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

3. Rights and equality considerations

3.1 The Scottish Government has acknowledged in its two-monthly reporting on the Acts that some provisions have more significant impacts on rights and equality than others.

3.2 The following Impact Assessments were undertaken for the First Scottish Act as part of the development of the Bill which was introduced to Parliament on 31 March 2020:

• Equality Impact Assessment
• Fairer Scotland Duty Impact Assessment
• Child Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment
• Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment

3.3 The following Impact Assessments were undertaken for the Second Scottish Act as part of the development of the Bill which was introduced to Parliament on 11 May 2020:

• Equality Impact Assessment
• Fairer Scotland Duty Impact Assessment
• Child Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment
• Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment

3.4 The following Impact Assessments were undertaken for the Extension and Expiry Act as part of the development of the Bill which was introduced to Parliament on 18 June 2021:

• Equality Impact Assessment
• Fairer Scotland Duty Impact Assessment
• Child Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment
• Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment

3.5 Many of the provisions which are proposed for extension have corresponding provision, though in some cases with amendments, in the Coronavirus (Recovery and Reform) (Scotland) Bill^[6] ("the Recovery and Reform Bill"), which was introduced to the Scottish Parliament on 25 January 2022. The following new Impact Assessments were undertaken as part of the development of that Bill:

• Equality Impact Assessment
• Fairer Scotland Duty Impact Assessment
• Child Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment
• Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment
• Island Communities Impact Assessment

3.6 The Impact Assessments outlined above are linked to from this webpage.

3.7 The human rights impacts were summarised in the Policy Memorandums for each of the Bills.

3.8 The Scottish Government's justification for why each individual provision in the extension regulations continues to be needed beyond the end of 31 March 2022 is set out in this Statement of Reasons. The Scottish Government has assessed the potential impacts of extension and, in many cases, previous findings remain valid and no additional impacts are expected in the proposed extension of the provisions. Further information has been provided, where relevant and/or helpful, later in this Statement of Reasons.

3.9 In setting out the proposals for the extension of the provisions under each of the Acts which are covered in this Statement of Reasons, consideration was given to continued compliance with the European Convention on Human Rights ("ECHR") and other relevant rights.