Parliamentary questions
Douglas Lumsden
1,891 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
16 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what models of government-issued mobile phones are currently in use across its departments, and what criteria are used for their selection.
Answer · Ivan McKee: Through our mobile voice & data contract the Scottish Government have purchased various models of mobile phone including those from Apple, Motorola and Samsung. When selecting mobile phones, each device is evaluated on value for money, supportability and …
16 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it keeps communications secure for government-issued mobile phones.
Answer · Ivan McKee: All corporately managed Scottish Government mobile phone communications are secured in line with National Cyber Security Centre standards.
16 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent on contracts for government-issued mobile phones in each of the last five years.
Answer · Ivan McKee: The spend via the Scottish Government’s account as part of our mobile voice and data contracts is shown below.January 2024 to December 2024 - £239,512.58January 2023 to December 2023 - £736,988.98January 2022 to December 2022 - £717,28…
16 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to improve mobile connectivity for its employees in remote and rural areas.
Answer · Ivan McKee: The Scottish Government works closely with the framework supplier to ensure the best possible network coverage.For Scottish Government (SG) employees in remote and rural areas using an SG-issued mobile device, Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi calling are permitted when mobile…
16 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many government-issued mobile phones are currently in use, broken down by department.
Answer · Ivan McKee: The Scottish Government do not centrally hold records by department for mobile phones. Mobile phones are purchased by individual business areas to meet their requirements. There are 3922 mobile phones in use.
16 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it evaluates the cost-effectiveness of its contracts for government-issued mobile phones.
Answer · Ivan McKee: Scottish Government has entered into a contract with Vodafone Ltd for the supply of Mobile Voice and Data Services. This contract was arranged under Scottish Government’s national framework for Mobile Voice and Data services which was awarded to Vodafon…
16 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what data it holds regarding government-issued mobile phone usage, including call and data volumes, across its departments.
Answer · Ivan McKee: The Scottish Government holds data provided by our mobile voice and data supplier, Vodafone in relation to our mobile contract, this includes call, SMS and data usage statistics and along with any associated charges.
16 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what funding it has provided to (a) Police Scotland and (b) other agencies in each of the last five years to safeguard defence-related companies against any criminality arising from protests in relation to their operation.
Answer · Angela Constance: It is for the Chief Constable, working with the working with the Scottish Police Authority, to determine how to allocate its budget to meet policing priorities including any safeguards any criminality arising from protests. In 2025-26, the Scottish Government…
16 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it is supporting local authorities to improve mobile connectivity in areas with poor reception.
Answer · Richard Lochhead: From 2018 to 2023, the Scottish Government invested £28.75 million to build 55 new mobile masts in longstanding ‘notspots’, bringing 4G connectivity for the first time to communities and businesses across rural and island Scotland. The Scott…
16 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to strengthen legal protections for defence-related companies against unlawful activities by protesters in relation to their operation.
Answer · Angela Constance: There are a wide range of existing legal protections that may be relevant in the context of unlawful activities by protestors. For example, criminal offences of acting in a disorderly manner, malicious mischief, threatening or abusive behaviour and breach of …
16 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to government-issued mobile phones, how much mobile data has been used by its departments in each of the last five years, and what the associated costs were.
Answer · Ivan McKee: The mobile data used in terabytes (Tb) on the Scottish Government’s account as part of our mobile voice and data contracts is shown below. This data is only available from August 2020, it is not possible to separate the associated mobile data costs by d…
16 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what guidance it provides to law enforcement agencies regarding arrests made in the vicinity of defence-related companies in relation to their operation.
Answer · Angela Constance: The Scottish Government does not hold this information. Operational decisions on matters such as this are for Police Scotland with oversight from the Scottish Police Authority. You may wish to contact them directly.
16 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to upgrade or replace its current government-issued mobile phone inventory.
Answer · Ivan McKee: The Scottish Government ensures that corporately managed mobile phones are replaced when they no longer receive operating system or security updates.
16 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many incidents of lost or stolen government-issued mobile phones have been reported in the last five years, and what actions were taken in response.
Answer · Ivan McKee: In the five calendar years from 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2024 134 mobile phones were reported lost or stolen. The Scottish Government has robust processes and procedures in place when mobile phones are reported lost or stolen. This includes removing acce…
16 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether any audits have been conducted on the use of government-issued mobile phones, and what the outcomes of any such audits were.
