Image source, Getty Images

Ms Fraser says the government is looking at how apps are handled in terms of record keeping.

What records are kept by the government is also being looked at, she adds.

Inquiry counsel Mr Dawson then asks if it is correct that former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon did not retain any messages whatsoever pertaining to the management of the pandemic.

Ms Fraser says Ms Sturgeon would have worked with her private office and the instructions would be retained.

She argues the government have been able to find how decisions were made via e-mails.

The inquiry KC says the then deputy first minister, John Swinney, had messages set up as an auto-delete mode.

Image source, Getty Images

Jamie Dawson KC says former Scottish government minister Alex Neil has said he could not understand the record policies.

Mr Neil, who was SNP health secretary from 2012 to 2014, has called for an "urgent review" over WhatsApp use.

Ms Fraser refutes the claim the responsibillity for ministers is poorly defined and she points out Mr Neil left office in 2016 before WhatsApp became prevalent.

Officials specifically spoke to new ministers after the 2021 election about these policies, she says.

Lady Hallett intervenes to ask what were ministers told to do with their WhatsApp messages.

The inquiry chair says she does not find the rules clear and it says messages should be deleted.

Ms Fraser explains there are over 50 directors in the Scottish government who are responsibile for the compliance with record keeping rules.

The inquiry counsel Jamie Dawson KC says the government's policy does not mention WhatsApps.

Lesley Fraser explains WhatsApp was not as prevalent in 2019 as it is now.

She turns to guidance for Scottish government workers to work from home.

Mr Dawson asks if this guidance encourages the deletion of records and Ms Fraser says the whole way government works relies on the keeping of records.

Ms Fraser explains it is the civil servants who have the responsibility of keeping records and ensuring communications from their minister are recorded.

The Scottish government confirmed in November last year that it would hand over more than 14,000 electronic messages, mainly WhatsApps, to the UK Covid Inquiry.

First Minister Humza Yousaf said he would share his messages.

The government had been criticised for not handing over all relevant data to the UK Covid Inquiry, with senior figures accused of deleting files.

Nicola Sturgeon refused to say whether or not she had erased any messages.

Speaking to reporters in the Scottish Parliament, the former first minister said she had "nothing to hide".

Read more here

Lady Hallet asks why Ms Fraser's team could not find the fundamental policy about record keeping.

The Scottish government official says she understood her team provided the record management policy in good time to the inquiry.

Jamie Dawson KC. lead counsel to the inquiry, says it might be fair to say document retention policy does not work very well in the Scottish government.

Ms Fraser insists the record management policy is readily available on the government website.

Lesley Fraser tells the inquiry you can't retain every record, for example there is well in excess of a million e-mails relating to the pandemic in Scotland.

The Scottish government official explains she oversees an information governance board which covers records management.

Jamie Dawson KC says there was a corporate request about document use, but the inquiry received only a single policy and he asks why it has been so difficult to get the policies.

Ms Fraser apologises if it has been too difficult and stresses the government has endeavoured to supply the documents as quickly as it can.

Mr Dawson says the documents were provided in a piece-meal fashion

Remember, the Four Harms strategy was the Scottish government's review of:

1. Direct Covid health harms
2. Broader health harms, primarily the impact on the NHS and social care services
3. Social harms to the wider society, like harms to the educational attainment
4. Economic harms

Lesley Fraser, the director general corporate of the Scottish government, is sworn in and the evidence session begins.

Ms Fraser refers to the National Performance Framework (NPR) and says everyone is accountable for transparency .

Then there's today's first mention of the Scottish government's Four Harms strategy.

Ms Fraser points out ministers are directly accountable to the Scottish Parliament and says it's a legal responsibility for the government to keep records.

Before today's session gets under way at about 10:00, here's a quick recap of the headlines from Thursday 18 January:

• The inquiry heard that the Scottish government could have legislated to impose a lockdown earlier in March 2020 as coronavirus took hold – but decided to act in step with the rest of the UK
• Prof Paul Cairney said Scottish ministers repeated mistakes as they dealt with new waves of infection
• Dr Donald Macaskill said people being admitted to care homes should have been tested for Covid and that the care sector had been "hung out to dry"
• The Scottish Care chief executive told the inquiry that Scottish government guidance for care homes "was not fit for purpose" and there was a "lack of trust in the hospital discharge process"
• He said people who might have been saved had died due to uncertainty caused by the poor guidance

• Cosla's Nicola Dickie said there were "peaks and troughs of engagement between local and Scottish government

Image source, PA Media

First up this morning will be Lesley Fraser, the director general corporate of the Scottish government.

Then the inquiry will hear from Ken Thomson, the director general for constitution and external affairs and manager of the Covid Co-ordination Directorate of the Scottish government.

The afternoon session will begin with Dr Jim McMenamin who is the head of infections service and strategic incident director of Public Health Scotland.

Finally we'll hear from Dr Nick Phin, the current director of Public Health Science for Public Health Scotland.

Previously Dr Phin was the deputy director of Public Health England’s national infections service.

Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of the UK Covid Inquiry which is taking evidence from witnesses in Edinburgh.

Former judge Lady Hallett will chair this fourth day of public hearings at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre.

We’ll bring you live reports, background and analysis of the proceedings.

If you want to watch live from about 10:00, stick with us and press the play icon at the top of the page.