Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how many meetings of the Covid-19 Operations Committee he has attended.
Answered by Alister Jack - Secretary of State for Scotland
The Covid-19 Operations Committee was set up in June to deliver the policy and operational response to Covid-19. It is chaired by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, attended by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, and other Cabinet Ministers will be invited according to the agenda.
Given the operationally sensitive nature of the information discussed, it is not appropriate to disclose the additional information requested.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how many meetings of the Economic Operations Committee he has attended since the start of the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Alister Jack - Secretary of State for Scotland
The Economic and Business Ministerial Implementation Group was set up in March to consider the economic and business impact and response, including supply chain resilience. It was chaired by the Chancellor, with the Business Secretary as deputy chair, and attended by other Ministers and officials. Given the operationally sensitive nature of the information discussed, it is not appropriate to disclose the additional information requested.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how many discussions the Government has had with the Scottish Government in each month since the start of the covid-19 outbreak; and how many discussions in each month took place through Ministerial Implementation Groups.
Answered by Alister Jack - Secretary of State for Scotland
Scotland Office Ministers have regular engagement with Scottish Government Ministers, on a variety of matters in a range of subject areas and are happy to be approached by Scottish Ministers on further engagement. This is supplemented by official engagement between Scottish Government officials and officials in the department.
Scottish Government Ministers attended the vast majority of the UK Government’s Ministerial Implementation Groups on the Economy, Health and the Public Sector. Supplemented by other Ministerial engagement, there have been more than 60 Ministerial meetings and extensive official engagement since March. Ministers from this department also attended those meetings.
My most recent meeting with Scottish Ministers was on Tuesday 23 June ahead of the PM’s statement to the House of Commons. This was attended by, amongst others, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and the First Minister of Scotland.