 Everyone seems to be where they want to be, so we will move on to the next side of business." It is an urgent question, and I call Jackie Baillie, who is joining us remotely, to ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether the Scottish Covid-19 inquiry might be delayed due to the resignation and senior council. Mae ysgolwyr yn mynd i'n med erioeddiol yn gychwyn i gyda'r ddisgofrannu'n cyfnog y cyfnodol byw sy'n gymrydiau ar gyfer gwahoddiadau waith ymwyaf oherwydd ei ysgolwyr ymgyrch yn cael gydyddig Felly arion wedi'i bod gweinio eu cyfrifoedd y newid ysgolwyr yn ei dda'i i gwybod ar ysgolwyr gyda'r gweithio'r cyfrifoedd sy'n gyflwyr. Mae ysgolwyr yn ymgyrch yn ystafell ymgyrch yn y bydd ysgolwyr yn cyfrifoedd ymgyrch'i gwybarwyr Ladies Pool will continue as chair during a notice period of up to three months. A further update will be provided to Parliament at the earliest possible opportunities. Jackie Baillie I thank the Deputy First Minister for his response but I am curious as to why he never mentioned the resignation of Four Senior and Junior Council when he hosted a cross-party briefing meeting on Monday, not a word passed his lips. As a material consideration, which ffordd, ac rydyn ni i ni sicr chi i gwaith gan y dyfodol gyhoedd. Nid yw rydyn ni'n gyll Osilio am hyblwyddwr, ac rydyn ni i ni i ni i ni i ni i ni i ni i ni i ni i ni i ni i ni i ni i ni i ni i ni i ni o'r lining gan y dyfodol. Felly, ran ymwarr i'r enchyd i lawr i'r enchyd. Mae'r sydd yn dod i'r eich cyfnod amser gyda'r Gym Marion someone i chi i cefnod, ac mae gennym ni amser fydd yn oed. Mae'r Gwneud Cymru hefyd yn wych, rwy'r gwahod ar yr enchyd i chi i wneud The first point that I want to make is that the Inquiries Act requires that the inquiry is independent of the Government. That is the law and I must obey the law and I am following the law. Under the 2005 Inquiries Act, ministers have the power to establish an independent public inquiry to set its terms of reference and to appoint a chair and a panel. In 2017 of the Inquiries Act 2005 gives an inquiry chair alone, rather than ministers, responsibility for deciding how an inquiry should operate. That includes its approach to taking evidence and engaging with its stakeholders. That is the legal position that I must follow. I considered carefully what I should share with members of Parliament when I telephoned them on Monday evening to share the information, because I was mindful of my legal obligation to respect the independence of the inquiry. The staffing matters of the inquiry are exclusively a matter for the chair of the inquiry. At no stage have I tried to conceal information I have simply respected the legal framework under which I must operate. In relation to the sequence of events, Lady Poole telephoned my office on Friday morning. I spoke to her within minutes of the email being received and Lady Poole intimated to me her decision to step down for personal reasons. In the course of that call, she indicated to me that four members of council had resigned the previous day from the inquiry. That was news to me as were the circumstances that led to Lady Poole's resignation when I heard that on Friday morning. Jackie Baillie I am sure that the Deputy First Minister will agree with me that there will be huge disappointment for the families who are grieving the loss of a loved one to Covid. They deserve answers and they have been patient in waiting for the inquiry to start. Lady Poole was appointed in December the day before Baroness Hallott was appointed to lead the UK-wide inquiry. The UK-wide inquiry has started and it has made clear that the people affected are at the heart of their consideration. Does the Deputy First Minister agree that it is the Scottish Government's responsibility to ensure that the inquiry system works and is adequately resourced? Can he tell me when the inquiry will start? When will it hear from the families in person? When will the inquiry report and what is the revised cost now? Above all, how will he ensure that whoever replaces Lady Poole ensures that the families affected are at the very heart of the inquiry's work? Jackie Baillie invites me by those questions to break the law because she invites me to interfere in the running of the inquiry. I simply will not do it because I have no intention of breaking section 17 of the Inquiries Act 2005, because the first person to complain about it would be Jackie Baillie if I were to do that. I have listened with enormous care to the bereaved families on a number of occasions over the course of the establishment of the inquiry. I have taken all the time that they have asked me to engage with them and I will be seeing bereaved families next week. I offered to speak to the three bereaved families groups that have made representations to me on Monday. I have spoken to one and I will be in correspondence with another and I will see another group next week. Their concerns for me must be at the heart of the inquiry. Jackie Baillie asks me what I will do to ensure that her voices are at the heart of the inquiry. That is something that I can do. I can insist when I secure the appointment of judicial leadership for the inquiry that the point that Jackie Baillie has put to me will be taken on board, it will be a condition of appointment for the judicial leadership that comes in place, that bereaved families must be at the heart of the inquiry, their