Chamber and committees

Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S4W-09901

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 September 2012
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 25 October 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the proportion of public sector ICT spend that should be awarded to external contractors.

Scotland's Digital Future: Delivery of Public Services sets out our approach to workforce capacity and to procurement where we wish to maximise value from existing national procurement frameworks and explore opportunities for new national frameworks and contracts. Our overarching priority is to deliver value for money and we will not set national targets on proportion of spend between in house and external contractors.

Question reference: S4W-09905

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 September 2012
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 25 October 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what public sector savings are scheduled for 2012-13 as a result of the implementation of the recommendations in the Review of ICT Infrastructure in the Public Sector in Scotland.

Question reference: S4W-09904

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 September 2012
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 25 October 2012

To ask the Scottish Government whether there has been an impact on budget allocations for future and continuing ICT programmes as a result of the introduction of new strategies recommended by the Review of ICT Infrastructure in the Public Sector in Scotland.

In setting out the government's spending plans, I confirmed my expectation that public sector organisations must demonstrate how they will contribute to the potential savings in the McClelland Review. Our national strategy, Scotland's Digital Future: Delivery of Public Services sets out our early actions that the public sector have signed up to at a national level. Our measurements and benefits framework will provide an insight into impact on budget allocations which we will report following the end of 2012-13.

Question reference: S4W-09902

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 September 2012
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 25 October 2012

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has suspended or amended decisions on high-value ICT projects in light of the Review of ICT Infrastructure in the Public Sector in Scotland and, if so, how many.

Question reference: S4W-09903

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 September 2012
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 25 October 2012

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has commenced new technical and procurement plans as recommended by the Review of ICT Infrastructure in the Public Sector in Scotland and, if so, when.

Question reference: S4W-09899

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 September 2012
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 25 October 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what savings are anticipated and over what timescale as a result of the implementation of the recommendations of the Review of ICT Infrastructure in the Public Sector in Scotland.

Question reference: S4W-09898

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 September 2012
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 25 October 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what savings there have been as a result of the implementation of the recommendations of the Review of ICT Infrastructure in the Public Sector in Scotland.

The McClelland Review of ICT Infrastructure in the Public Sector in Scotland confirms that savings on external spend could begin in the year 2012-13. Scotland's Digital Future: Delivery of Public Services sets out our strategy for delivering on the review and the actions that will be taken at national level. In addition, sectoral strategies will be published in the coming months which will set out plans for sector level action. I will set out for the Scottish Parliament's Finance Committee at the end of the financial year 2012-13 progress in achieving the efficiencies and improvements in value for money as recommended in John McClelland's review.

Question reference: S4W-09900

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 September 2012
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 25 October 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what public sector ICT savings will be made through service redesign.

Scotland's Digital Future: Delivery of Public Services sets out the public sector’s commitment to a “digital first” approach to service delivery and to a national project to establish a single point of services, i.e. information and transactions. We expect public sector organisations to identify priority services for digital delivery. Figures published by the Society of Information Technology Managers suggest the cost of a web visit – at 32 pence is about one tenth that of a telephone contact (£2.90), and one twenty-third that of face-to-face (£7.40). Some studies have suggested the average cost of an online transaction may be as low as eight pence.

Question reference: S4W-09986

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 October 2012
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 25 October 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to encourage a gender balance on nursing courses in the north east, in light of the report in The Press and Journal of 1 October 2012 that only one in 10 Scottish student nurses are male.

Question reference: S4O-01405

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 October 2012
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 31 October 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth has had with the Cabinet Secretary for Infrastructure and Capital Investment to ensure that the 2012-13 budget for housing supports its ambition for new affordable and socially rented homes.