Chamber and committees

Finally and quickly, I will ask Mary Morgan a question about her comments about the labs having been ramped up. You said that there is a balance to be struck in respect of whether you will require on-going funding to operate the labs at an underutilised level in order to maintain them. Are those labs not still under a lot of pressure? I see that you are indicating that they are not.

Does anyone else want to comment on that point on the budget that has been set? If there are any major spikes, will we need emergency funding? Yesterday, we heard the statement from the Deputy First Minister about the overall budget and the cuts that are having to be made in order to fund pressures. If there are any other major spikes in health issues over the coming months, will we need emergency funding to be made available?

I think that I read that Professor Bauld had said that the Scottish Government should make representation on that and that it should be calling for all over-50s to be vaccinated.

That then brings me to this question. In the past couple of months, I have met trade unions in the public sector, I have met nurses and I have been at health centres. I have come away thinking about how all those people are run off their feet. This has been a difficult time, and if we as politicians think that, on the last business day before recess, we want a rest, those guys have to carry on working through.

When I read the comments that have been attributed to Professor Bauld, that makes me think about what would happen if we suddenly need to vaccinate the over-50s over a certain period. The previous time that that happened, I saw staff being pulled out of lots of parts of the national health service. I am not sure what damage that would do, given that we are focusing on recovery. Are we preparing a plan for that? How would we do that?

We are prepared in a way that will not impact on other services in the NHS.

I am 58 years old. I have had my first two vaccinations, then I had my booster. There is all this talk about whether over-50s will need to get a booster coming into winter. What is the Government’s position? Someone in that age group might be wondering whether they are at risk coming into the winter.

Some public health experts have called for everyone over 50 to get a booster as we come into winter this year. Professor Pell, is there enough information available to us? Do the public have confidence? By and large, vaccine take-up was good, despite some specific issues. However, I worry that the uptake of an over-50s booster would not be as high. What is your view on that?

Good morning. I want to ask about the current situation. Right now, I know more people with Covid than I have done at any other point during the pandemic. The Covid numbers are increasing. This morning, I saw calls for all over-50s to be vaccinated.

Is there a greater understanding of Covid and the measures that are in place, or have people perhaps reached a point of thinking that it is a bit like the flu? Despite the fact that, across the world, other variants are starting to spread, are you relaxed with where we are at? Do you think that we need to have some kind of review to look at the messaging that needs to go out to support people in the here and now? Are you hearing concerns from your organisations about the current position? That question is for Adam Stachura in the first instance.

I respectfully disagree. If the Government looked at the evidence and took it seriously, it would support my amendment, which is the only amendment that I am proposing, based on the principle that the Scottish Parliament is sovereign. It, not the executive, is the legislature.

On that basis, I hope that the Government will reconsider the matter. It is a point of principle and it is wrong for any Government, regardless of its political colours, to take powers from the Scottish Parliament and hoard them for itself. Murdo Fraser used the term “power grab”. Sadly, having considered the evidence, I have concluded that that is a fair term to use.

I know that the Government will not support my amendment, but I urge it to think again and, at stage 3, support removing the Henry VIII powers. The Government does not need them and there is a fundamental point of principle that needs to be recognised.

Given the examples that have been highlighted today, and the fact that there are people out there who own properties and are trying to cash in, which is causing massive problems, is there anything that the Government should be looking to do in the short term?