Thank you for inviting me to take part in the meeting. I will make a short statement about the report and about the process in which we are presently engaged.
As the committee will know, the first report on the use of the emergency powers in the Coronavirus (Scotland) Act 2020—the first Scottish coronavirus act—and the Coronavirus Act 2020, to which the Scottish Parliament gave legislative consent, was laid and published on 9 June. I made a statement on the report in the chamber that afternoon. That marked the beginning of our reporting process: with new measures having been put in place, new monitoring and reporting arrangements were established, or were in the process of being established, to support what we were trying to do.
We have committed to continuing to develop our reporting arrangements in partnership with the COVID-19 Committee and the Parliament, and I welcome this opportunity to appear before the committee and take questions on the report and on that process. We are here to discuss the first report, but time marches on and we will soon be turning our attention to preparations for the second report, which will be due following the end of the second reporting period on 31 July.
It might be helpful if, in advance of the recess, I give some indication of the timings of the process, as far as we are able to do so. Our assumption is that the timescale for our second report will be broadly similar to that for the first report with regard to submission to Parliament following the end of the reporting period. On that basis, it is my expectation that, with the Parliament’s agreement, we will lay our second report and make a statement on it in the week beginning 10 August, which is the week that we return from recess.
Today’s evidence session is taking place in the context of Scotland having entered into phase 2 of the route map. As the First Minister set out last week, the progress that the country has made during the period of lockdown has allowed restrictions to begin to be lifted. We published an update to the route map last week. The First Minister indicated that we will move as quickly as possible, as the evidence allows, to lift further restrictions as soon as we can. Indeed, the Deputy First Minister made welcome announcements about schools yesterday that reflected the progress that has been and is being made in suppressing the virus. I expect that, later today, the First Minister will have more to say on delivery of the route map.
The regulations that I am giving evidence on today cover some of, but not all, the phase 2 changes. Further regulations will be made to reflect subsequent relaxations of restrictions in phase 2 and in future phases. Inevitably, as the committee is aware, those changes will be made during recess. In the light of that fact, I want to make it clear that, should the committee decide that it would be useful and important to meet at any stage over the parliamentary recess to consider subsequent regulations, I would, of course, make myself available to the committee.