Chamber and committees

Will the Scottish Government give assurances that the testing kits for people who have to do self-testing before travelling overseas from Scotland will be supplied by Scottish suppliers?

Thank you, John, and I thank the committee. It is a true honour to be elected as convener of a really important committee. We should all take comfort from the fact that at least the word “Recovery” is in its name. We are all acutely aware of the responsibility that we have in our roles on the committee, not only to the Parliament but to all people in Scotland, as we work our way through the journey of recovery. I am really looking forward to working with the clerks and with all members of the committee.

You have raised some valid points.

I go back to the suggestion about reconvening during the recess. As we know, the situation with Covid is fluid. I hope that we will not be called back, but do members agree that, should an emergency situation arise, we could reconvene during the recess?

Everybody seems to be happy with that suggestion. I will speak to the clerks about that, and they will be in touch with members.

Would members like to make any other comments?

Agenda item 3 is to choose the deputy convener. In accordance with motion S6M-00393, the Parliament has agreed that a member of the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party shall be nominated for the post of deputy convener. I invite a member of that party to nominate a candidate.

Congratulations, Murdo. I know that you bring a wealth of experience to the committee. I welcome you, and I look forward to our working together.

Thank you, and good morning to the committee. As per my entry in the register of members’ interests, I am a councillor at South Ayrshire Council and, until I resigned on 7 May, I was a part-time caseworker for Allan Dorans, the member of Parliament for Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock.

I agree with that. I wonder whether that is where there might be a bit of a blur between the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee and us. However, I am sure that the clerks will point us in the right direction with regard to our remit.

No member has indicated that they wish to contribute further, so I thank you for all your comments. We all agree to hold a business planning session and to take evidence from the Deputy First Minister in due course. The clerks will take note of the suggestions for the business planning day and will provide further information and arrangements to members in due course.

That concludes the first meeting of the COVID-19 Recovery Committee.

Thank you, Murdo.

Agenda item 4 is consideration of our approach to developing a work programme. The clerks and the Scottish Parliament information centre have provided some background information on the committee’s remit. Members have also been provided with a copy of the session 5 COVID-19 Committee’s legacy report.

Members will have seen that there is a suggestion that we delay making longer-term plans on the committee’s work programme until after the summer recess, when we will know more about the priorities of other committees for their scrutiny of Scotland’s Covid recovery and about the Covid situation more generally.

In the meantime, there are in paper 3 two action points on the work programme for the committee to consider. There is a suggestion that we may wish to hear from the Cabinet Secretary for Covid Recovery in early course after the summer recess. The purpose of that session would be to receive an update on the Scottish Government’s priorities and commitments for responding to Covid-19. The other suggestion is that the clerks arrange a business planning session towards the end of the summer recess, during which we could explore in more detail our remit and priorities for scrutiny.

I invite members to comment on those two suggestions and to provide any other general comments about our remit or areas that they may wish the committee to explore further in future business planning sessions. I ask Murdo Fraser, as deputy convener, to go first.

We all long for the day when the bill will expire in its entirety and our lives will get back on track. No one will ever forget the fear, uncertainty and sense of unknown of what was ahead of us back in March 2020 when the world went into lockdown. There was no guidebook on how to handle a pandemic on such a huge global scale, and Governments around the world did their best to steer their countries through one of the most difficult times that any of us has ever known.

Thankfully, we have come a long way since March 2020, but coronavirus continues to pose a significant threat to public health. That is why it is still so important that our priority is to lead Scotland out of the pandemic and reopen the country as quickly and safely as possible.

I am sure that other elected members receive correspondence from people who are keen to get their lives back to normal and are frustrated by restrictions not being lifted quickly enough. We all want our lives to be back to normal: we want our kids back at school, carefree and enjoying their lives as they should; we want our businesses truly without restrictions; and we all want to go on holiday. However, the stark reality is that Covid is still with us and is still a threat.

Covid-19 is ageist, sexist, ruthless, dispassionate and opportunistic—as we have seen from the new variants emerging in recent months. Many of us have lost loved ones to this cruel pandemic and families have been devastated. Recently, I met a grieving constituent from Ayr, whose family had been torn apart by Covid-19. Lee Dodds from Ayr, aged 32, his wife and children all contracted coronavirus in March 2021. Lee was a fit and healthy hard-working man who had never been in hospital in his life. Tragically, Lee lost his life on 2 April, leaving behind his wife, a 10-year-old son and a six-year-old daughter. The family asked me to remind everyone that Covid is still a concern and to say, “Don’t think it won’t happen to you. Please stay safe.”

The bill is welcome and will ensure that the provisions to maintain essential public services can continue beyond 30 September, on our road to recovery. There is no quick fix for a pandemic, but we have learned lessons in the past 15 months. The bill will not add any new measures to restrictions, but will expire several provisions that are no longer necessary. That is progress in the right direction.

In what has been a difficult year for so many people, we have also learned about resilience, innovation and the importance of support within the community. I have been out in my constituency in recent weeks, talking to local businesses. In what we cannot deny has been a very difficult time for them, many have come up with innovative ways to trade and to work with restrictions in a positive way. It is of huge importance to those businesses to keep their staff and the general public safe. Many businesses have chosen to close for a period if they were at risk of an outbreak. Times continue to be tough, but there is optimism and responsibility and care for the local community, which is admirable.

Although we are on the long road to recovery, I still have concerns for our youth, who have suffered greatly during the pandemic. Thankfully, we have some routine back in our lives, and the dark days of attempting to home school, with even the play parks being closed for our young ones, are becoming a distant memory.

However, life is not back to normal for children. With the new variant, schools continue to have outbreaks and many students in recent months have had to isolate up to three times, for 10 days each time. That absence from school has a further hugely detrimental impact on our children’s education. It is not easy days for them and it is not easy days for teachers, who are working to the best of their ability in the most challenging of circumstances.

With South Ayrshire reporting a high number of positive cases in recent weeks, our local schools have had to put in place preventative measures to contain the spread. I understand the frustration of parents, as we all wish that life could get back to normal, but I must applaud those who have gone way and beyond to adapt and to make all the special occasions, such as our kids’ nursery graduations, as magical and memorable as possible for our students.

My five-year-old leaves nursery this week. Unfortunately, her primary 1 induction day was cancelled due to a local outbreak, and her first ever sports day was videoed by the team of dedicated teachers, who captured every moment and sent the video to all the parents. It is not everybody’s first preference, but the extraordinary efforts that are being made during these times by teachers cannot and should not be dismissed.

Although the pandemic is not over, the efforts that have been made by people all over Scotland since March last year and the success of the roll-out of the vaccination programme have allowed us to be optimistic about our future. Although we have had setbacks from time to time, we have started our journey towards national recovery. Now more than ever, it is important that all political parties across the chamber put the interests of the country first in order to guide Scotland through the pandemic and into recovery, so I will support the bill today.