Coronavirus (Scotland) Act 2020 and the Coronavirus (Scotland) (No.2) Act 2020 - proposed extension: statement of reasons

1. Introduction

1.1 The Scottish Government is committed to putting, and keeping, in place all necessary measures to continue to address the on-going Covid pandemic.

1.2 The Coronavirus (Scotland) Act 2020^[1] ("the First Scottish Act") and the Coronavirus (Scotland) (No.2) Act 2020^[2] ("the Second Scottish Act") (together – "the Acts") introduced measures deemed to be essential at the outset of the Covid pandemic in Scotland in 2020. The Acts are required to respond to the set of specific circumstances resulting from the pandemic and are therefore time limited. Part 1 of each of the Acts are due to expire at the end of 31 March 2022.

1.3 In addition to being time limited, the Scottish Government has also made clear it will retain and use the provisions in the Acts only for as long as they are necessary. As a result, where it has been possible to do so, provisions in the Acts have been suspended or expired when they have either fulfilled their purpose or the Scottish Government has listened to compelling views supporting change^[3].

1.4 This Statement of Reasons sets out why the Scottish Government believes it is necessary and appropriate to extend Part 1 of each of the Acts beyond the end of 31 March to the end of 30 September 2022. While details on specific measures are contained in section 6, a summary of all the Scottish Government's recommendations is set out in section 7.