The Scottish Government is paving the way to use the UK Government’s app for covid-19 contact tracing in Scotland.

Holyrood and Westminster are set to vote on legislation that would allow the UK Government’s covid-19 contact tracing app to be used in Scotland.

Both Parliaments are likely to approve a Section 93 Order under the Scotland Act that would give the UK ministers legal authority to operate the app in Scotland.

The order has been laid before Westminster and Holyrood to be voted on later this summer.

The move, which is backed by both governments, would come into effect on the 4^th September if approved.

However, the Scottish Government stresses this is not yet a commitment to sign up to the UK system.

Health Secretary Jeane Freeman has said the Scottish Government will not sign up to a UK-wide app unless it received formal guarantees data would not be passed on to third parties, as this will be “key to public trust”.

Recently published correspondence reveals the Scottish Government is also looking at making its own app or adopting one used elsewhere, amid frustrations over the UK-wide contact tracing app that has been beset by technical difficulties and delays.

Data from the early stages of the trial on the Isle of Wight that revealed the system did not work on iPhones was kept from the Scottish Government for “several weeks”.

Officials eventually found out the system only worked on 4% of iPhones from the BBC.

In June Ms Freeman wrote to the Secretary of State for Scotland, Alister Jack, as well as her counterpart for the English NHS, Matt Hancock, to set out her “disappointment at how governance on the app has operated to date.”

She added: “This strikes me as being more than a single issue…a refresh of governance and accountability is required in order for…our informed and genuinely collaborative participation in any future iterations of the covid-19 App.”

In reply Matt Hancock pledged to review governance arrangements to ensure “genuine” collaboration with devolved governments.

At the start of July, Ms Freeman told the health and sport committee the Scottish Government has agreed “in principle” to put arrangements in place that will “pave the way” for the UK app to be used in Scotland.

But no final decision has been made and a “continued absence of clarity” also means it is difficult to assess how it will work with the different Test & Protect system in Scotland.

NHS England’s contact tracing app has been dogged by over-promising, delays and technical difficulties.

England’s health secretary Matt Hancock had pledged an initial model that would have seen NHS England develop an app with a centralised database itself, would be ready in May.

But in late June this was ditched after £12m was spent and after testing revealed it did not work on Apple devices.

Instead the UK Government is now working towards a decentralised app based on technology provided by Apple and Google, which is expected to be in place by winter.

 

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