Chamber and committees

The Government is available for parliamentary scrutiny at all times when Parliament is sitting. Part of the dilemma relates to the point that John Mason raised. We want to provide as much opportunity as possible to see the data that allows us to make decisions. For example, in the current circumstances, we want to see the data that will allow us to lift the restrictions, if possible. There is a conflict between maximising the time that Parliament has to exercise its scrutiny function and having the opportunity to give notice to individual communities. However, we will always be available for parliamentary scrutiny.

Thank you, Presiding Officer. I welcome you to your office of Deputy Presiding Officer and offer you all good wishes.

I welcome the opportunity to open one of the first debates of the new Parliament on a topic of such importance to everyone in Scotland. The debate allows us to build on the strong commitment made by all political parties during the election period that the immediate priority for the next Government would be to lead the country through the on-going pandemic and into a fair and just recovery. The Parliament shaped our response to the virus; now there is the opportunity and the necessity for the Parliament to shape our recovery from the pandemic.

I look forward to setting out the Scottish Government’s on-going response to Covid, our approach to recovery and the immediate steps that we intend to take to bring the necessary energy and direction to that particular activity. Just as important, I welcome the opportunity to build on the commitment made by the First Minister yesterday to co-operate with all political parties to put the interests of the country first. With that in mind, I look forward to a collaborative debate on how we work together across the chamber and across sectors to realise our shared mission to build for the future.

In reappointing me as Deputy First Minister last week, the First Minister also asked me to lead the cross-Government and cross-Parliament work necessary to guide the country through the pandemic and into a recovery that supports the national health service, protects and creates employment, backs our young people and contributes to Scotland’s ambition to be a net zero nation. The recovery must take us closer to the kind of Scotland that we all want to see: a country that is more equal and that eradicates child poverty; a country where the economy guides towards a more sustainable future with jobs and opportunities for all; a country that values, protects and promotes its natural environment, cultural heritage and technological innovation; and a country that has public services that meet the needs of its citizens efficiently, effectively and with compassion.

It is a great privilege to be asked to lead that mission and a responsibility that I am determined to discharge with pace and in an inclusive way. However, it is clear that, despite our undoubted progress as a country, the pandemic is not yet over. I want to take the opportunity to express my sincere thanks and the thanks of the whole Government to all who have already committed so much to supporting the country throughout the pandemic and who continue to do so in the national health service and social care, in the police service and across the whole public sector, as well as in businesses and third sector organisations.

The past year has been difficult, stressful and heartbreaking for so many people across Scotland. We must remember those whom we have lost, as we continue to grapple with the grief and distress that comes with bereavement. Many people continue to battle the consequences of the pandemic that have impacted people’s health, social ties and livelihoods—it has been hard for so many in our country. I understand the urgency with which all of us want to get back to as normal a life as possible. Intensive care unit and hospital Covid-19 admissions remain at low levels and, in much of the country, cases remain at relatively low levels. Due to the progress that we have made in suppressing the virus, we have been able to begin cautiously easing restrictions and even to bring forward some of the easings when the data indicated that it was safe for us to do so.

We still need to be cautious, however, not least of international travel. The risk of importation of new cases and variants from international travel remains, so we are asking people to think carefully about whether they really need to travel at this particular time. As we begin to look ahead and prepare for life after the pandemic, it is essential that we continue to protect ourselves and each other from the spread of the virus.

As we have seen in Glasgow and in some other local authority areas, case numbers can quickly increase—we are not yet free of the virus. I am hopeful that, over time, we might be able to move away from the use of lockdowns and severe restrictions on our freedoms to deal with increasing cases and instead take a more targeted approach using our high-performing test and protect system, enhanced surveillance and local outbreak management to contain and control increasingly sporadic outbreaks.

We still need people to do their part, though. People need to maintain good hygiene, wear a face covering and physically distance where required. If people have symptoms, they should isolate and get tested. Even if they do not have symptoms, they should make use of the universal testing offer and get tested regularly. Above all, people need to get vaccinated. To date, 3,174,807 people in Scotland have received the first dose of the Covid vaccination and 1,942,285 people have received the second dose. We remain on course to have offered vaccination to the adult population by the end of July. We will look back on vaccination as one of the greatest single achievements of both science, and of the value of the public sector working together in that endeavour.

There is detailed engagement on that very question because, as the health secretary made clear in answers to questions earlier this week, we find that situation unacceptable.

