'Unacceptable' if Scotland's Covid testing plans impacted by Westminster
The First Minister says it would be "illogical" if the future of mass testing came down to a funding decision from the Treasury
Last updated 21st Feb 2022
The First Minister says it would be “unacceptable” if a decision on whether to continue coronavirus testing in Scotland was taken out of the Scottish Parliament’s hands.
It is suggested the Prime Minister could announce an end to mass testing in the UK when he updates the Commons on the future of Covid rules in England.
This would have funding allocations for the devolved administrations that could see testing end before the decision is taken by the separate governments, or cuts to other services to continue funding free testing.
Nicola Sturgeon told MFR News that the position the countries of the UK find themselves in due to funding arrangements was "illogical".
When asked if the announcement could see an end to testing north of the border, the First Minister said: "These are decisions that we will have to arrive at over today and tomorrow before accepted the position to the Scottish Parliament, we are back again being really starkly reminded of this illogical position that Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish governments have to deal with which is that we are responsible for public health decisions in our own countries, but it's the Treasury who makes the funding decisions and they seem to be only triggered by the decisions Boris Johnson makes for England.
"That's unsustainable, it's unacceptable, but that's the situation we're in.
"So one of the questions that we are hoping to have answered today is what the remaining funding for testing is going to be.
"Presumably, England is not going to take away its testing infrastructure completely, so what the residual funding will be, what that then enables the devolved administration's to support, I hope we get clarity on that later today.
"It would be unacceptable now, as it has been in the past, for the decisions that the Scottish Government or the Welsh or Northern Irish governments think are right for public health reasons are constrained because of decisions on funding that the Treasury are taking only on the basis of what is decided for England."
On Twitter, the First Minister said she had "expressed frustration" about the decision to Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove during a meeting on Monday morning.
With the UK Government laying out its plans on Monday and Ms Sturgeon outlining the Scottish Government's strategic framework on Tuesday - which is expected to be more cautious than the Prime Minister's proposals - there could again be points of diversion between the two administrations.