Official Report: search what was said in Parliament
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.
Searching by different views
The web version of the Official Report has three different views:
- Report: this is the whole Official Report for a particular meeting of a committee or Parliament
- Item of business: this is each individual agenda item in an Official Report. For example, Portfolio Questions would be the item of business in a Meeting of the Parliament report
- Contribution: this is each time someone has made a spoken contribution to a meeting.
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.
Search by MSP
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.
Searching by keyword
There are two types of keyword search:
- A keyword search without quotation marks will look for every instance of each word used and rank the results by frequency and proximity. It will also include variants of the keywords using “porter stemming”. This is when the search looks for the “stem” of a word regardless of its ending. So, for example, a search for [salmon farm] will return each instance of “salmon” and each instance of “farm” as well as potentially including results for “farms”, “farmed” and “farming”.
- A keyword search with quotation marks will only return instances of that exact phrase used. So, for example, a search for “salmon farm” in quotation marks will only return instances of that exact phrase.
Combining search filters
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.
More complex keyword searches
It’s also possible to run basic Boolean searches. For example:
- a search for “salmon farm” AND “Loch Lomond” will return only results which include both exact phrases
- a search for “salmon farm” NOT “Loch Lomond” will return results for “salmon farm” but exclude results which also include “Loch Lomond”
- a search for “salmon farm” OR “Loch Lomond” will return all results for “salmon farm” and all results for “Loch Lomond” regardless of whether they appear together
Searching by date
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:
- Current session (all Official Reports since the current sessions started)
- Last 6 months
- Last 12 months
- each of the previous sessions of Parliament. (Selecting the information icon above the “Select a time period” menu will give you the exact dates for each session.)
- All sessions
- You can also choose to select a custom date range, although adding a Start or End date will mean the search automatically defaults to this option.
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.
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Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee
Continued Petitions
Meeting date: 22 February 2023
David Torrance
That is okay.
Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee
New Petitions
Meeting date: 22 February 2023
David Torrance
Perhaps Murdo Fraser would like to comment.
Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee
New Petitions
Meeting date: 22 February 2023
David Torrance
PE1991, on developing an educational resource on abortion, has been lodged by Gemma Clark. The petition calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to work with Education Scotland to develop a health-focused and stigma-challenging educational resource on abortion and make it available to all secondary schools in Scotland.
Gemma believes that it is essential for all young people to receive medically accurate and health-focused education on abortion and that challenging the stigma around abortion is also essential for a well-rounded sexual health curriculum. In a written submission in support of her petition, Gemma has also raised concerns about anti-abortion groups visiting schools, and the importance of ensuring that young people are provided with factual information regarding their healthcare.
The Scottish Government has responded to the petition, as it often does in such cases, to state that the curriculum is not mandatory. It does not, however, share details of the relationships, sexual health and parenthood resources that are available to teachers.
11:15It is noted that the resources have been developed and peer reviewed in partnership with educators, health professionals and third sector organisations, with the intention of providing young people with learning that is factual and objective and that enables them to make informed choices about their sexual health and wellbeing.
The committee has also received submissions from the Humanist Society Scotland and Scottish Teachers for Positive Change and Wellbeing, as well as a joint letter from the British Pregnancy Advisory Service and Back Off Scotland. The submissions are broadly supportive of the petition’s aim to ensure that pupils receive medically accurate and health-focused education on abortion.
Do members have any comments or suggestions?
Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee
Continued Petitions
Meeting date: 22 February 2023
David Torrance
PE1926, which was lodged by Alison Dowling, calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to expand universal free school meals provision for all nursery, primary and secondary school pupils.
When we previously considered the petition on 28 September 2022, we agreed to write to the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills seeking an update on the work that is being undertaken to expand the provision of free school meals, specifically on where priority is being given to extending the provision to pupils in secondary schools.
In response, the cabinet secretary notes that £30 million of capital funding has been allocated to support the expansion of catering and dining facilities to help plan for the expansion of free school meals to pupils in P6 and P7. The cabinet secretary also states the Government’s commitment to running a pilot of free school meals in secondary schools to support its consideration of further expansion.
Do members have any comments or suggestions?
Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee
Continued Petitions
Meeting date: 22 February 2023
David Torrance
Do we agree with those recommendations?
Members indicated agreement.
Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee
Continued Petitions
Meeting date: 22 February 2023
David Torrance
Thank you for that, colleagues. Do we agree to take that approach?
Members indicated agreement.
Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee
Continued Petitions
Meeting date: 22 February 2023
David Torrance
Just take your time. It is okay. Do not worry. You have as much time as you want.
Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee
Continued Petitions
Meeting date: 22 February 2023
David Torrance
The next item is petition PE1896, on providing every primary school child in Scotland with a reusable water bottle, which was lodged by Callum Isted. The petition calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to replace the disposable water bottles that are provided with primary school lunches with sustainable, reusable metal bottles.
We previously considered the petition at our meeting on 23 November 2022, when we agreed to invite the Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero, Energy and Transport to give evidence to the committee. We have instead the Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity, Lorna Slater, giving evidence on the petition this morning. I thank the minister for coming.
Members have a number of questions that they would like to explore, but first I believe that you have an opening statement, minister.
Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee
Continued Petitions
Meeting date: 22 February 2023
David Torrance
Thank you, minister. Several members have questions. I will start.
Has there been any further engagement with local authorities’ directors of education following the cabinet secretary’s letter regarding the issues raised in the petition?
Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee
New Petitions
Meeting date: 22 February 2023
David Torrance
Our next new petition is PE1984, on introducing the C100 form for child arrangement orders in Scotland, which has been lodged by Amy Stevenson.
The petition calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to reduce the financial barriers that prevent parents from having contact with their children by introducing a Scottish equivalent to the C100 form, with a fixed fee for making applications for child residence or child contact orders.
Members may recall that we previously considered a petition from Amy Stevenson, which focused on the provision of legal aid to parents fighting for access to their children. Amy has followed up on that petition with this call for the introduction of a form similar to the C100 form used in England and Wales when applying to the court for a child arrangement order. Amy suggests that introducing a similar form in Scotland, along with a fixed fee for submitting it, would help to reduce the financial burden on parents seeking child residence or contact orders.
In responding to the petition, the Scottish Government set out the current process for applications to the court for child residence and contact orders, and the fees associated with that.
While accepting that the current procedures for lodging writs and defences in Scotland are viewed as difficult to understand, the Scottish Government highlights a range of issues that it would require to consider before moving to a forms-based system, including criticisms that the C100 form is too lengthy and can be difficult for vulnerable applicants to complete without assistance; the fact that the form may not capture all the relevant issues for the court to consider; and concerns that a forms-based approach may not be focused on the best interests of the child. It is also noted that a forms-based process may reduce costs at the initial application stage but would not rule out the need for applicants to access legal advice at other stages of the process.
The committee has also received submissions from Shared Parenting Scotland and Claire Baker MSP, copies of which are included in our meeting papers. I briefly highlight that Shared Parenting Scotland has suggested that the introduction of a C100 form, or something similar, would remove some barriers for parents who are trying to restore or establish a schedule of contact with their children, but that wider improvements are necessary to provide support to parents in those circumstances.
Do members have any suggestions or comments???
