on the plans to follow on the route to 2045. What is the gap? What is the big mystery? Surely the Government must have already mapped out the pathway towards the next target and the next budget. It will have a clear idea about what actions are needed in particular sectors, from transport to agriculture to energy. As you say, none of that is a mystery.
Given that this is a living document—a living piece of work in Government—why can it not be shared with the committee ahead of our effectively changing the legislation, ditching the 2030 and 2040 targets and moving to a completely new system of budget setting? Why can that not be revealed? What is the big mystery here?
11:30Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee
Meeting date: 17 September 2024
Mark Ruskell
I am seeing nods. Would anybody like to elaborate on that?
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee
Meeting date: 17 September 2024
Mark Ruskell
No—the evidence has been excellent.