Aims

The Committee will maintain oversight of Scotland’s ongoing response to COVID-19 through its scrutiny of Scottish Ministers. The Committee will also draw on the experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic to scrutinise the Scottish Government’s delivery of the Covid Recovery Strategy.

Objectives

• Work in a collegiate and inclusive manner that seeks to maximise consensus;
• Listen to a diverse range of people and a wide range of perspectives;
• Maintain a flexible work programme that enables emerging issues to be scrutinised in a responsive way;
• Identify key issues where the Committee can add value, including opportunities to work jointly with other committees to maximise impact, whilst avoiding duplication;
• Make recommendations that are focused on improving long-term outcomes for the population, including children and young people;
• Incorporate human rights and sustainable development principles into our scrutiny approach.

Priorities for non-legislative scrutiny

• The Committee has agreed to prioritise scrutiny of the ongoing public health measures being used to monitor and respond to COVID-19, including the vaccination programme, wastewater monitoring and genomic sequencing.
• In 2023, the Committee will prioritise its non-legislative scrutiny on COVID-19 recovery, with a specific focus on the NHS Recovery Strategy and health inequalities.

The Committee’s aims, objectives and priorities will be kept under review.

Correspondence

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Official Reports of meetings

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Committee reports

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To consider and report on matters relating to COVID-19 falling within the responsibility of the Cabinet Secretary for COVID Recovery and other Scottish Ministers where relevant, including—

• Cross government coordination of COVID-19 recovery policies and strategic review
• the operation of powers under the Coronavirus (Scotland) Act, the Coronavirus Act and any other legislation in relation to the response to COVID-19
• any secondary legislation arising from the Coronavirus (Scotland) Act
• and any other legislation or policy in relation to the response to COVID-19.