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 728 contributions
COVID-19 Recovery Committee
Meeting date: 23 June 2022
Murdo Fraser
I have one brief follow-up question, which is for Adam Stachura. One of the messages that the committee has had is that social media could be used more effectively when it comes to targeting particular audiences. However, you said that half a million over-60s do not have access to the internet. I am interested to get your perspective on how effective social media would be in reaching groups—in particular, older people. [Interruption.] We cannot hear you at the moment.
COVID-19 Recovery Committee
Meeting date: 23 June 2022
Murdo Fraser
Thanks very much. We hear you loud and clear, Dr Witcher.
COVID-19 Recovery Committee
Meeting date: 23 June 2022
Murdo Fraser
I apologise to colleagues and witnesses for my late arrival, which was because my usual method of transport, train, was not available, and I was battling with Royal Highland Show traffic to get in.
I would like to ask about targeting of communications, because the committee has heard from previous witnesses that there is not a one-size-fits-all approach to public health messaging that meets everyone’s needs. We segment the population—there are various minority groups, including older people, those in ethnic minorities and those in higher risk groups, for whom the messaging might need to be different from the messaging for the general population.
I will start with Adam Stachura. Do you think that Covid public health messaging has been adequately targeted at different groups? If not, what more needs to be done to try to fix that?
COVID-19 Recovery Committee
Meeting date: 9 June 2022
Murdo Fraser
On a point of order, convener. I have an interest to declare. I should have put on the record that I am a member of the Church of Scotland.
COVID-19 Recovery Committee
Meeting date: 9 June 2022
Murdo Fraser
I thank Mercedes Villalba for lodging her amendments, because she raises some important issues. I have a great deal of sympathy with the case studies that she identified. However, what she proposes would potentially have unintended consequences.
We heard earlier about concerns that the supply of private rented property is already in decline. There is a danger that, by bringing in such a measure at this point, we would constrain further the supply of private rented property. That would not be in the interests of people who are seeking accommodation in the private rented sector. Such accommodation might suit young people or those who move around often with their jobs, for whom being in the private rented sector is very helpful.
There is a broader debate to be had around the issue, but the correct context for that would be a housing bill, which I understand the Scottish Government is considering, rather than this bill. Although I have some sympathy with the point that Mercedes Villalba makes, I do not think that the bill is the appropriate avenue for bringing in the particular measure that she proposes.
COVID-19 Recovery Committee
Meeting date: 9 June 2022
Murdo Fraser
I read Mr Mason’s amendment with interest. I was a member of two committees that dealt with bankruptcy legislation in previous sessions of Parliament, so I am well aware of the issues around diligence and arrestment, and how difficult it is to balance the rights of creditors and debtors. When such issues have been raised in the past, creditors such as credit unions have expressed concerns about their inability to recover funds and the position that that might put them in.
My concern about amendment 69 is that the issue that it addresses is not one that we have taken any evidence on. The representation that I have seen from the Society of Messengers-at-Arms and Sheriff Officers expresses concern about the proposed increase in the level to what appears to be the arbitrary figure of £1,000. I find it difficult to agree to amendment 69 given the absence of substantial evidence in support of it.
COVID-19 Recovery Committee
Meeting date: 9 June 2022
Murdo Fraser
We have legislative competence here; it is simply a matter of whether we decide to legislate now, putting the power in the hands of ministers to produce regulations that Parliament can only say yes or no to, or to retain power in the hands of Parliament, whose members can then lodge amendments to what has been proposed. There is simply a fundamental difference of view between me and Mr Fairlie on that particular issue.
COVID-19 Recovery Committee
Meeting date: 9 June 2022
Murdo Fraser
I have two amendments in the group, which address an issue on which the committee took evidence at stage 1. Indeed, we made a unanimous recommendation on it in our report.
The background is that the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 provides for a named person to be appointed to support someone who is subject to compulsory powers—for example, where they may be detained in hospital or are subject to a compulsory treatment order. As the law stands, the signature of the named person accepting the appointment must be witnessed by a suitably qualified professional, with the intention that the responsibilities of being a named person should be explained to the person.
Section 28 of the bill removes that requirement. That is an understandable change and it has been supported by stakeholders and people from whom we took evidence. However, we also heard in evidence a concern that a named person could be appointed under the new procedure without a full understanding of the role and the responsibilities that it involves. When we took evidence, Dr Arun Chopra of the Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland and Dr Roger Smyth from the Royal College of Psychiatrists in Scotland agreed that a named person should have to declare that they understand their role. The point of my amendment 3 is to require that there should be a declaration from the named person that they understand the role, duties, rights and responsibilities of being a named person.
Amendment 2 is a complementary amendment that requires the Scottish ministers to issue guidance to named persons so that they are aware of their responsibilities. The fact that there will not be a person witnessing a named person’s signature leaves a lacuna. That is why it is important that the matter be addressed.
As I said, convener, we discussed the matter in the committee and there is a unanimous recommendation on it in our report. I hope that the amendments will have members’ support.
I move amendment 3.
COVID-19 Recovery Committee
Meeting date: 9 June 2022
Murdo Fraser
Mr Swinney will recall that a number of members who spoke in the stage 1 debate, including me, raised the issue of manses and other church properties, which often lie vacant for a year or more while the church seeks a new minister. Rather than allow the property to lie empty, the church will seek to let it on a private residential basis. The Church of Scotland, among others, expressed concern that, without a mandatory ground to allow it to recover possession, that would be too risky.
As Mr Swinney says, the matter could go to a tribunal, but there would be no guarantee that the property could be recovered when it is required for a new minister taking up office. I think that Mr Swinney said during the stage 1 debate that he would reflect on that. Does he have any more thoughts as to how that issue could be addressed? I fear that the unintended consequence could be that churches will just leave such properties lying empty, when they could be used to house families, even on a short-term basis.
COVID-19 Recovery Committee
Meeting date: 9 June 2022
Murdo Fraser
I am grateful to the cabinet secretary for that explanation. My concern, which I think has been expressed by the Church of Scotland, is that, although that might well be the case, there is no guarantee that a tribunal would reach that outcome. Therefore, the unintended consequence is likely to be that churches will just not take the risk of renting out such properties.