HOLYROOD ministers are demanding answers from Boris Johnson on how future Covid-19 testing will be funded in Scotland.
The Prime Minister revealed this week that coronavirus laws in England, including the legal requirement for people who test positive to isolate, are set to end on Thursday before free universal testing is scrapped in April.
The announcement sparked fears among devolved leaders and public health experts – with deputy first minister John Swinney warning the Scottish Government has still been left in the dark.
On Tuesday, Nicola Sturgeon signalled that Scotland would continue with a free testing programme moving forward, despite moves south of the Border.
The First Minister told Parliament that Scots should continue to take free PCR tests if they have symptoms and make regular use of free lateral flow kits.
She added: “Lateral flow tests will remain free of charge in the transition phase. Indeed, we consider it important – in line with the principle of healthcare free at the point of use – that they should remain free of charge for any circumstance in which government recommends testing. This is a principle we will seek to uphold in our longer-term plan."
Yet Johnson’s announcement has thrown the long-term provision of free tests into doubt, with the Prime Minister suggesting that Scotland will have to fork out for its own tests if it wants to continue the scheme beyond April.
Swinney said on Wednesday that work was under way as part of the Scottish Government’s transition plan to establish how much it will cost to continue to offer wide-ranging Covid testing– and said the level of testing offered to the public would depend on the severity of the Covid crisis at that point.
“The current arrangements continue on an ongoing basis and we will set out in March what that future testing regime looks like,” he told BBC Good Morning Scotland. “And obviously by that stage we will be clear on the financing and the cost of all of that and we'll set out those details.”
Under Johnson’s plans for England, free universal testing will then be massively scaled back from April 1. The remaining symptomatic testing will be focused on the most vulnerable, with the UK Health Security Agency set to determine the details.
READ MORE: Nicola Sturgeon reveals Scotland's new plan for dealing with Covid-19
Swinney suggested that the UK Government would have to maintain a substantial testing regime if it is to keep track of outbreaks and new variants – and demanded clarity from Number 10.
The Covid Recovery Secretary explained: “We've got to have these continued discussions with the UK Government because the UK is saying that it wants to maintain the intelligence that requires it to pick up where there are new strains of the virus emerging. They want to do sufficient testing to be able to be in a position to act it should it be necessary to take stronger measures to protect public health.
“That approach sounds to me as if it requires testing to be continuing within England on the decisions taken by the Prime Minister and his colleagues on a certain basis. We need to understand the financing of all of that if there is more money than made available by the Treasury for that provision then obviously there are financial implications for us. If the Department of Health is having to swallow that within its own budgets then there are equivalent implications for us as well. But we need to know the answers [from the UK Government].”
He added: “We need to go through the proper order of decision making as we come to those conclusions and the first point is we need to have clarity on a supposed four-nations basis of what the approach to testing is likely to be across the United Kingdom and that's the clarity that we're seeking for the UK Government.”
In Holyrood on Tuesday, Sturgeon announced an end to Scotland's Covid passport scheme, as well as other significant changes to the nation's pandemic response as part of a new strategic framework.
The Covid certification scheme will come to an end on Monday February 28, although some businesses may choose to continue with it if they wish.
The legal requirement to wear masks in public settings is also to be lifted from March 21, becoming guidance instead.
Public health experts such as Professor Linda Bauld, the Scottish Government's interim chief social policy adviser, have warned Westminster that ending universal testing will leave the UK “driving blind” in the pandemic.
But the Prime Minister has insisted he does not want people to think “there’s some division between the gung ho politicians and the cautious, anxious scientists”.
“We have a very clear view of this,” he said. “This has not gone away. We’re able to make these changes now because of the vaccines and the high level of immunity and all the other considerations about Omicron that you’ve seen.
“But we have to face the fact that there could be, likely will be, another variant that will cause us trouble.
“But I believe that thanks to a lot of the stuff that we’ve done, particularly investment in vaccines and vaccine technology and therapeutics, we’ll be in a far better position to tackle that new variant when it comes.”
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