Chamber and committees

The news broke of deep concern about the Queen’s health as we all sat in the chamber for First Minister’s question time on Thursday 8 September. Parliamentary business continued throughout the rest of the day, although there was a quiet and sombre atmosphere of concern as we watched journalists don black ties and as TV stations changed to rolling news.

I was driving home from Parliament on Thursday evening when the official sad news of the death of Her Majesty the Queen was announced at 6.30. That will be one of those times that people never forget where they were, who they were with and what they were doing. It was a moment in history. The late Queen had always been a constant in our lives, and it was the end of an era.

It is right that we reflect on and celebrate the Queen’s exceptional public service over her reign of 70 years, not only in Scotland but around the world, where she touched many hearts. I will pay tribute, on behalf of my constituents, to times when the Queen visited my corner of the world—Ayr, Prestwick and Troon—and left lasting memories for many.

On 3 July 1956, the Queen arrived by train at Troon station. She visited many locations across Ayrshire and met dignitaries at the county buildings and on the Low Green in Ayr. On 27 March 1991, the Queen and Prince Philip attended an event that was hosted by Jackie Stewart at British Aerospace at Prestwick, when the Jetstream 41 was rolled out. It was the first plane to be designed and built in Scotland. As we know, that was the beginning of great things for Prestwick airport and its surrounding area, which is now a global leader in the aerospace industry and aerospace technology.

On 5 July 1995, the Queen, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, visited Burns cottage in Alloway and opened the Tam o’ Shanter Experience, before inspecting a guard of honour by the Ayrshire yeomanry. The Queen then attended a civic lunch that was held at Ayr town hall.

The Queen’s love of horse-racing is renowned. Only months ago, as we celebrated the platinum jubilee, several trees were planted at Ayr racecourse to mark the event. As those trees grow, they will serve as a reminder and a symbol of the Queen’s legacy, which will continue way after her death.

The Queen had a deep and genuine affection for Scotland and her Scottish roots; in fact, her bloodline can be traced back to an Ayrshire woman of tremendous strength and determination—Marjorie, Countess of Carrick. She was the mother of Robert the Bruce, who held his Parliament in Ayr in 1315. The Queen’s deep love, affection and respect for Scotland have been evident in the major role that the Queen wanted Scotland to play in the mourning period, as we have seen in the past two weeks.

On her 21st birthday, Her Majesty vowed that her life would be dedicated to serving the nation and the Commonwealth, and she kept that promise to the very end. Hers was a life dedicated to public service over 70 years, showing unwavering strength, dignity, respect and grace at all times—qualities that we should all reflect on, and the likes of which we may never see again. May you now rest in peace.

Good morning and welcome to the 19th meeting in 2022 of the COVID-19 Recovery Committee. The committee has agreed to focus its pre-budget scrutiny on how the Scottish Government plans to fund its Covid recovery strategy and the on-going costs that are associated with the pandemic, as set out in the Covid-19 strategic framework.

Today, we will focus on the strategic framework. I welcome our witnesses: Richard Robinson, who is a senior manager at Audit Scotland; Mary Morgan, who is chief executive, and Carolyn Low, who is director of finance, at NHS National Services Scotland; Dr Nick Phin, who is the organisational lead for strategic engagement and policy at Public Health Scotland; and Dr Graham Foster, who is director of public health at NHS Forth Valley and chair of the Scottish Directors of Public Health Group. Thank you for giving us your time this morning.

Each member will have approximately 15 minutes to ask questions. We should be okay for time, but if time runs on too much, I apologise in advance for having to interrupt members or witnesses in the interests of brevity. I ask the witnesses to briefly introduce themselves and their organisations.

That brings me on to my next question. The resource spending review indicated that the total pay bill will be held at 2022-23 levels, although we know that the pay levels will increase. At the moment, from the latest data that we have, the vacancy rate is 7.7 per cent for medical and dental consultants, and 8.7 per cent in nursing and midwifery. In addition, the sickness rate in the NHS overall is 5.7 per cent, when the target is 4 per cent. How feasible is it for the NHS and public health services to reduce staff?

We are slightly off topic. The Health, Social Care and Sport Committee is considering NHS reform, and we are more focused on the Covid recovery strategy.

Brian, do you want to ask another question before we move on?

Agenda item 2 is consideration of a negative instrument. Members should refer to paper 3, which sets out the background. The deadline for a motion to annul the regulations is 30 October 2022. Members will see from the paper that no motion to annul has been lodged to date. Do members have any comments on the regulations?

The committee’s next meeting will be on Thursday 15 September, when we will continue taking evidence as part of our pre-budget scrutiny.

That concludes the public part of the meeting.

Thank you. We are out of time for this part of the meeting, so I thank all the witnesses for their evidence today and for giving us their time. If witnesses would like to raise any further evidence with the committee, they can do so in writing, and the clerks will be happy to liaise with them on how to do that.

Absolutely—that is a valid point.

Okay. We will have the Deputy First Minister with us on 29 September, so members can raise the matter then if they feel that we need to take evidence on the regulations.

Do members agree that we are content and have no recommendation to make on the regulations?

Members indicated agreement.

We have just enough time for a very brief question from Brian Whittle.