Deputy First Minister's statement - the Scottish Government's response to the UK COVID-19 Inquiry Module One report and recommendations

Presiding Officer, the Covid-19 pandemic affected every aspect of life in Scotland, and its impact continues to be felt. Today, as always, our thoughts are with those who lost loved ones.

We understand that, in recognition of the loss, hurt and suffering of the people of Scotland, and the wider UK population, we must learn from past events and make effective, practical and measurable improvements in pandemic planning and preparedness.  It’s vital that we take steps to be as prepared as we can for the future.

In July of last year, the UK Covid-19 Inquiry published its report and recommendations in relation to Module 1, which considered pre-pandemic resilience and preparedness.  The Inquiry’s report sets out in detail its findings, and the changes that it considers necessary to improve whole system civil emergency planning and response in the UK, to ensure that we are better prepared for, and able to respond to and recover from, future emergencies. The findings and the recommendations in the Chair’s report cover a range of matters including; governance and organisational structures; engagement and collaboration; risk assessment, including capacity and capabilities; the development of cohesive strategies to prevent, reduce, control and mitigate the effects of future whole-system civil emergencies; use of data and research; pandemic exercising; scrutiny, accountability and transparency; and how we support those who are most vulnerable to risks.

We agree with the Inquiry that changes are required in relation to these matters.

Scotland faces a range of significant risks, ranging from pandemics to the impacts of our ever changing weather.

We must learn from past events and global best practice to ensure that we are prepared and ready. The changes we have committed to will ensure that we are better prepared for future pandemics, but also that we are better prepared for, and able to respond to, a range of risks and threats and improve and strengthen our resilience as a nation.

I am pleased to say that today the Scottish Government has published its response to the Module 1 report and recommendations.

Those affected by the pandemic, particularly those who bore some form of loss, have placed a great deal of trust in the Scottish Government, not just to take on the challenges that Covid-19 posed, but also to be open and accountable about our performance. That trust is of utmost importance to the Scottish Government, and has informed all of our consideration of the Chair’s findings and recommendations.

The Inquiry sets out 10 overarching recommendations. We have set out in our response, published online today, our commitments for action and the timescales which we aim to achieve them by.

We will provide regular updates to the UK Covid-19 Inquiry to demonstrate our progress with regards to the ten recommendations. My Cabinet colleague, Angela Constance, Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs, as Minister with responsibility for civil contingencies, is already working across Government to deliver the changes that we need.

As we move forward, we must continue to work closely with our local, national and international partners to take the action needed to deliver on these recommendations.

The changes needed to ensure our future preparedness cannot be made in isolation, or by this Government alone – which is why, first and foremost, we are committed to working collaboratively with the UK Government.

We have already seen joint working with the UK Government and devolved Governments of Wales and Northern Ireland to deliver a four nations Concept of Operations and exercise plan for UK-wide whole system civil emergencies -  actions which address the findings and the recommendations outlined in the Chair’s report.

Recommendation 10 requires the UK Government to consult with devolved administrations to create a statutory independent body for whole-system civil emergency preparedness and resilience. We are committed to working together to ensure that any new body is able to deliver its function, in a manner which respects the devolution settlement.

Our partners beyond government are critical to delivering improvements on the ground, where the impact of emergencies is felt most starkly.  We fully support the Chair’s findings and recommendations regarding the vital role played by the voluntary, community and social enterprise sectors and the role they can play in building and maintaining our resilience.

I want to pay tribute to the work of these organisations during the COVID pandemic. Health boards, local government and Police Scotland, who are tasked with planning and responding to emergencies, were vital in the Scottish response.   I also want to pay tribute to our communities and the third sector for the innovative and creative ways that they responded to the demands of the pandemic.

As set out in our National Performance Framework, the Scottish Government is committed to tackling persistent inequality through our policies. A more equal society is better able to prepare for, respond to and recover from civil emergencies.

Clearly, certain groups within our society are more susceptible and vulnerable to adverse shocks – and we know that the pandemic not only introduced new but also exacerbated pre-existing inequality.

We fully endorse the Chair’s recommendations and will take action to improve how we identify, assess and address the potential impacts of whole system civil emergencies on the most vulnerable in our society.

The UK Inquiry Chair has made clear her expectation that institutions take swift action to consider and implement her recommendations – to ensure that changes are in place as quickly as possible. We endorse this approach, and I would like to reassure the people of Scotland that we have not been waiting for the Chair to publish before taking action on many of the issues raised by the Inquiry.

In August 2021, the First Minister established the independent Standing Committee on Pandemic Preparedness to provide expert advice on future pandemic risks and how best to prepare for them. The Committee provided its final report in November 2024 and covered a range of topics closely aligned to those in the Inquiry’s Report – including effective data sharing and usage, the integration of behavioural science, improving connections between the academic and wider preparedness community and the establishment of a ‘Scottish Pandemic Sciences Partnership’.

We’ve already accepted the Committee’s recommendations in principle and will provide further details on our planned actions in due course.

We’ve made changes to embed the reforms in public services and the justice system which were necessitated by the pandemic but also delivered improvements in the longer-term via the Coronavirus Act 2022 which was passed in June 2022.

We have taken steps to increase and secure the types and levels of PPE items held in our national stockpile.

On 4 June 2024, Cabinet agreed to establish new cross-government governance arrangements for future pandemic preparedness.  Our newly established Ministerial Oversight Group, co-chaired by my colleagues the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and the Cabinet Secretary for Health will meet for the first time in the coming weeks.

We have also commenced a programme of work to improve our risk assessment process, which better takes into account Scotland’s circumstances and characteristics, including the impact that risks may have on the most vulnerable in our society.

The Scottish Covid-19 Inquiry, established by Ministers in December 2021 and which operates independently of the UK Covid-19 Inquiry, will consider matters relating to pandemic planning and response as part of its examinations and we’ll consider those findings when available.

Given the importance of transparency around the actions we are taking to manage civil emergencies, we will also report to this Parliament every three years on the improvements we make to emergency resilience and preparedness in Scotland. The first report will be laid before this Parliament in September of this year.

I would like to reiterate the Scottish Government’s commitment to continue the highest standard of cooperation with both Inquiries because learning from them is vital.

Before closing, I would like to note my gratitude to those working in both the UK and Scottish Covid-19 Inquiries and those who have provided evidence to those Inquiries.  I am conscious of the immense responsibility they hold, the enormity of the tasks they face in understanding and distilling the events of the pandemic, and the important lessons for the future.

Thank you.