Minister pressured over his ‘misleading’ claims about checks made on travellers
THE Justice Secretary is facing mounting pressure to explain ‘misleading’ claims he made about quarantine checks on travellers.
Humza Yousaf claimed ‘20 per cent’ of those entering Scotland from abroad were being contacted to ensure they were self-isolating.
However, it has since emerged not one follow-up check was made until yesterday – due to issues with Scottish officials accessing passenger data.
Mr Yousaf has now written to the Health Committee convener, Lewis Macdonald, to clarify his remarks, saying he believed they were true ‘at the time’.
But Mr Macdonald said yesterday: ‘We have written to the Cabinet Secretary for Justice to seek further clarification on why this misleading figure of 20 per cent was given to the Committee at a time when there had been no quarantine checks on travellers coming to Scotland.’
Scottish Conservative leader Jackson Carlaw said: ‘It’s increasingly clear that Humza Yousaf misled the Scottish parliament and he now has to explain why.’
On June 23, Mr Yousaf told Holyrood’s health committee officials ‘are contacting approximately 20 per cent of travellers to give them guidance in relation to quarantining and self-isolation’.
But in his letter to Mr Macdonald, he admitted: ‘At the time I made that statement... I believed it to be correct. I was advised that receipt of data and the ability to contact those in quarantine had begun on June 22.
‘However, I now understand that in fact, on receipt of the data, it was determined to not be sufficient quality to allow the relevant checks to take place immediately.’
Mr Yousaf also told MSPs Police Scotland had told him that there was ‘very high’ compliance with restrictions. But Chief Constable Iain Livingstone admitted his force would not be informed of breaches, and could only follow up with people if made aware of issues.
Last night, Police Scotland Deputy Chief Constable Will Kerr said that the force’s involvement in quarantine regulations had been ‘very limited’. He added: ‘Information on people entering the UK is passed from Border Force to Public Health Scotland, who then have responsibility for monitoring. Public Health Scotland took a decision that, for reasons of individual privacy, they would not pass on any information or details of apparent breaches of self-isolation to Police Scotland.’
Since June 24, police have received five calls from the public over non-compliance. No fixed penalty notices have been issued.
The tracing issue has now been resolved, with checks in place from yesterday, weeks after the policy was introduced on June 8. Officials are also backdating checks.
This week, Health Secretary Jeane Freeman blamed the lack of quarantine checks on staff not being given security clearance to access the information by the Home Office. The Home Office later said her claims were ‘misleading’ as the issue was down to the Scottish Government’s delay in signing a memorandum of understanding.
Speaking at her daily briefing, Nicola Sturgeon said: ‘Checks have started this morning and they will continue. The fact the sample checks only started today does not mean we think there hasn’t been compliance with this system – but we will now do those checks.’
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