Answer · Ivan McKee: All corporately managed Scottish Government mobile phones are audited monthly for compliance in line with our Cyber Security principals. Any remediation actions identified are investigated and addressed as necessary.
16 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many mobile phones it has purchased for use as government-issued devices in each of the last five years, and what the total cost was.
Answer · Ivan McKee: The Scottish Government do not hold central records for how many mobile phones it has purchased in the last 5 years as they are purchased by individual business areas to meet their requirements through delegated purchasing. The information requested could onl…
16 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its policy is on the use of government-issued mobile phones by civil servants, including for personal use.
Answer · Ivan McKee: The use of corporate mobile phones is covered by our IT Code of Conduct and Mobile Services Employee Agreement.
16 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its policy is on the recycling or disposal of government-issued mobile phones that are no longer in use.
Answer · Ivan McKee: All Scottish Government mobile phones are securely wiped and disposed of in line with National Cyber Security Centre guidance when they reach end of life.
16 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many arrests in relation to protests about their operation in each of the last five years have been made in the vicinity of defence-related companies operating in Scotland, and how many subsequent (a) prosecutions and (b) convictions there were.
Answer · Angela Constance: The Scottish Government does not hold this information. Operational decisions on matters such as this are for Police Scotland with oversight from the Scottish Police Authority. You may wish to contact them directly.
16 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what measures are in place to keep data secure on government-issued mobile phones.
Answer · Ivan McKee: All corporately managed Scottish Government mobile phones align with National Cyber Security Centre standards.
16 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it monitors and evaluates incidents near defence-related companies that result in arrests in relation to protests about their operation, and what measures are taken to address any identified security risks.
Answer · Angela Constance: This is an operational matter for Police Scotland with oversight from the Scottish Police Authority. You may wish to contact them directly.
16 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it monitors compliance with policies on the use of government-issued mobile phones.
Answer · Ivan McKee: The Scottish Government has robust processes and procedures in place to ensure all corporately managed mobile phones are monitored and continually assessed using industry standard security tooling to ensure compliance with our policies.
16 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent on social media managers in each of the last five years.
Answer · Shona Robison: Please find below information, broken down by financial year, the costs for social media managers within the Communications division for the last five financial years.2020-21: £230,295 2021-22: £265,4572022-23: £516,265 2023-24: £570,1…
16 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it ensures that it is receiving value for money in its spending on social media management and related services.
Answer · Shona Robison: I refer the member to the answer to the question S6W-33751 on 29 January 2025. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-an…
16 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of Glasgow Prestwick Airport’s income is currently generated from military flights, and how this has changed over the last five years.
Answer · Kate Forbes: This information is provided in Glasgow Prestwick Airport’s annual accounts.Glasgow Prestwick Airport has published annual accounts for each year since the shareholding was acquired by Scottish Ministers. It is a statutory requirement that these are lai…
16 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to improve coordination between local authorities, emergency services and community groups to respond to (a) wildfires and (b) severe storms effectively.
Answer · Angela Constance: The Scottish Government works closely with the legally categorised emergency responder organisations, including Local Authorities, who are responsible for assessing, planning, responding to and recovering from the consequences of civil contingencies emergenci…
16 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many military flights have landed at Glasgow Prestwick Airport in each of the last five years.
Answer · Kate Forbes: Glasgow Prestwick Airport operates on a commercial basis and at arm’s length from the Scottish Government and Ministers do not intervene in operational matters.
16 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what data it holds on the reach and engagement of its social media campaigns, and how it uses this data to guide future spending.
Answer · Shona Robison: I refer the member to the answer to the question S6W-33751 on 29 January 2025. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-an…
16 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much revenue has been generated by Glasgow Prestwick Airport since it came under public ownership, and how this compares with the operational costs in the same period.
Answer · Kate Forbes: This information is provided in Glasgow Prestwick Airport’s annual accounts.Glasgow Prestwick Airport has published annual accounts for each year since the shareholding was acquired by Scottish Ministers. It is a statutory requirement that these are lai…
16 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the total expenditure on social media-related activities, including management, advertising, and content creation, has been in each of the last five years.
Answer · Shona Robison: Social media related activities undertaken by the Scottish Government encompass abroad set of teams and workstreams. A significant proportion of the management of Scottish Government accounts on social media platforms and the production of organic content, is…