Image source, Getty Images

NHS Scotland chief executive Caroline Lamb will shortly continue giving evidence to the UK Covid-19 Inquiry, external.

Earlier this morning senior Scottish civil servant Gillian Russell gave evidence, saying planning for a no-deal Brexit was to blame for a lack of preparation in Scotland for the pandemic.

After Caroline Lamb has concluded her evidence, Scotland's former health secretary Jeane Freeman will appear before the inquiry .

Ms Freeman will face questions from the inquiry on how prepared the Scottish government was for the pandemic.

She served as Scotland's health secretary between 2018 and May 2021, when she stood down as an MSP ahead of the Scottish Parliament election.

Ms Freeman has previously said that the UK-wide lockdown was an "absolute necessity" in the early stages of the pandemic, but has admitted she regrets that the Scottish government discharged so many hospital patients into care homes without being tested for the virus.

Read more here

What impact did Brexit have?published at 13:18 British Summer Time 28 June 2023

13:18 BST 28 June 2023

Andrew Kerr
Scottish political correspondent

It’s significant that Britain’s departure from the European Union weaves its way into every facet of government.

At the UK Covid Inquiry, it’s emerged that planning for a chaotic “no deal” departure hampered Scottish government preparations for a pandemic.

That’s what’s claimed, anyway.

The senior civil servant Gillian Russell, who was the director for safer communities, set out how attention was diverted.

Operation Silver Swan and Exercise Cygnus had previously pointed to areas for improvement.

Some of the work was completed – but that was then put on pause for Operation Yellowhammer.

That was the codename for no-deal preparations and it appears to have sucked up resources.

The evidence preceding this had been very dry – but this was a sudden and stark example of real politics having an impact.

That could have left the Scottish and UK governments hobbled as the Covid pandemic struck.

Conversely though, the former UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock set out yesterday how no-deal Brexit preparations meant intensive care medicine had been stock-piled and therefore didn’t run out.

The Covid-19 Inquiry has adjourned for lunch.

The evidence session with NHS Scotland chief executive Caroline Lamb will continue from 1.45 pm.

Join us for that and for the appearance of former Health Secretary Jeane Freeman.

Andrew Kerr
Scottish political correspondent

Planning for a no-deal Brexit has been blamed for a lack of strategic preparation in Scotland for the pandemic.

The senior civil servant Gillian Russell has been giving evidence to the UK Covid Inquiry.

She said Operation Silver Swan and Exercise Cygnus had pointed to areas of work which had to be completed - but that was put on hold for Operation Yellowhammer - government plans for leaving the EU with no deal.

She said that meant a huge amount of planning had to be undertaken by the Scottish government.

In 2019 the UK government published details of their Yellowhammer contingency plan, external, after MPs voted to force its release.

Image source, Getty Images

If you are just joining us, here's a quick recap of this morning's news from the UK Covid-19 Inquiry, external.

NHS Scotland chief executive Caroline Lamb is currently giving evidence and you can watch with us by clicking on the play icon at the top of this page.

Earlier this morning senior Scottish civil servant Gillian Russell gave evidence.

This afternoon Scotland's former health secretary Jeanne Freeman will appear before the inquiry .

Ms Freeman will face questions from the inquiry on how prepared the Scottish government was for the pandemic.

She was supposed to be have been joined by Dr Catherine Calderwood, the country's former chief medical officer.

But Dr Calderwood, who quit after breaking her own Covid lockdown rules, will now give evidence on another day.

Read more here

The chief executive of NHS Scotland begins her evidence session by expressing her condolences to all those people who lost a loved one to the pandemic.

Caroline Lamb also thanked all those people who had worked to combat Covid.

'Silver Swan'published at 12:29 British Summer Time 28 June 2023

12:29 BST 28 June 2023

Lisa Summers
BBC Scotland Health Correspondent

This is the first time that we’ve heard in person from the key decision makers in Scotland - but it’s important to say that this particular phase of the inquiry is very focused on the years leading up to 2020 and how prepared Scotland was to deal with a pandemic.

So far we’ve heard from civil servants who have been outlining the interaction between devolved administrations and those in the UK who were developing national security risks.

We’ve heard Scotland did carry out a series of exercises as they planned for a very high risk flu pandemic. Including one called “Silver Swan”.

Gillian Russell told the inquiry that by 2018 they paused work on pandemic planning because planning for a no deal Brexit took up a huge amount of strategic capacity.

In 2021 Scotland’s public spending watchdog published a report that found the government to be inadequately prepared.

That concludes the evidence session with former director for safer communities Gillian Russell.

Next up is NHS Scotland chief executive Caroline Lamb and she is sworn in.

After lunch Scotland’s former health secretary Jeanne Freeman will appear before the inquiry remotely.

The Visual and Data Journalism Team

Hearings are continuing in the UK public inquiry, external scrutinising the UK's response to, and impacts of, the coronavirus pandemic.

As the virus spread, government agencies increasingly published figures on case numbers, hospitalisations and deaths.

To follow alongside the inquiry, the BBC's data team has broken down some of these statistics into key areas from the beginning of the pandemic up to 5 May 2023, when the World Health Organisation declared an end to the virus as a "global health emergency", external.

Just under 227,000 people died in the UK with Covid-19 listed as one of the causes on their death certificate. This includes those who had not been tested for the virus prior to their death.

Check out more of the facts and figures here.

