Seòmar agus comataidhean

We are very tight for time.

Good morning, Professor Morris and Professor Evans.

You will remember, Professor Morris, that when we saw you back in September 2022, the session was plagued by internet problems, so it is good to see you in person. At that point, you had published your interim report, and we asked you whether you had had a response from the Scottish Government. The answer was that you had not, although you were hoping to get one. Has there since been one that you can tell us about?

So, it is a work in progress.

Okay. In light of that, then, the interim question for the committee is the state of Scotland’s readiness, in your view, should we have another pandemic. Let us say that next year—perish the thought—another pandemic comes along. Are we now in a better place to handle a pandemic than we were before Covid? If not, what more need we do to get there?

I just want to follow that up, if I may. Clearly, since Covid, we have seen huge pressure on public services, particularly the NHS, and there has been a lot of emphasis on NHS recovery and on catching up with a lot of what was lost during Covid. Is there a risk that, as you say, we take our eye off the ball and think that Covid is done and that we do not need to have that drive?

Perhaps I can slip in a second question. Where is the public’s thinking on that? Have the public basically decided that Covid is done? If we had another pandemic, do you think that we would have quite the same public buy-in that we saw during Covid to, for example, restrictions on people’s activities?

That was back in December. Have you been following that up with the Scottish Government? You have mentioned that it said that it accepted all your recommendations. Are you aware of the Government taking forward work on them?

Yes, of course.

Thank you. You have raised lots of issues that I would love to explore further, but I appreciate that my time is up, and I am sure that other members will come in on that.

I move to item 2, under which the committee will be invited to choose a new convener.

The Parliament has agreed that only members of the Scottish National Party are eligible for nomination as convener of the COVID-19 Recovery Committee. Are there any nominations for the role of convener?

Good morning, and welcome to the ninth meeting in 2023 of the COVID-19 Recovery Committee.

As members will be aware, Siobhian Brown has resigned as our convener and member of the committee following her appointment as Minister for Victims and Community Safety. For that reason, I will chair this part of the meeting in my role as deputy convener.

I put on record the committee’s thanks to Siobhian and offer her our congratulations on her appointment. We wish her well in her new role.

We have a new committee member: Stuart McMillan. We have received apologies from him this morning so, instead, we have Ash Regan, who has been appointed as a substitute member. Welcome, Ash.

Ash joins us online, as does Alex Rowley.

Under agenda item 1, I invite Ash to declare any registrable interests that are relevant to the committee’s remit.