Seòmar agus comataidhean

Are members content for motions S6M-00699, S6M-00697, S6M-00696, S6M-00698, S6M-00727, S6M-00726, S6M-00903, S6M-00833 and S6M-00976 to be moved en bloc?

Members indicated agreement.

Motions moved

That the COVID-19 Recovery Committee recommends that the Health Protection (Coronavirus) (International Travel) (Scotland) Amendment (No. 13) Regulations 2021 (SSI 2021/237) be approved.

That the COVID-19 Recovery Committee recommends that the Health Protection (Coronavirus) (International Travel etc.) (Miscellaneous Amendments) (Scotland) (No. 3) Regulations 2021 (SSI 2021/254) be approved.

That the COVID-19 Recovery Committee recommends that the Health Protection (Coronavirus) (International Travel) (Scotland) Amendment (No. 14) Regulations 2021 (SSI 2021/256) be approved.

That the COVID-19 Recovery Committee recommends that the Health Protection (Coronavirus) (International Travel etc.) (Miscellaneous Amendments) (Scotland) (No. 4) Regulations 2021 (SSI 2021/261) be approved.

That the COVID-19 Recovery Committee recommends that the Health Protection (Coronavirus) (International Travel etc.) (Miscellaneous Amendments) (Scotland) (No. 5) Regulations 2021 (SSI 2021/264) be approved.

That the COVID-19 Recovery Committee recommends that the Health Protection (Coronavirus) (International Travel etc.) (Miscellaneous Amendments) (Scotland) (No. 6) Regulations 2021 (SSI 2021/265) be approved.

That the COVID-19 Recovery Committee recommends that the Health Protection (Coronavirus) (International Travel) (Scotland) Amendment (No. 15) Regulations 2021 (SSI 2021/275) be approved.

That the COVID-19 Recovery Committee recommends that the Health Protection (Coronavirus) (International Travel etc.) (Miscellaneous Amendments) (Scotland) (No. 7) Regulations 2021 (SSI 2021/278) be approved.

That the COVID-19 Recovery Committee recommends that the Health Protection (Coronavirus) (International Travel) (Scotland) Amendment (No. 16) Regulations 2021 (SSI 2021/290) be approved.—[Michael Matheson]

Motions agreed to.

The committee will in due course publish a report to the Parliament setting out our decision on the statutory instruments that have been considered at this meeting.

That concludes our consideration of the item and our time with the cabinet secretary. I thank the cabinet secretary and his officials for their attendance this morning.

The committee’s next meeting will be on 16 September, when we will take evidence from the Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Covid Recovery on ministerial statements on Covid-19, the Coronavirus (Extension and Expiry) (Scotland) Act 2021 reports to the Scottish Parliament, and subordinate legislation.

That concludes the public part of our meeting.

Good morning and welcome to the third meeting of the COVID-19 Recovery Committee in 2021.

Under agenda item 1, do we agree to take item 4, which is consideration of evidence heard, in private?

Members indicated agreement.

Cabinet secretary, would you like to make any opening remarks before we move to questions?

We move on to item 2. We will take evidence from Michael Matheson, Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero, Energy and Transport, on the ministerial statement on Covid-19 and subordinate legislation. The cabinet secretary is joined by officials from the Scottish Government. Professor Jason Leitch is national clinical director, Penelope Cooper is director of Covid co-ordination and Graham Fisher is deputy director in the legal directorate. I welcome our witnesses, who are joining us remotely.

The committee will consider the following regulations that were laid over the summer.

I am conscious of the time; I know that the cabinet secretary has to be in the chamber shortly, so that concludes the debate.

Item 3 on our agenda is consideration of the motions on the made affirmative instruments that we have considered. Cabinet secretary, do you want to make any further remarks on the instruments before you move the motions?

I appreciate that we are running slightly over time, but I hope to fit in two more short questions. I understand that, in the previous parliamentary session, the Scottish Government routinely provided the COVID-19 Committee with draft regulations for consideration before they were made law. Do you envisage that the committee will continue to be provided with draft health protection regulations on Wednesdays by 4 pm, ahead of our meetings on Thursday mornings?

Thank you. That concludes our consideration of the first agenda item.

Thank you. Other members have questions.

We turn to questions. I remind members that we have approximately six minutes each for questions, so it would be helpful if we could keep our questions and answers concise. If there is time for supplementaries, I will indicate that once all members have had a chance to ask questions.

I will ask the first question, which is on something that you just touched on, Deputy First Minister. The Scottish Government committed to establishing a cross-party steering group on Covid recovery, which met before the summer. What role do you see the steering group playing, and how will that differ from the role of this committee?