The Official Report is a written record of public meetings of the Parliament and committees.
The Official Report search offers lots of different ways to find the information you’re looking for. The search is used as a professional tool by researchers and third-party organisations. It is also used by members of the public who may have less parliamentary awareness. This means it needs to provide the ability to run complex searches, and the ability to browse reports or perform a simple keyword search.
The web version of the Official Report has three different views:
Depending on the kind of search you want to do, one of these views will be the best option. The default view is to show the report for each meeting of Parliament or a committee. For a simple keyword search, the results will be shown by item of business.
When you choose to search by a particular MSP, the results returned will show each spoken contribution in Parliament or a committee, ordered by date with the most recent contributions first. This will usually return a lot of results, but you can refine your search by keyword, date and/or by meeting (committee or Chamber business).
We’ve chosen to display the entirety of each MSP’s contribution in the search results. This is intended to reduce the number of times that users need to click into an actual report to get the information that they’re looking for, but in some cases it can lead to very short contributions (“Yes.”) or very long ones (Ministerial statements, for example.) We’ll keep this under review and get feedback from users on whether this approach best meets their needs.
There are two types of keyword search:
If you select an MSP’s name from the dropdown menu, and add a phrase in quotation marks to the keyword field, then the search will return only examples of when the MSP said those exact words. You can further refine this search by adding a date range or selecting a particular committee or Meeting of the Parliament.
It’s also possible to run basic Boolean searches. For example:
There are two ways of searching by date.
You can either use the Start date and End date options to run a search across a particular date range. For example, you may know that a particular subject was discussed at some point in the last few weeks and choose a date range to reflect that.
Alternatively, you can use one of the pre-defined date ranges under “Select a time period”. These are:
If you search by an individual session, the list of 成人快手 and committees will automatically update to show only the 成人快手 and committees which were current during that session. For example, if you select Session 1 you will be show a list of 成人快手 and committees from Session 1.
If you add a custom date range which crosses more than one session of Parliament, the lists of 成人快手 and committees will update to show the information that was current at that time.
All Official Reports of meetings in the Debating Chamber of the Scottish Parliament.
All Official Reports of public meetings of committees.
Displaying 1467 contributions
COVID-19 Recovery Committee
Meeting date: 16 December 2021
John Swinney
We must be clear that the 2008 act is fit for the purpose for which it was designed鈥攖hat is, for isolated examples of self-isolation. It is not fit for the purpose of providing financial support in a pandemic, which is why we must put in place the new legislation. In that sense, Mr Mason鈥檚 point is valid. The 2008 act is fit for its purpose, but that purpose does not meet the circumstances of a global pandemic, with the current requirement for self-isolation.
COVID-19 Recovery Committee
Meeting date: 16 December 2021
John Swinney
There are strong elements. There is strong collaboration, joint purpose and consistent messaging on the vaccination programme, for example. If you are over 18, book a booster jag pronto. We are expanding capacity and all that goes with that. The Scottish and United Kingdom Governments take an absolutely consistent approach on that issue.
On the advice that we are receiving, I heard nothing from Chris Whitty last night that I am not hearing with the same gravity from the chief medical officer or the national clinical director in Scotland.
Unfortunately, however, there is a difference of opinion about the scale of the required policy response. It would be fair to say that the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish Governments share a common position that we should be going further than we have gone so far, but that is not shared by the United Kingdom Government. There is dialogue about that. The First Minister was involved in a four-nations call last night and has been involved in four-nations calls on several occasions in the past few days鈥攐n Sunday and earlier last week鈥攂ut those calls are not producing a meeting of minds about the scale of the response that is required, other than on issues such as vaccination. That is welcome but, given the gravity of the situation that we face, we could benefit from further alignment and a greater set of measures.
COVID-19 Recovery Committee
Meeting date: 16 December 2021
John Swinney
First, I need to delve into the figures. The 拢100 million to support the hospitality sector has come out of existing Scottish Government resources. We have undertaken that reprioritisation, which will cause some discomfort and pain in the remainder of the financial year. The 拢220 million is not additional money. We had expected to receive 拢265 million in UK consequentials, which we had factored into our financial planning. The Treasury has confirmed that we are getting 拢220 million, not 拢265 million, so we are actually receiving less than we had anticipated and factored into our budget.
