Thank you, convener, and thank you for the invitation to give evidence this morning and to answer your questions.
The timetable that we are entering into for the Coronavirus (Scotland) (No 2) Bill is a little more relaxed than that for the first bill, but it is still pretty hectic. Before I remind members of where we are in the flurry of legislation and regulation that we have done since the start of the process, I want to thank Luke McBratney and his colleagues in the bill team. The team has been responsible for two complex bills in six weeks, and that is utterly remarkable.
Of course, those bills have involved a range of individuals and a range of ministers. From time to time, as the bill progresses, my colleagues will be coming to the chamber or to the committee. They will certainly be coming to the chamber tomorrow, when I expect to be joined by Kevin Stewart and Shirley-Anne Somerville. When it comes to amendments to the bill, other ministers will wish to take part at stages 2 and 3. That is unusual, but I hope that it will be helpful to the Parliament and the committee.
10:45
We passed the legislative consent motion for the UK bill on 24 March. The first bill—the Coronavirus (Scotland) Bill—was passed on 1 April, and we are now considering the Coronavirus (Scotland) (No 2) Bill. Inevitably, we have learned from those experiences.
We have also published a detailed series of regulations, starting on 25 March, when we published the business and social distancing guidelines. On 26 March, we made and brought into force the health protection regulations—the so-called lockdown regulations. The physical distancing guidelines were published on 27 March. Small amendments were made on 1 April. The regulations were reviewed on 16 April. On 21 April, we made more substantive changes, which I discussed previously with the committee. We reviewed the regulations on 7 May, and on 11 May we updated those with one change, which the committee is familiar with. That is all a flurry of activity.
I anticipate that we will have more regulations to consider as we go forward. We also have the reporting process to put into place; that will start at the end of this month, when we bring forward the first set of reporting, not just on the first bill but on the second bill and the LCM.
The second bill, which is simpler than the first bill, contains a number of provisions that we regard as urgent. I heard the tail end of Michael Clancy’s evidence and I entirely agree with him. Urgency in both primary and secondary legislation is a difficult issue. We must be sparing with such legislation, and we must apply judgment that such legislation is urgently required. We must ensure that such legislation can be used only when it is needed and that it will pass out of use as soon as possible.
The bill covers four broad topics: individual protections; the operation of the justice system; adjustments to deadlines for reports and accounts; and some miscellaneous measures.
The reporting on this bill is exactly the same as it was for the previous bill. It will be coterminous with the bill. The bill will be set for expiry on 30 September 2020 and can be renewed only twice. That means that the timetable for review and reporting is essentially a simpler one. As I said, we will start that process at the end of this month.
I will not go into much detail on the substance of the bill, because I am sure that I will be asked questions about it. However, I will pick up one or two headlines. The issue of student residential tenancies was raised by a number of members, including Green Party members, during the passage of the first bill. We have been able to find what we think is a solution to that, which is in the bill.
Tomorrow, Shirley-Anne Somerville will be able to talk about social security and, in particular, the coronavirus carers allowance, which we hope to be able to pay in June.
There are key issues on bankruptcy, because debt will, regrettably, be an issue during this crisis.
I heard Annabelle Ewing’s question about mental health and the requirement to relax the need to witness a named person nomination. That is a very sensitive issue, which I am happy to discuss.
There are some criminal justice issues, including those relating to proceeds of crime and intimation of documents.
There is a range of other matters, including the fact that the UEFA championships will be postponed for a year; we will need to alter the legislation that we passed on that only recently.
The bill also deals with the land and buildings transaction tax, so that people are not put under undue burden if they are due to have money refunded once they have sold a property. There is a power on non-domestic rates relief, which is as yet unspecified but might be a useful tool in the armoury as we go forward.
I am grateful to the Opposition parties for making suggestions about what is in the bill and, from some, what they would like to see included in the bill. As I have consistently said, during every bill that I have been involved with, bills improve as they age. We have a period in which we can improve the bill. It will not be possible to take on every issue, but we will give issues serious consideration and discussion.
Finally, the timetable for the bill is clear. There will be a stage 1 parliamentary debate tomorrow afternoon. The committee’s stage 2 consideration will take place next Tuesday morning. That could take us some time, if that is what members choose to do, because the standing order that prevents committees from meeting while Parliament meets has been suspended. We hope to have stage 3 in the Parliament on the afternoon of Wednesday 20 May.
I have already written to the Advocate General for Scotland, the Attorney General and the Secretary of State for Scotland requesting expedited royal assent if the bill is passed on Wednesday 20 May, so that the provisions in the bill that make it through will be available by Thursday 28 May.
With that, I am happy to answer questions, and I am sure that Luke McBratney will be happy to do so, too.