issues and their concerns must be properly aired and must be properly addressed. They must have answers and that will be at the heart of the appointment process of the next judicial leadership. I will take a few supplementaries. I was contacted earlier today by a constituent who lost his wife due to Covid. Like many other of the bereaved families, he has very serious concerns about what has been reported in the media and the potential delays in the inquiry that have now started to take evidence. Can the Deputy First Minister tell us whether the resignation of Lady Poole was prompted by the resignation of the four senior council members or was it unrelated? Secondly, can he give us an assurance that none of those resignations have come about because of any political interference in the direction or operation of the inquiry? The first point that I want to make is—and I hope that this was clear from my last answer to Jackie Baillie—that the consideration of bereaved families is absolutely central to the inquiry. If there is any group of people in our country who must secure answers from the Covid inquiry, it must be the bereaved families. I hope that that provides reassurance for Mr Fraser to share with his constituent. In relation to the reasons for Lady Poole's resignation, Lady Poole indicated to me that for personal reasons she wished to step down from the inquiry. Those were Lady Poole's words to me, and that is what she has indicated to me. I do not think that it is incumbent on me to explore or examine the rationale for Lady Poole's statements to me. The final point is frankly one to which I take the greatest of exception. I have judiciously followed the contents of the Inquiries Act 2017, particularly section 17, which guarantees the independence of the inquiry. Just for the record, there has been absolutely no political interference in the inquiry. Deputy Presiding Officer, there is not a person in this chamber who does not know somebody to whom the outcome of the inquiry will make a material life-changing difference and answer vital questions about the loss of their loved ones. I am concerned about some of the confusion that exists around the departure of Lady Poole. Twice now, the cabinet secretary has been asked why other Opposition-spoked people were not told of the departure of senior and junior counsel at the same time as Lady Poole. Given that the narrative around Lady Poole's departure is that this was for personal reasons, what confidence can we have in the narrative around the rest of the inquiry and its status, given that this is all starting to fall apart now? I am very concerned. I would be grateful to press the cabinet secretary again on this matter. Deputy Presiding Officer, I do not know where to start with that question, to be honest, because I have just simply stood up in Parliament and made it clear that I am following the law. The law requires me to respect the independence of the inquiry. If I was to go around nitpicking about the inquiry, which is what Mr Cole-Hamilton invites me to do, Mr Fraser would be on his feet accusing me of interference. Can we please respect the fact that this is an independent inquiry? The Government has done its bit, which was to appoint a chair and consult and agree a terms of reference. Those terms of reference, as far as I am aware, from any of the representations that I have had across the chamber, are judged to be absolutely appropriate. Across the chamber, everybody took the view that Lady Poole was an appropriate appointment as well. The two things that the Government is allowed by law to do, to appoint a chair to the inquiry and to establish terms of reference have been broadly supported across this chamber. Lady Poole has decided to resign. It is not for me to interfere in the running of the inquiry. My job now is to ask the Lord President, which I have done, to provide nominees for me for replacement judicial leadership, and I will resolve the leadership of the inquiry as quickly as I possibly can do. I want to minimise any disruption. I want to minimise any interruption to the proceedings. There are many staff already in the inquiry. Lady Poole will manage the transition, and we will continue to advance to ensure that bereaved families and others are able to air the issues that they wish to have aired within the public inquiry. It is vital that the families and relatives involved have the utmost confidence in the public inquiry and that the process allows for credible answers to be reached. Can the Deputy First Minister provide further assurances that the important progress made so far by the inquiry is continued and that it will be done in a transparent manner that operates independently of ministers? I want to stress the point that the inquiry is established on a basis that is independent of government and it will continue to operate independently of government. I want to make sure that, and I think that this was broadly understood from the terms of reference, that members of the public who lost loved ones in the inquiry had to have the opportunity to address their concerns and their issues as part of the inquiry, and that will be central to the way in which the inquiry proceeds in the days, weeks and months to come. That concludes the urgent question. Before we move on to the next item of business, which is a committee of the whole Parliament, I suspend this meeting of Parliament.