Mr Whittle asked me about the nature and scale of the response required. The point that I have been trying to make over the past few days is that we need to be able to protect livelihoods. That has been our strategic approach throughout the pandemic. We take measures to suppress the virus, and we protect livelihoods while we do so. To an extent, we have been able to do that until now, because of the valuable support of the UK Government鈥檚 furlough scheme. That has been hugely valuable in underpinning our response until now, but the furlough scheme has, of course, come to an end.
If we were to apply further restrictions on people鈥檚 ability to work or run businesses, that would undoubtedly give rise to further financial challenges for those individuals and businesses. Quite simply, we do not have the financial means by which we could compensate them for that or ameliorate the effects. The 拢100 million from the Scottish Government鈥檚 resources will help, but that is all that we have to deploy in this situation. A plea has been made, not just by the Scottish Government but by the Welsh and Northern Irish Governments, for us to have access to financial flexibilities to enable us to act in that way.
COVID-19 Recovery Committee
Meeting date: 16 December 2021
John Swinney
As I explained in my answer to Brian Whittle, the Scottish Government expected the United Kingdom Government to allocate to us consequentials from other decisions in the UK to the tune of 拢265 million. We did not have absolute confirmation of that, but it was our estimate and we factored it into our financial planning for this year and next year. What the United Kingdom Government announced in the past 24 hours or so is that that number will not be 拢265 million; it will be 拢220 million. That says two things: first, that we are receiving less money than we expected; and, secondly, that no new money is coming from the UK Government. All that money was expected and has been factored into our planning.
The Government is allocating resources for the delivery of care packages and support for the third sector and has given additional funding for the delivery of social care in Scotland. There have been substantial increases in the money for social care packages. In some circumstances, that money is available for local authorities to use and, in others, the care is delivered by third sector organisations, which will act under contract from local authorities through health and social care partnerships. Therefore, there are opportunities for the third sector to receive financial support through the increase in social care resources that the Scottish Government has put in place.
The challenge is the availability of people to deliver the social care packages. In the Perthshire communities that we represent, Mr Fairlie and I hear from organisations about the challenge of not necessarily the availability of money but the availability of people to deliver such packages. That has a significant bearing on delayed discharge. The last thing that we want is people being in hospital who could be supported at home with a care package, such as Mr Fairlie鈥檚 father, but we cannot provide that because we do not have the people to deliver such packages. That situation is related to wider issues, with which we are all familiar, that arise out of the loss of free movement of people and other challenges.
COVID-19 Recovery Committee
Meeting date: 16 December 2021
John Swinney
The material change is that, when an individual in a household has tested positive for coronavirus, we require all those in the household to self-isolate for the required period. Previously, if an individual in a household tested positive, others in that household could take a PCR鈥攑olymerase chain reaction鈥攖est. If they tested negative, they could leave self-isolation. Under the new rules, we have changed that to the position that I have just stated.
COVID-19 Recovery Committee
Meeting date: 16 December 2021
John Swinney
We take the view that we are inviting individuals to co-operate and collaborate with us on this agenda. We recognise the importance of self-isolation, but we also recognise the importance of public consent in the work that we take forward. We listen carefully to behavioural scientists in relation to many aspects of the pandemic, and the behavioural analysis that we have undertaken indicates that it is best in that respect to work closely with and invite the collaboration of individuals in our common endeavour to control the spread of the virus.
COVID-19 Recovery Committee
Meeting date: 16 December 2021
John Swinney
I appreciate that. All I can say is that the Government is having to respond swiftly to a changing situation, as has been the nature and manner of our experience with Covid. Omicron has advanced at such a frightening level and rate that we have to take measures swiftly, and the guidance is being formulated equally swiftly. We will endeavour to publish the guidance as quickly as we can. Dialogue is on-going but, in the headline messages that we have issued, we have indicated to various organisations, be they in the retail sector, in places of worship or in the hospitality sector, measures with which they will be familiar. We are certainly mindful of the need for clarity in the guidance, and that is what the Government is endeavouring to give.