Work is going on in relation to the administrative processes—that is, whether addresses are up to date and whether systems are being updated satisfactorily in that respect. We are also turning some of the issues on their head by providing people with the opportunity to register for vaccination. We have seen fantastic uptake of the invitation to over-18s to register and the health secretary will say more about that. A number of practical steps are being taken to enhance the uptake of vaccination, because it is so critical to the steps that we need to take to make further progress in suppressing the virus.

We have substantial reviews coming up that could result in large parts of Scotland moving to level 1. In parallel, we intend to publish more detailed work on our expectations for life beyond level 0, as we—hopefully—return to something that we all recognise as much closer to normal than even level 0 restrictions. In that work, we will set out the protections that we all need to keep in place and how we can all play our part. We will give clarity to people and businesses, looking beyond level 0 to the summer and the second half of the year.

As we have seen, however, the situation can change quickly. We will continue to monitor the situation constantly and respond effectively as soon as we judge it necessary to do so. Where we need to take tough decisions, we will share the data and the reasoning behind the judgments that we make, and we will give as much notice as possible of any changes.

The Scottish Government will of course continue to take the decisions that are necessary to guide the country safely through the pandemic. However, thanks to the success of the vaccination programme and the extraordinary sacrifices that people across Scotland have made in the past 14 months, we can be optimistic about the future and start the journey towards national recovery.

A serious recovery needs a quick response from Government, which is why we have published the key health, social and economic actions that we will take within the Government’s first 100 days. Our immediate priority is to lead Scotland out of the pandemic and to reopen the country as quickly and safely as we can. Alongside our work on recovery, we will take rapid action to boost jobs, tackle the climate crisis, support our children and young people and protect our national health service.

The NHS has faced extraordinary pressure during the pandemic. As we move towards recovery, we must help the NHS to recover, too. We have already implemented a 4 per cent average pay rise for NHS workers. Within 100 days, we will publish an NHS national recovery plan to increase activity by 10 per cent and we will start a consultation on a national care service.

Our resilience to the pandemic has been drawn from our sense of community. The Scottish Government will continue to invest in our communities and our homes. We will support our most vulnerable and disadvantaged communities to ensure that those who have been worst affected by the pandemic are prioritised in our recovery. We will roll out a £20 million summer programme of help for pupils, which will support activities that allow our children and families a much-deserved chance to socialise, play and reconnect. We will also provide low-income families with the first £100 of a total of £520 of support, which is the equivalent of the Scottish child payment.

We have set out how, in the first 100 days, we will establish a cross-party steering group that will look to progress the delivery of a Scottish minimum income guarantee. We will begin to develop a new rented sector strategy and will start cladding safety assessment. We will start work to develop our new five-year social isolation and loneliness plan, which will be backed by £10 million over the duration of this session of Parliament.

On the economy, within 100 days, we will create a council of economic transformation to shape a 10-year strategy for economic development. We will reopen the digital boost fund, which will be backed by £25 million and will provide technology support and training for small and medium-sized businesses. We will set up a new green jobs workforce academy to help people to get the skills that they need to move into new greener jobs. That is one example of how our recovery from the pandemic must be linked to actions that address the climate crisis.

I am all for Governments working together on agreed common purposes and doing that in an open and transparent way, where we have the benefit of substantive and detailed engagement on the formulation and execution of policy. Stephen Kerr is right—the vaccination programme is a very good example of that. I could spend the rest of the afternoon giving him a litany of examples where that is not the case and where we do not get enough substantive engagement with the United Kingdom Government, but I do not think that that was the purpose of his intervention, so I will desist from entertaining the Parliament with my views on the matter. I am happy to—I am certain that I will—share those views with him on other occasions. [Interruption.] I hear some of my party’s back benchers expressing disappointment that I will not be doing that—I am trying to be on my best behaviour.

Despite the progress on the vaccination strategy, we must continue to be on our guard. We have seen that new variants, including the April-02 variant, can impact on case numbers. We are tracking the latest science, which indicates that although the April-02 variant is more transmissible, two doses of either vaccine continue to offer high levels of protection against it. That means that we should, I hope, continue to see a significant reduction in the number of people who are hospitalised with and who die from Covid. However, to achieve wider protection, we need the whole adult population to be vaccinated. Therefore, when citizens are offered the vaccine, even if individuals think that they are fit and healthy, they should take it—if not for themselves, for the sake of everyone else who might be more vulnerable to the effects of infection. Too many vaccination appointments are being missed. Sometimes that is unavoidable, but we are taking steps to make vaccination as easy as possible for people and to reach those who are often furthest away from health services.

If we can continue to progress on vaccination and make full use of test and protect, I firmly believe that we can progress in the way that we have set out in our plans.

