Edinburgh Napier University

  This Citizens’ Panel was commissioned by the Scottish Parliament’s COVID-19 Committee. Its findings will support the COVID-19 Committee’s work to scrutinise the Scottish Government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic at a time when the health protection measures put in place to respond to COVID-19 have had – and continue to have – a considerable impact on all people in Scotland. These measures are made using emergency powers given to the Scottish Government and are often implemented with no public consultation and under a compressed timetable for parliamentary scrutiny.

The Citizens’ Panel met virtually over four Saturdays in January and February 2021. It comprised of 19 randomly selected individuals who were broadly representative of Scotland’s population. The Citizens’ Panel was asked to develop recommendations in response to the following question―

“What priorities should shape the Scottish Government's approach to COVID-19 restrictions and strategy in 2021?”

The participants spoke to a range of expert witnesses to consider evidence and ideas that were relevant to answering this question. The participants used facilitated video conference discussions and an online platform to deliberate over these issues and form their recommendations.

This report is divided into three sections. The first section provides background information on how the Citizens’ Panel was formed and who took part. The middle section provides an overview of the Citizens’ Panel’s sittings, including how evidence was presented to the participants and their process of deliberation. The final section outlines the participants’ recommendations.