The Act: Overview
3.To help manage the coronavirus pandemic, the Scottish Parliament passed the Coronavirus (Scotland) Act 2020 and the Coronavirus (Scotland) (No.2) Act 2020. The Coronavirus (Extension and Expiry) (Scotland) Act 2021 amended these Acts to extend much of their operation initially until 31 March 2022, with the potential for further extension by secondary legislation to September 2022 (which was confirmed with the approval of the Parliament). The Extension and Expiry Act also expired certain provisions within the Scottish Acts which were no longer necessary or appropriate.
4.The Scottish Government’s Programme for Government 2021 committed to consulting on what further legislation would be needed to support recovery from the pandemic and to bring forward a Coronavirus Recovery Bill in the first year of Parliament to deliver on aspects of that. This Act delivers on that commitment: its overall policy intention is to embed reforms in Scotland’s public services and justice system that, though necessitated by the pandemic, have delivered improvements to service users and efficiencies, and to help build resilience against future public health threats. This Act will also continue certain temporary provisions on a longer extension basis as a response to the impact of coronavirus on Scotland’s justice system.
5.As well as the Scottish Coronavirus Acts mentioned above, this Act also makes permanent provision based on certain temporary measures within the UK Coronavirus Act 2020. The UK Act was due to expire on 25 March 2022, although there is a Ministerial power (in section 90 of that Act) to make regulations to extend the effect of particular provisions for up to 6 months and this was exercised with the approval of the Parliament to extend relevant provisions to 24 September 2022.