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Official Report: search what was said in Parliament

The Official Report is a written record of public meetings of the Parliament and committees.  

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Dates of parliamentary sessions
  1. Session 1: 12 May 1999 to 31 March 2003
  2. Session 2: 7 May 2003 to 2 April 2007
  3. Session 3: 9 May 2007 to 22 March 2011
  4. Session 4: 11 May 2011 to 23 March 2016
  5. Session 5: 12 May 2016 to 5 May 2021
  6. Current session: 12 May 2021 to 2 April 2025
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Displaying 693 contributions

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COVID-19 Recovery Committee

Vaccination Certification

Meeting date: 16 September 2021

Brian Whittle

The Scottish Government’s proposals indicate that regulations will impose a legal obligation on the person responsible for operating the business, who must “take all reasonable measures” to restrict entry only to those who are fully vaccinated. How, from a legal perspective, do you define “reasonable measures”, given that the venues that we are discussing are so wide and varied?

COVID-19 Recovery Committee

Ministerial Statement, Coronavirus Act Reports and Subordinate Legislation

Meeting date: 16 September 2021

Brian Whittle

I think that you need to have a word with your colleague, because the rule for the premier league is that all clubs need to have a 10,000 capacity all-seated stadium before they can—[Interruption.] Is that not the case any more? There you go. I have learned something new today. I thank the cabinet secretary for that.

COVID-19 Recovery Committee

Ministerial Statement, Coronavirus Act Reports and Subordinate Legislation

Meeting date: 16 September 2021

Brian Whittle

I have one more question. Earlier, the representative from the hospitality industry indicated that there is a potential inequality because people will choose venues based on whether they will need to produce a vaccination passport. Nights out often involve multiple venue visits. Do you recognise that there is a potential inequality regarding where people will choose to have a night out?

COVID-19 Recovery Committee

Ministerial Statement and Subordinate Legislation

Meeting date: 9 September 2021

Brian Whittle

My final question, which I have been trying to get to, perhaps through a rather strangled route, is about the fact that it is a global problem—not a problem for only Scotland or even just the UK. Where are we on interacting with other nations around the world and the interoperability or compatibility of our approach with other approaches? What practical steps are the Scottish and UK Governments taking to work around the world to address the problem? Where are we in that process?

COVID-19 Recovery Committee

Ministerial Statement and Subordinate Legislation

Meeting date: 9 September 2021

Brian Whittle

No. I will put it another way. Businesses are looking for a way to work around the issues that Covid brings, and they are looking to the Government to give them an indication of the direction of travel. I am thinking about the long term. Where do you expect the travel industry to go and where will it be when safe travel starts? When can businesses start to open up more, for want of a better expression?

11:00  

COVID-19 Recovery Committee

Ministerial Statement and Subordinate Legislation

Meeting date: 9 September 2021

Brian Whittle

I want to ask about the longer-term prospects for international travel and the travel industry. We recognise that tackling Covid is very much a moving feast and that we have to be fairly reactive in our approach, but obviously the travel industry is struggling and is hugely impacted. Unfortunately, that moving feast and the reactive way in which we have to approach Covid do not work well for businesses, which need an indication of a route map to allow a degree of essential business planning. I think that everyone would recognise that vague definitions of objectives and indicators are frustrating business planning, so I want to ask some basic questions. What is the definition of a risk-based reopening of international travel?

COVID-19 Recovery Committee

Ministerial Statement and Subordinate Legislation

Meeting date: 9 September 2021

Brian Whittle

Businesses are very good at adapting—we have seen that ability to adapt over the past 18 months—and they are desperate to know how they can adapt to meet the safety standards that you have alluded to. I ask this follow-up question on behalf of the industry: what does safe international travel look like?

COVID-19 Recovery Committee

Scotland’s Strategic Framework

Meeting date: 2 September 2021

Brian Whittle

I want to ask a quick follow-up question before I move on. An issue that is highlighted in something that came into my inbox this morning is how we define a nightclub. Again, this is why consultation is so important. We could have something designated as a nightclub with 250 people in it on one side of a street while, on the other, a pub with 250 people in it could be blasting out loud music. One of those places will require vaccine passports and the other will not. How do we ensure that consultation is carried out in a way that makes everyone feel that they have been treated fairly?

COVID-19 Recovery Committee

Scotland’s Strategic Framework

Meeting date: 2 September 2021

Brian Whittle

I want to raise a couple of issues, one of which is about vaccine passports. We all recognise that tackling the pandemic is a moving feast and that ideas change as we go along. It is not a criticism at all to say that, not all that long ago, vaccine passports were ruled out but, as evidence has come forward, the Government has decided that they should be ruled in.

Against that backdrop, I know from speaking with the music industry, nightclubs and the sports industry that they feel that they have not been consulted as decisions have been made, although the understanding is that it will be businesses’ responsibility to practically implement the policy. I have a couple of questions on that. First, how do you envisage the measure being policed? Secondly, how does the Scottish Government consult with the industries that are involved prior to making such decisions? As my colleague Jim Fairlie suggested in relation to younger people, surely it is much better to have the industries’ input into the decision-making process rather than impose measures on them. How is the consultation process done?

COVID-19 Recovery Committee

Scotland’s Strategic Framework

Meeting date: 2 September 2021

Brian Whittle

Another topic that was raised with me just this morning is the implications for specific sectors of people having to isolate as they await the results of Covid tests. Nurseries, for example, have had to close; there has been a knock-on effect on the business world and our economic recovery; and significant numbers of teachers have been missing in schools. How do we bring schools back to full learning capacity if there is such a shortage of teachers?

The same applies to our NHS, where I know there have been significant shortages in a lot of disciplines through people being absent as they wait for Covid test results. How can we tackle and recover from the backlog in our NHS if there are such shortages? Obviously it is incredibly difficult to square that circle, but how is the Scottish Government looking at this issue as we hopefully recover from the virus?