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Health and Sport Committee 23 March 2021

23 Mar 2021 · S5 · Health and Sport Committee

Item of business

European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018

Health Security (EU Exit) Regulations 2021

Gougeon, Mairi SNP Angus North and Mearns Watch on SPTV

I am pleased to be here today to answer the committee’s questions on the Health Security (EU Exit) Regulations 2021, to which Scottish ministers have been asked to give consent. I again offer the Government’s apologies for the speed with which the committee has had to consider the regulations. Although we provided you with them as soon as we were able to do so, I appreciate that the situation is not ideal, so I am grateful for your having found time to consider them. I hope that your efforts today will strengthen the health protection regime that we are trying to create. As members are aware, health security is a devolved matter. However, when the United Kingdom was a member of the European Union, EU law by default created a strong system of co-operation and co-ordination between the four nations of the UK. For example, cross-border threats to health had to be notified to Public Health England, which in turn notified the EU. That situation has changed, but the need for such close co-operation between the four nations has not. The UK must still also meet global obligations, which now fall under the EU-UK trade and co-operation agreement and international health regulations. That makes the regulations important for two reasons. First, they will ensure that there is a legislative underpinning across the UK for a co-ordinated approach to identifying and tackling threats to health security. That means that processes are in place to share information on threats and to work together on solutions. Secondly, the regulations will ensure that the UK as a whole will be able to meet its international obligations. Failure to approve the regulations could be interpreted as the UK not complying with its obligations under the trade and co-operation agreement, which could have significant consequences both for the UK’s access to important EU health institutions, and for the more general implementation of the trade and co-operation agreement. I am therefore invested in ensuring that the committee and the Scottish ministers are reassured that the regulations are robust and fit for purpose. Although I cannot tell you that the agreement will allow us to fully replicate the benefits that we derived from EU membership, it has already secured us access to key institutions for Covid purposes. It is vital that we maintain that ability in case of future threats. The past year has taught us that protecting the health of our populations cannot be done by any Government alone but requires co-operation across borders and willingness to share with and learn from one another. There has already been close co-operation between the health agencies and Governments of all four devolved nations. In recent months, officials have met every fortnight as part of the four-nations health protection EU transition group. Those meetings have helped to develop the regulations and the common framework on public health protection and health security, of which, I believe, the committee saw a summary late last year. Work has now moved on to planning for practical operation so that we can continue to support and protect each other against health threats. The regulations are an important foundation for that work, so I hope that the committee will agree and approve the proposal to consent to their being laid in the UK Parliament. I look forward to answering members’ questions

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Health and Sport Committee 23 March 2021

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