Seòmar agus comataidhean

Okay. By this stage, ministers should probably be aware of how the system functions, but we will leave it there.

On the back of that question, have you, in any way, assessed whether the system that you are about to introduce is compliant with the general data protection regulation?

We probably need more than an assumption at this stage.

If you take the route that appears likely, minister, this might be our final opportunity to question the Government in detail on the application and operation of the scheme. Could you say, for the public who might be watching, what specific data an individual will have to disclose to apply for a Covid passport?

It is my understanding that the QR code, and the data, will be read by a third-party device held by the bouncer or the person on the door. Am I correct?

I have two brief questions for the minister. Do you anticipate that any of the bills highlighted in the programme for government will have significant delegated powers? It would be useful if you could highlight those for the committee.

That is about gaining entry to a match, where there is obviously a requirement to buy a ticket. In the circumstances that we are discussing, however, if I am the bouncer and you seek to come into my nightclub, how can I confirm that you are who you say you are, and that you are the person who has had the double vaccine? What appears on my screen to give me that assurance?

Will that include a photograph?

If you appear in the pub, you are simply recording the fact that you have been there. What I want to know is, how does the bouncer know that you are who you say you are, and that you have the double vaccine? What, specifically, appears on his screen? It could not be a green tick, because if it was, I could take your phone and go in. What, specifically, appears on the bouncer’s screen to give him or her an assurance that you are who you say you are, and that you have been double vaccinated?

Gathering the data and compiling the evidence of what has happened is one thing, but implementing a series of measures so that we avoid bad outcomes is another. It is not as if we are trying to compile the data in order to learn lessons should we see Covid occur again in the future; it is to deal with the damage that has taken place now. Do you have sufficient assurance that we will see this journey through to the end and that there will be measurable implementation of different initiatives to make sure that we tackle the worst of the impact of Covid on particularly vulnerable children?

Yes. I draw the committee’s attention to my entry in the register of interests, which details that I am a member of East Lothian Council’s education committee.

Good morning, Mr Boyle. I think that it is commonly and widely accepted that poverty and inequality are very stubborn stains on the fabric of modern Scotland. You said in your opening remarks that those living in the most challenging circumstances would be hit hardest by Covid. In paragraph 87 of the report, you speak of the need for the Scottish Government, councils and their partners

“to fully understand the impact of Covid-19 on all young people and gather the relevant data if they are to support the development of appropriate responses.”

Are you satisfied with the action that has been taken to date in relation to that?