Parliamentary questions
Douglas Lumsden
1,891 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
8 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the operational efficiency of National Records of Scotland.
Answer · Angus Robertson: I have asked Alison Byrne OBE, Chief Executive of National Records of Scotland (NRS), to respond. Her response is as follows:A programme of audit and other service based assurance reviews (including Digital Major Programme, Procurement, Cyber, Information man…
8 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what measures are in place to ensure transparency and accountability in the financial management of Registers of Scotland.
Answer · Ivan McKee: Registers of Scotland is a non-Ministerial Public Body answerable to the Scottish Parliament.RoS is committed to transparency and accountability to the Scottish Parliament. The principal mechanism is via the Annual Report and Accounts which is independently a…
8 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many bicycles it currently (a) owns and (b) leases, and how they are currently utilised by its staff.
Answer · Ivan McKee: The Scottish Government owns two bicycles, and we do not lease any bicycles. Our bicycles are for use in campaign marketing in respect of Net Zero messages, and are not made available to staff for use on official business.
8 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it monitors and evaluates the performance of Registers of Scotland in delivering public services.
Answer · Ivan McKee: Registers of Scotland is accountable to the Scottish Parliament and its performance is regularly scrutinised by the Economy and Fair Work Committee. The Scottish Government also receives regular reports on the progress RoS is making in delivery of its Corpora…
8 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how National Records of Scotland is funded, and what proportion of its funding currently comes from public sources.
Answer · Angus Robertson: I have asked Alison Byrne OBE, Chief Executive of National Records of Scotland (NRS), to respond. Her response is as follows:As a Non-Ministerial Department in the Scottish Administration, NRS receives its funding from the Scottish Government and its annual b…
8 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how National Records of Scotland ensures the accessibility of its services for people in (a) rural areas and (b) any underserved communities.
Answer · Angus Robertson: I have asked Alison Byrne OBE, Chief Executive of National Records of Scotland (NRS), to respond. Her response is as follows:Access to NRS Services is set out in our Public Access Policy - National Records of Scotland (NRS) .For the range of services delivere…
8 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to modernise the services provided by National Records of Scotland.
Answer · Angus Robertson: I have asked Alison Byrne OBE, Chief Executive of National Records of Scotland (NRS), to respond. Her response is as follows:NRS’ function is to collect, preserve and produce information about Scotland's people and history and make it available to infor…
8 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government for what reason it spent money creating an outline business case for a Scottish public energy company, in light of the comments made by the Acting Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero and Energy at the meeting of the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee on 7 January 2025, that setting up a…
Answer · Gillian Martin: Policy development was taken forward to determine which courses were available. It was concluded that, due to a number of factors, that it would not be taken further, not least due to the inhibitions of the current devolution settlement.
8 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it supports the inclusion of smaller or independent media outlets in its advertising strategies.
Answer · Shona Robison: Scottish Government marketing teams do not specify inclusion of any specific media outlets to media agencies who prepare the media strategy and schedules based on audience to ensure advertising is as effective as possible and delivers high levels of reach for…
8 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it ensures collaboration between railway operators in Scotland and law enforcement agencies to prevent thefts.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: This is a matter for railway operators working in collaboration with the British Transport Police.
8 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure the affordability of services provided by Registers of Scotland.
Answer · Ivan McKee: The majority of Registers of Scotland fees are set by Order which is subject to the affirmative procedure. The fees were last updated in April 2021. In making a fee order, Ministers will seek to balance affordability with covering the costs of running the reg…
8 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding any impact of spectrum allocation on Scotland’s digital infrastructure.
Answer · Richard Lochhead: Spectrum allocation and management, as with all aspects of telecommunications policy, is a reserved matter and one in which the Scottish Government has no formal role.The Scottish Government, however, maintains an active interest in the spectrum policy agenda…
8 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent on advertising in each of the last five years, broken down by medium, including radio, television, print, online and social media.
Answer · Shona Robison: Scottish Government marketing and advertising spend is published each year and can be found at https://www.gov.scot/collections/marketing-spend/ including a breakdown by media type.
8 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has conducted of any impact of spectrum allocation on the development of digital infrastructure (a) across Scotland and (b) in Aberdeen.
