Chamber and committees

Thank you for those answers.

I want to bring in the other witnesses with my next question, which is on the connecting Scotland programme, the joint digital strategy between the Scottish Government and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities that seeks to ensure that nobody is left behind and that people have access to the internet.

Let me give you an example. Several months ago, a constituent got in touch with me about digital exclusion. Unfortunately, she suffered a stroke seven years ago and is now registered blind. She likes to be self-reliant and pays privately for care, but she was becoming increasingly frustrated by being told to do everything online. When she wanted to do some shopping, when she tried to phone the council or when she wanted to book something, she was told to do it online instead, but, when she got in touch with me, she had no access to a computer or the internet. We have since been able to get her a talking laptop.

How do we ensure that people such as my constituent, who might not be on the radar of the council or social services, are not excluded and left behind? What can local authorities and other public bodies do to counter digital exclusion in the move to digital delivery? Are the affected bodies organised in the best way to achieve that, and do they have the necessary capacity and skills?

I know that that is a lot of questions in one. I will bring in Mairi Millar first.

We have lost you. We have a bit of a technical issue.

I think that Renfrewshire has been very proactive on this, and perhaps other local authorities can learn lessons from it.

As members have no more questions, I thank the witnesses for their evidence and their time this morning. If you want to provide the committee with any further evidence, you can do so in writing. The clerks will be happy to liaise with you on that.

At the committee’s next meeting, on 31 March, we will conclude our evidence taking on the Coronavirus (Recovery and Reform) (Scotland) Bill at stage 1 with the Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Covid Recovery. We will also consider the outcome of the next ministerial statement on Covid-19.

That concludes the public part of this morning’s meeting. We now move in private for the next agenda item.

Good morning, and welcome to the 10th meeting in 2022 of the COVID-19 Recovery Committee.

As this week marks the two-year anniversary of the first Covid-19 lockdown, I will take a moment to acknowledge those who have sadly lost a loved one to Covid-19 and to reflect on the many challenges that individuals and wider society have faced over the past two years in dealing with the pandemic.

Although we banged our pots and clapped on our doorsteps in appreciation of the national health service, it is important to acknowledge that, this week, our NHS has never been under so much pressure. Yesterday, there were more than 2,257 people with Covid in hospital and more than 5,000 NHS staff absences. We all appreciate how difficult that situation is for our NHS and, on behalf of the committee, I offer our heartfelt thanks for the health service’s on-going work in such challenging circumstances.

This morning, the committee will continue to take evidence on the Coronavirus (Recovery and Reform) (Scotland) Bill at stage 1. I welcome to the meeting Adam Stachura, head of policy and communications at Age Scotland; Douglas Hendry, executive director at Argyll and Bute Council; Fiona Blair, president of the Association of Registrars of Scotland; Mairi Millar, head of licensing and democratic services at Glasgow City Council; and David McNeill, director of development at the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations. Thank you for giving us your time this morning.

The focus of today’s meeting is the remote delivery of public services, where that is enabled under part 3 of the bill. Each member of the committee will have approximately 12 minutes to ask questions of the panel. We should be okay for time this morning, but I apologise in advance if, in the interests of keeping us to time, I have to interrupt members or witnesses.

I will start the questioning by asking about digital exclusion. The Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations has noted that

“1.5 million more people have started using the internet in the UK since 2020”.

A recent Scottish household survey report has shown that, at the moment, 93 per cent of households have access to the internet and 92 per cent of adults use it. However, deprivation is a significant factor, with only 87 per cent of households in our most deprived areas having access to the internet.

I am concerned about how the cost of living crisis will hit households. With extra costs averaging at about £3,000 a year, people will start to decide to spend their money on, say, heating and food instead and, as a result, more people might become digitally excluded. What other risks might arise with the move to the digital delivery of public services? That question is for Adam Stachura, first of all.

Thank you. There are some very good points in there.

I welcome the Deputy First Minister and his supporting officials, Professor Jason Leitch, the national clinical director; Greig Walker, the Coronavirus (Recovery and Reform) (Scotland) Bill team leader; Elizabeth Blair, the unit head for Covid co-ordination; and Stewart Cunningham, a Scottish Government lawyer, who joins us online.

As members will have seen, following the First Minister’s statement on Tuesday, the Minister for Parliamentary Business has written to the committee. In his letter, the minister explains which legislation the Scottish Government is revoking in the light of the statement. I draw the letter to members’ attention, as those changes affect the secondary legislation on our agenda.

I invite the Deputy First Minister to make some brief opening remarks before we move to questions.

Brian Whittle has a question, after which we will move on to agenda item 3.

Thank you, Deputy First Minister.

I will ask the first question. With numbers still high in Scotland—the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care told us that this week could be one of the worst weeks from the point of view of pressure on the NHS—and concerns being raised in relation to the reduction in funding for certain Covid-19-related studies and data collection exercises from the end of March, including the ZOE Covid symptom study and the SARS-CoV-2 immunity and reinfection evaluation, or SIREN, and Vivaldi studies, which monitor infections in health workers and in care homes, Dr Stephen Griffin, who is a virologist at the University of Leeds, said that the decisions by the UK Government on Covid surveillance would

“slow the country’s ability to respond and adjust to future waves or surges of infection”

or new variants.

Deputy First Minister, do you feel comfortable with the UK Government’s current approach?

The result of the division is: For 4, Against 2, Abstentions 0.

Motions agreed to.