Select committee: Scottish Affairs Committee
Conclusion 3
Second Report - Coronavirus and Scotland
Published 22 Oct 2020
Paragraph 22
Addressed to Scotland Office
Scottish Affairs Committee Coronavirus and Scotland All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
The evidence we received covering the general role of the Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland has been helpful. We look forward to hearing a response to the recommendation in the interim report about the specific role of the Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland during the coronavirus pandemic and what their role could be in the context of similar UK-wide emergencies.
From: Scottish Affairs Committee, Second Report - Coronavirus and Scotland (HC 895), paragraph 22, 22 October 2020
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 1 February 2021 (deadline 22 December 2020).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government responds to the Committee's recommendations on intergovernmental working, economic support, immigration and exports, setting out existing arrangements and some commitments, while deferring several decisions.
- On the public inquiry, the government says it "notes" the Committee's recommendation on terms of reference, that responding to the detail now "would be premature", and that it will respond further "in due course".
- On reviewing economic support, HM Treasury and HMRC have "committed to undertaking a detailed evaluation" of the job retention and self-employment schemes. The job retention findings will be published "by the end of 2021"; full self-employment evaluation data will not be available until 2022.
- On Shortage Occupation List recommendations, the government is "absolutely not rejecting" them but is "not immediately accepting" them. It will consider whether to implement "some or all" in immigration rules changes in 2021.
- On the Seasonal Workers Pilot, the government "notes" the Committee's findings and is "carefully considering" the pilot findings, hoping "to say more on this in due course".