'Reasonable worst case scenario'published at 11:54 British Summer Time 28 June 2023

11:54 BST 28 June 2023

Susie Forrest
Health producer, BBC Scotland

Ms Russell explains the approach in carrying out a Scottish strategic risk assessment in 2018-19, which identified a very high risk of pandemic influenza.

She says it was based on recommendations by the UK scientists, adapted for a Scottish population.

The exercise assessed the reasonable worst case scenario of a flu pandemic where up to 50% of the population could experience symptoms and around 68,000 people could die, in the absence of government response measures.

Ms Russell is questioned about why UK plans were translated for Scottish population numbers without taking into account specific factors relevant only in Scotland, such as population density in rural areas.

She says this was on the basis of advice; she can't recall where the advice came from but will confirm to the inquiry later.

If you're just joining us, then welcome to our live coverage of the Covid-19 Inquiry.

This morning Scottish civil servants are giving evidence on Scotland's resilience and planning for a pandemic.

The big news is that Dr Catherine Calderwood, Scotland's former chief medical officer, will not now give evidence today.

Dr Calderwood, who quit after breaking her own Covid lockdown rules, will now appear before the inquiry at a later date.

The former health secretary Jeane Freeman will give evidence this afternoon from 2pm.

Nicola Sturgeon and John Swinney are expected to appear before the inquiry tomorrow.

Read more here.

Kate Blackwell KC, counsel to the inquiry, calls for the first break of the morning.

Proceedings will get under way again at 11.25 am.

Gillian Russell, the former director for safer communities in the Scottish government from 2015-2020, will continue to give evidence then.

Evidence is 'a little dry' but importantpublished at 11:19 British Summer Time 28 June 2023

11:19 BST 28 June 2023

Susie Forrest
Health producer, BBC Scotland

This is the first day of evidence dedicated to the work of the Scottish government. The lawyer for the inquiry has been setting out the different structures in the devolved administration in the areas of planning and resilience.

It has been a little dry but this background will be important later as we hear from former ministers about how the Scottish government worked with UK counterparts to prepare for a pandemic.

The first witness, Gillian Russell, is a senior civil servant who worked as director for safer communities in the five years up to 2020.

She was asked to what extent Scotland was consulted in the production of the 2019 National Security Risk Assessment.

She said there were differing views over 'grey lines' around which areas were devolved and what was 'reserved' - ie the responsibility of the UK government.

Wednesday 28 June

10am

• Gillian Russell (director for safer communities in Scottish Government 2015-2020 and current Director of Health Workforce)

then

• Caroline Lamb (Chief Executive of NHS Scotland and Director-General Health and Social Care)

2pm

• Jeanne Freeman attending remotely (Former Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport – Scottish Government 2018-2021)

Thursday 29 June

10am

• Sir Jeremy Farrar attending remotely (Former Director of the Wellcome Trust 2013-2023 and current CSA for WHO)

then

• Nicola Sturgeon (Former FM Scotland 2014-2023 and former Deputy FM Scotland 2007-2014)

2pm

• John Swinney (Former Deputy FM Scotland 2014-2023)

then

• Catherine Frances (Director General for Local Government, Resilience and Communities in DLUHC)

Gillian Russell, who was the director for safer communities in the Scottish government from 2015-2020, is giving evidence to the Covid-19 Inquiry.

Ms Russell is currently the director of health workforce in Scotland.

The civil servant is detailing responsibilities and resilience in Scotland and her role in planning for a pandemic.

Former chief medical officer will not appear todaypublished at 10:22 British Summer Time 28 June 2023

10:22 BST 28 June 2023

Lisa Summers
BBC Scotland Health Correspondent

The surprising news this morning was that Catherine Calderwood, the former chief medical officer was not going to appear.

This would have been the first time we’d heard from her since she was forced to resign after breaking lockdown rules by visiting her holiday home in Fife.

Her evidence will now be heard at later date.

Today is about scene setting. Hearing from Scottish civil servants about their responsibilities in a devolved nation and their role in planning for a pandemic.

Then we hear from the key politicians, including the former health secretary Jeane Freeman this afternoon and tomorrow the former First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon.

This Covid Inquiry covers decision-making in Westminster and the devolved administrations in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland during the pandemic.

It was launched by Boris Johnson in May 2021, and it's currently looking at how well prepared the UK was for the pandemic.

Any inquiry like this has the power to make people appear as witnesses, and to provide evidence.

And at the end, they're expected to publish conclusions and may make recommendations.

Image source, pa

First up today we have Gillian Russell, who was the director for safer communities in the Scottish government from 2015 -2020.

Scotland's former health secretary will give evidence to the UK inquiry this afternoon.

Jeane Freeman will face questions from the inquiry on how prepared the Scottish government was for the pandemic.

She was supposed to be have been joined by Dr Catherine Calderwood, the country's former chief medical officer.

But Dr Calderwood, who quit after breaking her own Covid lockdown rules, will now give evidence on another day.

Read more here

Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of the UK Covid-19 Inquiry, which is now in its third week.

This morning the Covid Inquiry is hearing from Gillian Russell who was the director for safer communities in the Scottish government from 2015-2020.

It will then hear from the chief executive of NHS Scotland, Caroline Lamb.

This afternoon it will take evidence from former Scottish health secretary Jeane Freeman.

The inquiry is still focusing on how prepared the UK was for a pandemic, so we can expect witnesses to be asked about that.

You can watch every moment of the Covid Inquiry by pressing theplayicon at the top of this page.

If you can't see it, please refresh your browser or reload the page on the BBC News app.