Chamber and committees

We have a little bit of time on our hands, so I will bring back Murdo Fraser, who has a constituency question.

Are members content for the motions to be moved en bloc?

Good morning, and welcome to the second meeting in 2022 of the Covid-19 Recovery Committee. We have received apologies from Alex Rowley MSP and are joined by Jackie Baillie MSP, who is attending as a committee substitute. Ms Baillie, I welcome you to the meeting and invite you to declare any relevant interests.

That concludes our consideration of that agenda item. I thank the Deputy First Minister and his officials for their evidence.

We now move on to the second agenda item, which is consideration of the motions on the made affirmative instruments that we considered during the previous agenda item. Deputy First Minister, would you like to make any further remarks on the SSIs that are listed under agenda item 2 before we consider the motions?

We will note those concerns. Members agree to the motions being moved en bloc.

Motions moved,

That the COVID-19 Recovery Committee recommends that the Health Protection (Coronavirus) (Requirements) (Scotland) Amendment (No. 5) Regulations 2021 (SSI 2021/475) be approved.

That the COVID-19 Recovery Committee recommends that the Health Protection (Coronavirus) (International Travel and Operator Liability) (Scotland) Amendment (No. 13) Regulations 2021 (SSI 2021/478) be approved.

That the COVID-19 Recovery Committee recommends that the Health Protection (Coronavirus) (Requirements) (Scotland) Amendment (No. 6) Regulations 2021 (SSI 2021/496) be approved.

That the COVID-19 Recovery Committee recommends that the Health Protection (Coronavirus) (Requirements) (Scotland) Amendment (No. 7) Regulations 2021 (SSI 2021/497) be approved.

That the COVID-19 Recovery Committee recommends that the Health Protection (Coronavirus) (Requirements) (Scotland) Amendment (No. 8) Regulations 2021 (SSI 2021/498) be approved.

That the COVID-19 Recovery Committee recommends that the Health Protection (Coronavirus) (International Travel and Operator Liability) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2022 (SSI 2022/2) be approved.

That the COVID-19 Recovery Committee recommends that the Health Protection (Coronavirus) (Requirements) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2022 (SSI 2022/6) be approved.—[John Swinney]

I note that no member wishes to speak on the motions.

The question is that motions S6M-02594, S6M-02602, S6M-02698, S6M-02699, S6M-02760, S6M-02733 and S6M-02799 be agreed to. Are we agreed? If any member disagrees, please put an N in the chat.

Nothing has been put in the chat, so the motions are agreed to.

Motions agreed to.

The committee will publish a report to the Parliament setting out its decision on the statutory instruments in due course.

That concludes our consideration of that agenda item and our time with the Deputy First Minister. I thank him and his supporting officials for attending. The committee’s next meeting will be on 27 January, when we will consider the Coronavirus (Discretionary Compensation for Self-isolation) (Scotland) Bill at stage 2.

That concludes the public part of the meeting. I suspend the meeting to allow the witnesses to leave.

Thank you.

Brian Whittle is running slightly late, so he will be joining us later.

This morning, we will take evidence from the Scottish Government on the latest ministerial statement on Covid-19, subordinate legislation, and other matters that are noted on the agenda. I welcome John Swinney, Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Covid Recovery; Professor Jason Leitch, national clinical director; Penelope Cooper, director of Covid co-ordination; and Elizabeth Blair, Covid co-ordination directorate. Thank you for your attendance. Deputy First Minister, would you like to make any remarks before we move on to questions?

That is very helpful—thank you. We will move on to the next question.

Thank you. We are short of time, so I ask for concise questions and answers.

Thankfully, the omicron wave is decreasing, although we are cautiously aware that there could be new variants in future. How is the integrity of surveillance for new variants being maintained, given that polymerase chain reaction tests will not now always be required for people who have had a positive lateral flow test?