The Scottish Parliament

The Official Report team
The Scottish Parliament is the unicameral, devolved Parliament of Scotland, which was established in 1999. The authoritative record of proceedings is known as the Official Report.

The Official Report staff is made up of 24 reporters, eight sub-editors and the head of the Official Report, assisted by a two-person administrative support team. Our FTE staff complement is about 31.

​​Reporting committee meetings
Committee meetings are logged, usually by pairs of reporters. Turns and sections are then picked up by reporters and sub-editors. Each committee is the responsibility of a specific sub-editor. The aim is to publish all reports of committee meetings as soon as possible, to meet a prioritised publication schedule, which changes each week.

The publishing process
​Sub-editors work on sections of copy of between 10 and 20 minutes. One sub-editor acts as the duty editor for each meeting, with responsibility for providing procedural and style guidance and for publishing sections, once finalised, and then the final draft of the Official Report.

Contact details
​Official Report
​Scottish Parliament
Edinburgh, EH99 1SP
Tel: 0131 348 5447
Email: [email protected]​

​Reporting plenary meetings
​Meetings of the full Parliament are published on a rolling schedule, with the complete report published 3.5 hours after the meeting ends. Reporters work on a list of 15 and spend 10 minutes in the reporting booth for each five-minute turn, including acting as a checknote for the reporter immediately ahead of them. Reporters have 65 minutes to hand a turn to the sub-editors before they need to be back in the chamber for their next turn.​

Find out more
on the Official Report web pages.
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​We also have the Editor’s Picks blog, which aims to give readers a flavour of what has recently been discussed in the Scottish Parliament.

Photos © Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body