Answer · Richard Lochhead: I refer the member to the answer to the question S6W-33057 on 22 January 2025.The Scottish Government has not conducted analysis of spectrum allocation on the development of digital infrastructure at any specific geographic level in Scotland.All answers to wr…
8 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many passengers have been subject to the theft of their belongings (a) at railway stations and (b) on trains in each of the last five years, and what discussions it has had with the (i) the British Transport Police and (ii) Police Scotland regarding this.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: This information is not held by the Scottish Government and responsibility for such rests with the British Transport Police and Police Scotland respectively.
8 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the annual cost of operating Registers of Scotland has been in each of the last five years.
Answer · Ivan McKee: Registers of Scotland is a non-Ministerial Public Body answerable to the Scottish Parliament.The following operating costs figures are provided from RoS annual report and accounts (which can be accessed via the RoS website www.ros.gov.uk)Financial Year2019-20…
8 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made on reducing incidents of theft from railway depots over the last five years.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: I refer the member to the answer to the question S6W-33027 on 22 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…
8 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it ensures that funding for community radio is distributed equitably across Scotland.
Answer · Shona Robison: In Scotland, there is no funding out with the advertising spend that is allocated for community radio stations. The selection of the stations for campaigns is determined by the target audience and reach. Information on individual advertising spend per radio s…
8 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to increase the transparency of its advertising expenditure.
Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government publish their annual marketing spend on https://www.gov.scot/collections/marketing-spend/ which is broken down by portfolio, specific campaign and campaign media and available for public to view.
8 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it evaluates the effectiveness of its advertising campaigns across different media platforms.
Answer · Shona Robison: Advertising effectiveness is evaluated in a range of ways. Firstly, figures are provided to show the reach (how many people we reached) and frequency (how many times we reached them), both overall and by advertising channel. These figures are calculated by th…
8 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it is working with British Transport Police to address theft from railway lines and depots in Aberdeen.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: I refer the member to the answer to the question S6W-33028 on 22 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…
8 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has considered implementing a task force to address theft from railway infrastructure.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: I refer the member to the answer to the question S6W-33028 on 22 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…
8 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what specific measures are in place to prevent theft from railway depots located in rural areas.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: I refer the member to the answer to the question S6W-33028 on 22 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…
8 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has raised any concerns with the UK Government about spectrum policy and its impact on community radio stations in Scotland.
Answer · Angus Robertson: The Scottish Government has not made specific representations to the UK Government in relation to spectrum policy, however we continue to engage with Ofcom, who has responsibility for allocating spectrum and assessing appropriate levels of local content, to p…
8 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the role of community radio in supporting local cultural and linguistic diversity.
Answer · Angus Robertson: The reach of radio across Scotland remains strong and the Scottish Government recognises that community radio plays a valuable role in the broadcasting ecosystem in reaching out to communities right across Scotland, including rural and island populations. Com…
8 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it ensures that stolen railway materials cannot be resold within Scotland.
Answer · Siobhian Brown: I refer the member to the answer to the question S6W-33014 on 21 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…
8 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it is collaborating with the UK Government to address any gaps in spectrum availability for any rural and underserved communities in Scotland.
Answer · Richard Lochhead: Spectrum allocation and management, as with all aspects of telecommunications policy, is a reserved matter and one in which the Scottish Government has no formal role.Scottish Government has regular engagement with UK Government and Ofcom on spectrum issues, …
8 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it promotes community engagement with local radio stations, particularly in rural and underserved areas.
Answer · Angus Robertson: The Scottish Government promotes community engagement with local radio stations through a number of ways.We recognise the importance of ensuring people across Scotland have access to important information and radio of course provides a vital service. That is …
8 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how Registers of Scotland is funded, and what proportion of its funding is currently derived from public funds.
Answer · Ivan McKee: Registers of Scotland is a non-Ministerial Public Body answerable to the Scottish Parliament.RoS is predominantly funded by the fees which it charges for the services it provides. In FY 23-24 RoS’s income from fees was £94.6m.Beyond that RoS are c…
8 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to allocate additional resources to address any theft from railway depots and infrastructure in Aberdeen.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: I refer the member to the answer to the question S6W-33028 on 22 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…