Select committee: Scottish Affairs Committee
Conclusion 9
Second Report - Coronavirus and Scotland
Published 22 Oct 2020
Paragraph 63
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)
Scottish exports make a major contribution to the Scottish economy and the risks to those key export sectors ought to be a major concern of both the UK and Scottish Governments. We have heard about the huge reduction in exports throughout the first part of 2020, largely due to the coronavirus pandemic. More could be done to support exports both in the short and long-term.
From: Scottish Affairs Committee, Second Report - Coronavirus and Scotland (HC 895), paragraph 63, 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".