COVID-19 Committee

Meeting date: Thursday, March 11, 2021

Official Report 548KB pdf

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Annual Report 2020-21

We move on to agenda item 4, which is consideration of our draft annual report for the parliamentary year from 12 May 2020 to 4 May 2021. I invite comments from members.

It is a good report.

The Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution, Europe and External Affairs and Jason Leitch have appeared in support of the committee a substantial number of times, and I was hoping that members might agree to recognise that in the text. I am having a look through the report, but I cannot see anything that might reflect that sentiment. I am hopeful that members would agree to recognise the substantial nature of the support that both of them have given to the committee.

That is an excellent point. The clerks will note your comment, and any others. It is entirely feasible for us to acknowledge that. There will be some further minor changes, just to update the witness numbers and to clarify any typographical errors. I think that we can easily include a line along the lines that you have suggested—that is a good point. I note that Annabelle Ewing agrees with that.

John Mason has indicated that he has a comment on paragraph 59.

It is just to say that that paragraph answers Willie Coffey’s point. It refers to the number of times that Mike Russell and Jason Leitch have come before the committee. We could perhaps add something about how much we have appreciated that.

Yes—it is important to acknowledge their attendance beyond simply stating how many times they have attended. It would be right to put in a brief line about our appreciation for their consistent attendance at the committee. If anyone disagrees with that, please let me know now, but I think that it is a good point well made.

I agree with the comments that have been made. I recognise not only that the cabinet secretary and his officials, and Jason Leitch, in particular, have attended almost every week, but that they have been very good at following up questions with written answers when they have not been able to give the information on the day. We have all had to work at pace.

It is a good report, and it is good to see the range of witnesses mentioned, as well as the important contribution of the citizens panel.

I thank all the members who have served on the committee at various times. In particular, I thank the clerks, who are often unseen as they work behind the scenes, and everyone who has been involved with broadcasting. We have met a huge number of times and we have had long meetings. There have been some technical issues along the way, but I think that we have been able to be really inclusive and to capture the views of the public, which is really important. I am grateful to everyone who has been on the committee. The report is a good reflection of the work that has been done.

Thank you, Monica. I echo those sentiments.

I agree with those comments from Monica Lennon. The committee has made substantial progress in the past six months. In particular, bringing in independent advisers has led to real progress, as we have deepened our understanding as a committee and increased our ability to scrutinise Government.

The work that the Parliament continues to do on deliberative democracy, which includes bringing in the citizens assembly and citizens panels, is really worth while. I think that that is an area that the whole Parliament needs to continue to reflect on.

The Government’s commitment to come in every week and be placed under scrutiny has been important. That is what Governments should do, but I am appreciative of the time commitment that has been made for that, particularly by Mike Russell and Professor Leitch.

The annual report, which is good, captures the fact that we have started to take a forward look at things. Previously, the committee was perhaps quite reactive—for example, in looking at made affirmative regulations—but we have started to look at long-term strategy for how we deal with pandemics such as Covid.

The committee has had to learn a lot in the past year, but it has done some fantastic work. If we have to meet once or twice during the recess in order to continue the scrutiny, that is just something that we will need to do.

I concur with all the points that the convener, Monica Lennon and Mark Ruskell have made. It is important that we recognise the work that goes on behind the scenes, led by Sigrid Robinson and her team, because we could not do our work without them.

Mark Ruskell made an interesting point about the forward-looking nature of our work. We have had some interesting discussions on the citizens panel. That is part of the forward-looking approach that we take in this Parliament, which is inclusive.

The committee has done good work in the past year, and I have enjoyed being a member of it. I wish the committee well in the next session. I thank everyone who has taken part and the clerking team that has supported us so well. Thank you, everybody.

I entirely agree with the comments from colleagues. Another important point to stress is that the committee has given members of the public the opportunity to follow some complicated issues in more detail, week by week. That is really important when we are all struggling to deal with the various strands that have come to the fore as a result of the pandemic.

I, too, thank everybody who has made that possible, including all those behind the scenes, the clerks and broadcasting. Otherwise, we would just be talking to ourselves, which would not necessarily be a good thing.

I note that Stuart McMillan has commented on Mark Ruskell’s point about looking forward.

Our clerks will note those remarks and, if we require to amend the annual report in any way, that will be done.

Maurice Corry has another quick point.

I think that we have all noticed that, more and more, the committee’s deliberations are being broadcast. We have seen references to the committee nearly every week. That shows how valuable the committee is.

Thank you, Maurice. I agree that it is a valuable committee.

As all members who wish to comment have done so, I invite members to agree to the committee’s annual report and to delegate final sign-off of the report to me as convener. If any member disagrees, they should type N in the chat box.

I note that no member disagrees, so we will proceed along those lines.