Meeting of the Parliament 31 January 2024
I have been clear in setting out the policy, which was about making sure that any salient points were transcribed to the official record and then other information could be deleted thereafter. That has been the policy, and it is the policy that I set out in detail in the statement to the Parliament.
In the past few weeks, the UK inquiry has touched on a range of issues that will inform how we prepare for the future. The UK inquiry is currently on module 2A, but in time it will move on to other specific aspects of the response to the pandemic, including module 5, on procurement. In fact, the preliminary hearing for module 5 will take place in London next week. Module 5 will be important, because it will consider issues such as the prevalence of fraud in personal protective equipment contracts, including the UK Government’s so-called high-priority lane, among other matters. Separately, there are on-going investigations by the National Crime Agency into suspected criminal offences in relation to UK Government PPE contracts.
I believe that all that adds weight to the calls for the creation of a UK Covid corruption commissioner. The Scottish Government will support efforts of any future UK Government to establish such a role to seek to recoup public funds that were lost to waste and fraud.
In conclusion, our thoughts and sympathies go to everyone who was impacted by the pandemic. I believe that the work of the inquiries is vital to give an independent view and consideration of the handling of the pandemic across the UK, free from political interference. It is right and proper that politicians of all parties should allow the inquiries to get on with their work. We will await their conclusions and then respond as appropriate. I look forward to continuing to provide the inquiries with the material that they need to do their job.
I move amendment S6M-12010.5, to leave out from “expresses” to end and insert:
“welcomes the work of the independent judge-led UK Covid-19 Inquiry and Scottish COVID-19 Inquiry to help learn lessons to ensure that the nation can be best prepared for any future emergent pandemic viruses; recognises that the COVID-19 pandemic saw the loss of life across the country, and again offers its condolences to the families and friends of those who died during the pandemic; notes that 28,000 messages and 19,000 documents have been handed to the UK Covid-19 Inquiry from the Scottish Government; agrees that one area of concern, from which lessons must be learned from the handling of the pandemic, is the size and scale of potential fraud in PPE contracts that were overseen by the UK Government; notes that this will be considered by both the UK Covid-19 Inquiry and the relevant prosecutorial authorities; supports the establishment of a UK ‘COVID corruption commissioner’ to seek to recoup public funds lost to waste and fraud, and believes that all governments should engage fully with the UK Covid-19 Inquiry to enable their actions and decisions during the pandemic to be scrutinised, so that COVID-19-bereaved families and the public get answers to the questions that they have.”
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