That the Parliament welcomes the work of the independent judge-led UK Covid-19 Inquiry and Scottish COVID-19 Inquiry to help learn lessons to ensure that the nation can be best prepared for any future emergent pandemic viruses; recognises that the COVID-19 pandemic saw the loss of life across the country, and again offers its condolences to the families and friends of those who died during the pandemic; notes that 28,000 messages and 19,000 documents have been handed to the UK Covid-19 Inquiry from the Scottish Government; agrees that one area of concern, from which lessons must be learned from the handling of the pandemic, is the size and scale of potential fraud in PPE contracts that were overseen by the UK Government; notes that this will be considered by both the UK Covid-19 Inquiry and the relevant prosecutorial authorities; supports the establishment of a UK ‘COVID corruption commissioner’ to seek to recoup public funds lost to waste and fraud, and believes that all governments should engage fully with the UK Covid-19 Inquiry to enable their actions and decisions during the pandemic to be scrutinised, so that COVID-19-bereaved families and the public get answers to the questions that they have.
Result 61 for, 53 against, 1 abstained, 14 did not vote Agreed
Scottish National Party
Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Scottish Labour
Scottish Green Party
Scottish Liberal Democrats
Alba Party
No Party Affiliation
That the Parliament expresses its concern at the evidence revealed from the UK Covid-19 Inquiry from Scottish Government ministers, special advisers and officials, both past and present, on their handling of the COVID-19 pandemic; calls for the Parliament’s COVID-19 Recovery Committee to be reconstituted for the purpose of providing parliamentary scrutiny of evidence revealed by the Inquiry; recognises that the former First Minister promised to handover WhatsApp messages to the UK Covid-19 Inquiry; believes that the former First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, and the former Deputy First Minister, John Swinney, have failed grieving families by deleting evidence that they knew would be required for the Inquiry; further believes that the current First Minister has misled the public on the detail of the retention of his WhatsApp messages, and recommends that all three be referred to the independent adviser on the Scottish Ministerial Code so that COVID-19-bereaved families and the public can get the answers that they deserve.
Submitted by: Shona Robison, Dundee City East, Scottish National Party, Date lodged: Tuesday, January 30, 2024
Supported by: George Adam, Tom Arthur, Joe FitzPatrick
Current status: Taken in the chamber on Wednesday, January 31, 2024
Result 61 for, 53 against, 1 abstained, 14 did not vote Agreed
Submitted by: Ash Regan, Edinburgh Eastern, Alba Party, Date lodged: Tuesday, January 30, 2024
Submitted by: Jackie Baillie, Dumbarton, Scottish Labour, Date lodged: Tuesday, January 30, 2024
Supported by: Paul Sweeney
Current status: Taken in the chamber on Wednesday, January 31, 2024
Submitted by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats, Date lodged: Tuesday, January 30, 2024
Current status: Taken in the chamber on Wednesday, January 31, 2024