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 1877 contributions
Social Justice and Social Security Committee
Meeting date: 28 November 2024
Bob Doris
That is helpful. I apologise in advance, but I will steal that mention of “cutting holes in ... pockets” relentlessly, particularly during the budget process.
Professor Sinclair, I will address my final question to you. I previously asked about how the scrutiny process could deliver effective action to tackle poverty. Any additional comments on that would be welcome, but we are scrutinising the 2017 act. At stages 2 and 3 of that bill, significant amendments were made to it to make it about more than just cash in people’s pockets, and to address the wider view of child poverty that Mr Dickie has eloquently put on the record. For example, there were amendments on supporting local authorities to consider automated benefit payments, on the availability and affordability of childcare and on educational attainment. A variety of measures were put in the act so that we were not being simplistic about how we tackle child poverty and could make it an enduring success. Have those amendments at stages 2 and 3 helped the Scottish Government and the Parliament in their endeavour to tackle child poverty in a more rounded way?
Social Justice and Social Security Committee
Meeting date: 28 November 2024
Bob Doris
Mr Birt, do you want to come in briefly? I am conscious that we have explored data a bit and that Ms Smith is definitely going to ask more questions on it.
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee [Draft]
Meeting date: 26 November 2024
Bob Doris
I will follow up on some of the matters that Mark Ruskell was pursuing, including the narrow list of individual bodies that could make a complaint in relation to a breach under a land management plan. A possible expanded role for the land and communities commissioner, which is to be quite limited at present, was mentioned.
I will split my question into two parts. I want to think about a proactive role that the land and communities commissioner could have in an area of prevention. Would work to encourage best practice in the development of land management plans be something that the commissioner would be well placed to support, perhaps by identifying and sharing best practice where it becomes evident, and by identifying thematic areas of weaknesses in plans? As the bill stands, I am not sure that the land and communities commissioner would be empowered to do that. Would that be a positive thing?
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee [Draft]
Meeting date: 26 November 2024
Bob Doris
It is worth putting on the record that I think that all committee members want to see a commissioner who works in partnership with landowners across the country and whose first approach will be not to identify breaches and look at sanctions but to build up the relationship. However, it may be beneficial for them to have that explicit power.
My final question is about whether the obligation on landowners is simply to produce a land management plan, irrespective of its quality or whether it is complied with in a meaningful way. We have heard reference to that already. For clarity, proposed new section 44B(3)(c) of the 2016 act requires the land management plan to set out how
“the owner is complying or intends to comply with ... the obligations set out in the regulations”,
and proposed new section 44E allows specific persons to allege that there has been a
“breach of an obligation imposed by regulations under section 44A”.
The fact that I am asking this question might lead to the conclusion. Is the drafting adequately clear to ensure that there are obligations to produce and to comply with a land management plan? If not, what suggestions do you have about how we can improve that section of the bill?
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee [Draft]
Meeting date: 26 November 2024
Bob Doris
The reason for asking that is that we want all of you to turn Ferguson Marine around. We want you to win more orders and we want you to diversify. I am trying to get you to put on the record where Ferguson Marine is now, so that we can give confidence to people—not to the parliamentary committee that is scrutinising the matter, but to future investors and future partners, because we want you to win those contracts. Could the troubles that you have been through make you better prepared, and fitter and leaner in order to win contracts? How can you assure us that you are now getting it right?
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee [Draft]
Meeting date: 26 November 2024
Bob Doris
As well as the structural need to modernise the yard, reputation and confidence have come up time and again as the biggest barriers. Clearly, the best way to rebuild reputation and confidence is to meet the new deadlines that have been set, within the cost envelopes that are forecast. Bluntly, that has been the challenge for years. On the basis that, given a fair wind, you nail this, what can others do—not Ferguson Marine—to help to rebuild reputation and confidence and to be a good friend to Ferguson Marine? We want the yard to be a success. The question is not about all the things that we know you need to do internally and that you have to be accountable for as an organisation. What can others do to assist?
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee [Draft]
Meeting date: 26 November 2024
Bob Doris
Thank you.
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee [Draft]
Meeting date: 26 November 2024
Bob Doris
Okay. That is clear. Mr Combe, will you comment?
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee [Draft]
Meeting date: 26 November 2024
Bob Doris
Okay. I appreciate that. Calum, will you comment?
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee [Draft]
Meeting date: 26 November 2024
Bob Doris
I have no further questions, convener. I stress that I do not anticipate that most landowners would produce such a plan, but when we legislate, we have to legislate for not only the best landowners but those who might be remiss in meeting their obligations in that regard. It is important to put that on the record.