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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Displaying 847 contributions
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Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee
Subordinate Legislation
Meeting date: 1 November 2022
Jenny Gilruth
I have probably said enough already this morning, convener.
Motion moved,
That the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee recommends that the Pavement Parking Prohibition (Exemption Orders Procedure) (Scotland) Regulations 2022 [draft] be approved.
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee
Subordinate Legislation
Meeting date: 1 November 2022
Jenny Gilruth
Exemptions for goods delivery vehicles are already set out in the act. There is a 20-minute limit on the delivery of goods. There is also an exemption for emergency vehicles and I think that one other type of vehicle also falls into that category.
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee
Subordinate Legislation
Meeting date: 1 November 2022
Jenny Gilruth
Thank you for inviting me today to provide evidence on the draft Pavement Parking Prohibition (Exemption Orders Procedure) (Scotland) Regulations 2022.
As the committee will be aware, the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 already gives local authorities the relevant powers to exempt areas of footway from the pavement parking prohibitions. It also confers powers on Scottish ministers to make detailed provisions for the process that local authorities should follow when making, amending or revoking such exemption orders.
In line with commitments that were made when Parliament approved the 2019 act, the regulations were laid in Parliament last month, and the SSI, which is technical in nature, sets out the framework that local authorities must follow. Putting the regulations in place will support local authorities’ decision making by providing a consistent, fair and transparent process for all to follow when making exemption orders, and they are needed to give local authorities a detailed procedure for putting such orders in place where they deem appropriate and in line with the powers in the 2019 act.
In setting out the procedures, my officials have consulted the parking standards stakeholder working group, which consists of all 32 local authorities and other interested parties, and the group’s input has been really vital in shaping the regulations that are under discussion. As well as those views, we received 626 responses to the public consultation, the findings of which were published in June, and those comments have shaped the regulations, too.
It is important to stress that inconsistent, obstructive or dangerous parking can and does cause serious problems for everyone, and it puts the safety of pedestrians and, often, other motorists at risk. The pavement parking prohibitions, therefore, are aimed at promoting, supporting and advancing the rights of pedestrians to ensure that our pavements and roads are accessible to all.
Local authorities are best placed to make informed decisions on the management of their local road network, and the implementation of the regulations will allow them to complete their road assessment process and to determine appropriate exemptions to the ban that suit the needs of pedestrians and road users alike. There will be a period of around 12 months before the commencement of the enforcement regulations to give local authorities time to review any initial exemptions that they wish to put in place before they can undertake any enforcement action. Funding of £2.4 million has already been issued to local authorities over the past two years to allow the assessments to take place, and my officials will, of course, keep in touch with local authorities in order to gather information on the number of exemption orders that are likely to be promoted before they can start to issue penalty charge notices in late 2023.
It is also worth saying that Transport Scotland will be undertaking a significant awareness-raising campaign in the lead-up to the implementation of the new prohibitions and potential exemptions. The initial market research and design work for the campaign has already started, with the aim of going live in late 2023. That will ensure that the public are aware that they are permitted to park in areas where the local council has made an exemption order and that such areas will be clearly signed and lined.
I am happy to answer the committee’s questions on the content of the regulations.
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee
Subordinate Legislation
Meeting date: 1 November 2022
Jenny Gilruth
I am satisfied. I might bring in my officials to talk about the history of the 2019 act, which you will appreciate pre-dates my time in office, but, as you know, the act introduced the national ban. What we are discussing today is the technical procedure that local authorities must follow. I will ask my officials to talk about the historical background of the definition that you have alluded to.
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee
Subordinate Legislation
Meeting date: 1 November 2022
Jenny Gilruth
In relation to the national marketing campaign, I discussed that with officials yesterday. I have mentioned that the market research behind that is already under way. I do not have the budget line in front of me, but I am more than happy to write to the committee, if it would like to have evidence on the budget line that is associated with the campaign. The campaign is under way, so there will be an associated budget line.
On messaging, local authorities have a responsibility to consult their local communities and to carry out an equalities impact assessment. They can also use social media to promote the changes through different forums. No budget is associated with that per se, but I mentioned in my response to Mark Ruskell that there is £2.4 million-worth of funding to support local authorities with the assessment and implementation of the changes.
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee
Subordinate Legislation
Meeting date: 1 November 2022
Jenny Gilruth
I am satisfied.
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee
Subordinate Legislation
Meeting date: 1 November 2022
Jenny Gilruth
I take on board your point, convener; that is a vast area of Scotland. In the regulations, there is the power for local authorities to decide for themselves how to administer any hearings process; it is not for Government to dictate.
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee
Subordinate Legislation
Meeting date: 1 November 2022
Jenny Gilruth
Some local authorities are further ahead on that than others. Some are obviously waiting for the regulations to come into force, as I hope they will following our discussion. That is why we have built in that 12-month period to allow local authorities to get it right.
The second point is that we have already provided £2.4 million of funding to local authorities in relation to signing and lining. I hope that that will help with regard to the specifics of Mark Ruskell’s point, but that is obviously a matter for local authorities to determine, recognising that they will be the best people to decide what is right for their local communities. Donald Morrison may want to say more; I see that he is indicating that.
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee
Subordinate Legislation
Meeting date: 1 November 2022
Jenny Gilruth
The other thing to say is that, although we will be running a national campaign, local authorities have a responsibility to ensure that their local communities know that the changes are coming into force. Bluntly, there will have to be a sea change in parking behaviour and local authorities and Government need to be part of driving that. The market research behind our publicity campaign at national level is already under way, and we hope to bring that forward, further into 2023, to get the public ready for the changes.
Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee
Subordinate Legislation
Meeting date: 1 November 2022
Jenny Gilruth
I am happy to do so. It is worth saying that more regulations are coming forward on the parking ban. This instrument is the first part of the jigsaw.