Yes.

The regulations will amend the Health Protection (Coronavirus) (Restrictions and Requirements) (Local Levels) (Scotland) Regulations 2020 to remove a number of restrictions in level 4 on socialising, sport and exercise, to provide individuals with greater opportunities for social, recreational and sporting activity outdoors. Although no area in Scotland is currently in level 4, we need to ensure that the measures remain appropriate if we require to deal with an outbreak in future.

The regulations, which came into force on 12 March and 15 March 2021, also permitted activity for election purposes ahead of the Scottish Parliament election. Although those regulations have not been to committee for formal consideration and approval in advance of this vote, the Government shared draft regulations with the Covid-19 Committee on 10 March for the committee’s informal consideration at its session with Mr Russell on the morning of 11 March 2021. No concerns were raised at that session.

We are committed to taking the necessary steps to control the pandemic and to lifting restrictions as soon as they are no longer necessary or proportionate, which sometimes requires swift action. We are also committed to ensuring effective parliamentary scrutiny of our decisions.

Inevitably, parliamentary scrutiny was more difficult, and sometimes impossible, in the run-up to the election. Throughout the pre-election recess, it was necessary to continue making coronavirus regulations. The Covid-19 Committee was permitted to meet during that period if required, but chose not to do so. Now that the Parliament is sitting again and we look forward to the establishment of committees, we will ensure that a process is agreed with Parliament for ensuring effective scrutiny of these regulations.

I move,

That the Parliament agrees that the Health Protection (Coronavirus) (Restrictions and Requirements) (Local Levels) (Scotland) Amendment (No. 17) Regulations 2021 (SSI 2021/136) be approved.

Ms Burgess is absolutely correct that the provisions came about as a consequence of good cross-party working with members from the Green Party and other political parties. She is also correct that the impact of the pandemic is still very much with us, which is why I started my previous answer by talking about the measures that we have in place to ensure that evictions are a last resort and that we have many other mechanisms in place to avoid them happening.

As I indicated, the protections in level 3 and level 4 areas will continue to apply until at least September of this year. We will, obviously, review these matters as we move towards that period and as ministers begin to consider, in dialogue with other political parties, the steps that we have to take in relation to Covid recovery. I know that the cabinet secretary designate for social protection will be happy to pursue further dialogue about the issue, and I will of course be happy to discuss it as part of the Covid recovery group that we hope will start meeting next week.

I am very happy to commit the Government to that objective. It is important that individuals who live in the rented sector are equipped with all the rights that they should have to protect them in those circumstances. If there is practice in other jurisdictions that we can learn from, the Government will be very happy to learn those lessons, consider those issues and discuss the priorities with other members of Parliament as we take forward the commitments in our election manifesto to strengthen the provisions that are available for those in our society who are renting.

I recognise and accept the point that Pauline McNeill made about the fact that on-going financial hardship is with us as a result of the pandemic, and it will intensify. The work that I will be leading on the Government’s behalf in relation to Covid recovery must look at the implications of the disruption to labour markets and housing markets as a consequence of the pandemic. I am certainly happy to give the commitment that we will look at those questions.

As part of a suite of financial measures to support tenants, we launched a tenant hardship loan fund, which had £10 million allocated to it. As at 17 May, 145 loan awards had been made, with a total value of just more than £472,000, so there is existing capacity to support individuals, should it be required. Of course, that is in addition to the £5 million of extra funding that was made available to local authorities to provide discretionary housing payments for those needing help with their housing costs. There are a number of existing provisions, through the discretionary housing payment fund, that can support individuals in the circumstances that Pauline McNeill referred to, but I stress that the Government will retain an open mind, because clearly none of us is certain about the degree of hardship that is likely to emerge. We will have to address that when it presents itself.

I welcome Mr Sweeney to Parliament and I look forward to the contributions that he will make here.

Mr Sweeney raises a serious issue. The point that I made in answer to Pauline McNeill illustrates that, as things appear to ministers just now, there is capacity in existing funding provisions available to support individuals. We will keep that under constant review because, again, as I said to Pauline McNeill, we cannot be certain what the gravity of the challenge that we face will be.

Throughout the pandemic, the Government has tried to have in place appropriate measures and support to individuals who face difficulties, to help them through those difficulties. I readily give the commitment to Mr Sweeney that the Government is willing to ensure that we have in place all the provisions that are necessary. We will continue to review the pattern that is emerging in any of these issues to determine whether we have adequate support in place. If there is a need to revisit those provisions, the Government will of course be prepared to consider exactly that.