Coronavirus Acts: third report to Scottish Parliament

Closed 19 Oct 2020

Opened 9 Oct 2020

Contact

Covid-19 Committee

0800 092 7500

covid.committee@parliament.scot

Overview

Introduction
Thank you for taking the time to complete this consultation.

As part of its response to Covid-19, the Scottish Government has temporarily been given new powers in a broad range of areas of the law. We want to hear from people or organisations who have been affected by these new powers.

We will use the consultation responses to question the Scottish Government in an upcoming committee meeting.

Share your views with the Covid-19 Committee

We want to hear your views on how the Scottish Government’s powers have been used over August and September.

The Scottish Government provides updates to the Parliament on its use of emergency powers to respond to Covid-19. It publishes this information in a report to the Parliament every 2 months. The latest report was published on 6 October 2020 and covers August to September 2020.  

This gives the Scottish Parliament oversight of the use of the powers. The Scottish Government’s use of these powers:

  • must be proportionate to the challenge faced 
  • should only last as long as they are needed

How to submit your views

Please submit your views via the submission form, accessed below.

We welcome written views in any language.

The Scottish Government’s report covers a wide range of areas where it has been given new powers and provides a detailed breakdown on the use of these powers. Please refer to each individual section of the report for information on whether specific powers have been used and why the Scottish Government believes that they remain necessary.

The consultation will ask for your views on specific sections in the report. Please complete the parts of the consultation that are of interest to you. You don’t need to answer all parts of the consultation, or all the questions.

The questions focus on a range of regulations:

  • Housing and social security
  • Children, vulnerable adults and mental health
  • Care homes and care services
  • Education, training and childcare
  • Weddings, events, gatherings and premises
  • Public health
  • Criminal justice and procedures
  • Freedom of information and disclosure requests

Only respond to regulations you have an interest in. Please address the following questions when responding:

  1. Do you think the Scottish Government needs these emergency powers?
  2. Where the powers have been used, was this clearly communicated?
  3. Where the powers have been used, what impact did these changes to the law have on you, or your sector?
  4. Could other measures have been used to better support you or your sector to respond to the challenges posed by the pandemic? 
  5. Any other comments you wish to make?

Before agreeing to take part in this survey, please read the privacy notice that sets out how we process your personal data when providing information to a Committee. If you are under 12 years of age, please read this privacy notice.

Your response will be used by members of the Covid-19 Committee to hold the Scottish Government to account.

Further information

Covid-19 Committee
The remit of the Covid-19 Committee is to consider and report on the Scottish Government’s response to COVID-19. This includes scrutinising emergency legislation related to Covid-19 and the Scottish Government’s reports to Parliament on the use of its emergency powers. 

You can follow the Covid-19 Committee’s work on the Scottish Parliament’s website.

Previous two-monthly reports to parliament
The Scottish Government’s previous two-monthly reports to the parliament can be found below:
•    March- May 2020: 1st report
•    May- July 2020: 2nd report

Interests

  • Health