Recommendation 12

HM Government · verbatim extract Accepted

(13) The Government must answer a range of outstanding questions in relation to the Joint Biosecurity Centre, including: the Government’s assessment of the benefits of establishing such a Centre for all four nations, how the devolved administrations will contribute and who in the Scottish Government will be given the opportunity to do so . (Paragraph 94 in the interim report) It is because viruses have no regard for jurisdictional boundaries that the Joint Biosecurity Centre (JBC) was established to operate across the UK - we all need to work together at this time to protect the health and jobs of people across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The JBC aims to provide evidence-based objective analysis, assessment, and advice to inform local and national decision- making in response to COVID-19 outbreaks. The JBC uses the diverse expertise and tradecraft of its staff to analyse both health and non-health data, and to offer a unique perspective on the developing situation with regard to COVID-19. Since the Committee’s interim report, the UK and Scottish Governments agreed to promote the necessary secondary legislation in both the UK and Scottish Parliaments so that the JBC can carry out functions in Scotland. The legislation has been made under the Scotland Act 1998, and was coordinated by the Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland. The actual agency agreement, which gives legal effect to the political agreement reached in August, has been signed by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and by the three DAs. This agreement sets out the basis on which the DAs participate in the JBC, and an implementation plan is currently being determined and agreed by DHSC and the DAs at official level. Secondly, a governance structure has been agreed between the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and DA Health Ministers, with roles for DA Ministers, CMOs, and senior officials: an inaugural meeting of the Ministerial Board, comprising Health Ministers from all parts of the UK, was held in November 2020, ensuring the JBC is delivering its objectives as effectively as possible across the UK; and the Technical Board continues to meet regularly having been first convened in September; it comprises the four UK CMOs and ensures that JBC products are of sufficient clinical and scientific rigour (for example, agreeing the methodology used to arrive at recommendations on the COVID-19 alert level). I hope that the Committee will find the UK Government’s response to its inquiry on this most important subject useful. THE RT HON. ALISTER JACK MP SECRETARY OF STATE FOR SCOTLAND Published: 1 February 2021 Site information Accessibility statement