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Official Report: search what was said in Parliament

The Official Report is a written record of public meetings of the Parliament and committees.  

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Dates of parliamentary sessions
  1. Session 1: 12 May 1999 to 31 March 2003
  2. Session 2: 7 May 2003 to 2 April 2007
  3. Session 3: 9 May 2007 to 22 March 2011
  4. Session 4: 11 May 2011 to 23 March 2016
  5. Session 5: 12 May 2016 to 5 May 2021
  6. Current session: 12 May 2021 to 21 August 2025
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Displaying 775 contributions

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COVID-19 Recovery Committee

Ministerial Statement, Coronavirus Act Reports and Subordinate Legislation

Meeting date: 16 September 2021

Brian Whittle

Good morning, cabinet secretary and Professor Leitch. I will ask a question that I also asked during the previous evidence session. Given that venues may be committing an offence if they do not “take all reasonable measures”, what involvement did the industry that is affected have in developing what constitutes “reasonable measures”? Gavin Stevenson suggested that the Scottish Licensed Trade Association was not consulted at all on the matter. To make it work properly, all the sectors will have to understand what constitutes a reasonable measure in a wide variety of potential venues.

COVID-19 Recovery Committee

Vaccination Certification

Meeting date: 16 September 2021

Brian Whittle

I asked Dr McMillan about the legal obligation to “take all reasonable measures”. Given that there is potential for venues to commit an offence, how was the industry involved in developing the idea of what constitutes “reasonable measures”? What is your understanding of the phrase?

COVID-19 Recovery Committee

Vaccination Certification

Meeting date: 16 September 2021

Brian Whittle

Good morning. Dr McMillan, it might be a bit like slamming the stable door after the horse has bolted, but the concern in Parliament is that there has been a lack of scrutiny of the policy because of the way in which it has been rushed through. Given that emergency Covid legislation was properly scrutinised in Parliament in a very short time, would Dr McMillan suggest that primary legislation should have been the route for vaccination passport legislation?

COVID-19 Recovery Committee

Ministerial Statement, Coronavirus Act Reports and Subordinate Legislation

Meeting date: 16 September 2021

Brian Whittle

The issue is not only that they have to form an opinion on the definition of reasonable measures, but that they have to implement it within two weeks. You will understand the concern that there is potential for offences to be committed.

COVID-19 Recovery Committee

Ministerial Statement, Coronavirus Act Reports and Subordinate Legislation

Meeting date: 16 September 2021

Brian Whittle

As I discussed with Neil Doncaster, vaccination passport checks will be implemented by all clubs, even small ones, because there is potential for crowd size to be taken beyond 10,000 people when bigger clubs visit. You will recognise that there are varying abilities to finance that. One of Neil Doncaster’s suggestions was that initially, in phase 1, as the technology is being introduced, it would be more practical to instigate spot checks. Has the Government considered that?

COVID-19 Recovery Committee

Ministerial Statement and Subordinate Legislation

Meeting date: 9 September 2021

Brian Whittle

I want to ask about the longer-term prospects for international travel and the travel industry. We recognise that tackling Covid is very much a moving feast and that we have to be fairly reactive in our approach, but obviously the travel industry is struggling and is hugely impacted. Unfortunately, that moving feast and the reactive way in which we have to approach Covid do not work well for businesses, which need an indication of a route map to allow a degree of essential business planning. I think that everyone would recognise that vague definitions of objectives and indicators are frustrating business planning, so I want to ask some basic questions. What is the definition of a risk-based reopening of international travel?

COVID-19 Recovery Committee

Ministerial Statement and Subordinate Legislation

Meeting date: 9 September 2021

Brian Whittle

Businesses are very good at adapting—we have seen that ability to adapt over the past 18 months—and they are desperate to know how they can adapt to meet the safety standards that you have alluded to. I ask this follow-up question on behalf of the industry: what does safe international travel look like?

COVID-19 Recovery Committee

Ministerial Statement and Subordinate Legislation

Meeting date: 9 September 2021

Brian Whittle

No. I will put it another way. Businesses are looking for a way to work around the issues that Covid brings, and they are looking to the Government to give them an indication of the direction of travel. I am thinking about the long term. Where do you expect the travel industry to go and where will it be when safe travel starts? When can businesses start to open up more, for want of a better expression?

11:00  

COVID-19 Recovery Committee

Ministerial Statement and Subordinate Legislation

Meeting date: 9 September 2021

Brian Whittle

My final question, which I have been trying to get to, perhaps through a rather strangled route, is about the fact that it is a global problem—not a problem for only Scotland or even just the UK. Where are we on interacting with other nations around the world and the interoperability or compatibility of our approach with other approaches? What practical steps are the Scottish and UK Governments taking to work around the world to address the problem? Where are we in that process?

COVID-19 Recovery Committee

Scotland’s Strategic Framework

Meeting date: 2 September 2021

Brian Whittle

I want to raise a couple of issues, one of which is about vaccine passports. We all recognise that tackling the pandemic is a moving feast and that ideas change as we go along. It is not a criticism at all to say that, not all that long ago, vaccine passports were ruled out but, as evidence has come forward, the Government has decided that they should be ruled in.

Against that backdrop, I know from speaking with the music industry, nightclubs and the sports industry that they feel that they have not been consulted as decisions have been made, although the understanding is that it will be businesses’ responsibility to practically implement the policy. I have a couple of questions on that. First, how do you envisage the measure being policed? Secondly, how does the Scottish Government consult with the industries that are involved prior to making such decisions? As my colleague Jim Fairlie suggested in relation to younger people, surely it is much better to have the industries’ input into the decision-making process rather than impose measures on them. How is the consultation process done?