COVID-19 Recovery Committee
Meeting date: 16 December 2021
John Swinney
I entirely understand where Mr Rowley is coming from. He makes an entirely accurate point that, if cases rise to such an extent that we are seeing happening and which we fear and that our modelling suggests will happen, there will be a massive threat to the delivery of a range of public services. That will affect the NHS, which will face colossal pressures, and our ability to deliver routine public and private sector services will also be severely impaired if omicron develops in line with the worst-case scenario.
I understand the pressure that Mr Rowley puts on me for an assertive stance to be taken with the UK Government; believe you me, that is being done. It is being done publicly by the First Minister and by ministers; it is being done privately by the First Minister and ministers. At all times, we are wasting no opportunity to put that point to the UK Government in our interactions. In the four nations call last night, the First Minister reiterated those strong arguments, as did the First Minister of Wales and the First Minister and Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland. Those points are being made forcefully to the UK Government. That is the approach that we are taking and we accept the gravity of the situation that we face.
Mr Rowley and I come from different political stables, but he and I share many similar political outlooks. The conclusion that I draw from all this is that our Parliament should be able to take the necessary decisions to deal with all the implications of the health emergency. That is, and always has been, my position. The gravity of the situation that we face鈥擬r Rowley is raising issues that require me to go into this territory鈥攄emonstrates why this Parliament has to be able to have access to much more financial flexibility and responsibility than is currently the case.
COVID-19 Recovery Committee
Meeting date: 16 December 2021
John Swinney
The Government has increased the available resources for social care salaries. I value the work that is undertaken by the sector. I do not think that the issues that Mr Rowley raises about the gender composition of the social care workforces are in any way a legitimate issue to drive those questions. We have taken steps to increase pay in the social care sector. As a society, we face enormous challenges in the labour market about the volume and availability of people across a range of sectors, of which the social care sector is one.
The Government will continue to work with local authorities and health and social care partnerships on that. Mr Rowley suggested a task force to address the issues. I am not convinced about that, because we know what the problem is, we have to get on with delivering and we need our health and social care partnerships to be supported to do that. That is exactly what the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care and the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Housing and Local Government are doing to enable that to be the case.
COVID-19 Recovery Committee
Meeting date: 16 December 2021
John Swinney
Thank you, convener. I would like to briefly set out the purpose of and background to the Coronavirus (Discretionary Compensation for Self-Isolation) (Scotland) Bill.
At the start of the pandemic, we took steps to suspend the duty on health boards that is set out in the Public Health etc (Scotland) Act 2008 to pay compensation to people that they ask to self-isolate. As it became clear that the coronavirus pandemic would require a very large number of people to self-isolate, the measure was vital to ensure that health boards were not subject to significant financial and administrative resource impacts.
The suspension of the duty is contained in the United Kingdom Coronavirus Act 2020. Many provisions in the 2020 act are due to expire in spring 2022, and the bill takes steps to ensure that the suspension of the duty to pay compensation remains in place. Given the recent increase in cases of omicron, that is vital to ensure that health boards are not subject to additional financial and administrative impacts as they continue to provide key public health and health services.
Members will be aware of the existing support for isolation, which includes the self-isolation support grant. That is a one-off payment to those earning the real living wage or less who are notified to self-isolate. That vital support to those on lower incomes helps them to financially weather a period away from work.
Other forms of practical and social support are available, including the local self-isolation assistance service, which provides help to those who need it with things such as essential medicine and food delivery at a local level, and the coronavirus national assistance helpline, which is available to help with any queries relating to Covid-19.
Scottish Government analysts have estimated the cost of reverting to the 2008 act鈥檚 power while we are experiencing high levels of cases to be about 拢380 million, which is 20 times the budget for the self-isolation support grant. For that reason, and to prevent financial and administrative burdens on health boards as they seek to exit the pandemic, the Scottish Government believes that the bill is a necessary step to ensure that we can continue to provide support and protect health boards as they provide essential care.
The cost estimate was undertaken prior to the recent emergence of omicron and will be revised in line with updated modelling. It is likely that the estimate will increase significantly. At this vital time, it is important that we protect our health boards and ensure that that vital support continues.
I look forward to answering questions from the committee.