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 1148 contributions
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Health, Social Care and Sport Committee [Draft]
Right to Addiction Recovery (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
Meeting date: 18 March 2025
Emma Harper
You talked about substances with regard to the bill not being intended to be about nicotine, but the previous panel talked about future proofing. We are now seeing evidence of young people vaping at levels such that nicotine is affecting their sleep, their attendance at school and their health. Should nicotine be included in the bill?
Health, Social Care and Sport Committee [Draft]
Right to Addiction Recovery (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
Meeting date: 18 March 2025
Emma Harper
A range of treatment options are set out in the bill. Do you think that the bill effectively integrates harm reduction approaches within the proposed options?
Health, Social Care and Sport Committee [Draft]
Right to Addiction Recovery (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
Meeting date: 18 March 2025
Emma Harper
A lot of work has already been invested in the MAT standards and the alcohol and drug partnerships. That work is complex and requires trauma-informed practice, and there is variation according to the individual circumstances that have led someone to seek, or not seek, assistance to either reduce harm or pursue abstinence. Will the MAT standards still work under the bill, or will they have to be ripped up in favour of something else?
09:45Health, Social Care and Sport Committee [Draft]
Right to Addiction Recovery (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
Meeting date: 18 March 2025
Emma Harper
I am thinking about people in rural areas. What if someone didnae want to go to their GP or speak to a pharmacist because in small rural places everybody knows everyone’s business? What effect would the bill have on individuals who are seeking treatment but who do not want to go to their GP or a health professional?
Health, Social Care and Sport Committee [Draft]
Subordinate Legislation
Meeting date: 18 March 2025
Emma Harper
Good morning, cabinet secretary. First, I declare an interest as a former employee of NHS Dumfries and Galloway who worked in the operating room department and perianaesthesia area. As such, I know that safe staffing is always considered in intensive care; whether there is one-to-one or one-to-two staffing depends on the number of people who have been ventilated and intubated. All of that is taken into consideration. It is my understanding, too, that in NHS Dumfries and Galloway, which is an example that I know, people meet three times a day to look at the staffing and the templates, which they use as guidance; to think about and assess patient acuity—that is, how sick the patients are; and then to make adjustments and decisions on that basis.
Just to be clear, as all of those templates across the NHS in Scotland are assessed and implemented, will we be able to look at the reports that are generated to see what is working well in one place versus what has not worked as well in another? Is that the plan with publishing the reports?
Health, Social Care and Sport Committee [Draft]
Subordinate Legislation
Meeting date: 18 March 2025
Emma Harper
Is a risk assessment part of that whole process of planning?
Health, Social Care and Sport Committee [Draft]
Right to Addiction Recovery (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
Meeting date: 18 March 2025
Emma Harper
Okay. Thank you.
Health, Social Care and Sport Committee [Draft]
Right to Addiction Recovery (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
Meeting date: 18 March 2025
Emma Harper
I am interested in what the panel has said about there being lots of pathways for people, and Lyndsey Turfus has mentioned housing and all the other things for which people need referrals. I am thinking about the challenges that face people in rural areas, where everybody knows you. When you walk into a GP practice, it is as if people know, suspect or understand why you are there. Indeed, a person who lives in a rural area who has a substance use disorder might well not go to their GP or take a medical route. Would the bill impact on people who seek treatment through alternative approaches?
Health, Social Care and Sport Committee [Draft]
Right to Addiction Recovery (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
Meeting date: 18 March 2025
Emma Harper
Our briefing from the Scottish Parliament information centre refers to the charter of patient rights and responsibilities. That already exists, and people already have a right to seek a second opinion. Would the bill build on that? Is it required? Rights to access person-centred treatment already exist. We know that, when people who are being harmed by alcohol or drugs are treated, it can take years for them to recover, and it is complicated. We know that engaging people has to be about partnership, collaboration and building relationships. Given that patient rights already exist, does the bill not muddy the waters?
Rural Affairs and Islands Committee [Draft]
A Climate Transition for Scottish Agriculture
Meeting date: 12 March 2025
Emma Harper
What is the reason for the reduction in beef cattle? The climate emergency was declared in Scotland in April 2019, but you say that the reduction in beef cattle has been happening for 20 years. Is there more than one reason why the number of beef cattle has been reduced? Is it a global thing, or is it just local to Scotland? What is going on?
