Question reference: S6W-02010
- Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
- Date lodged: 29 July 2021
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Current status: Answered by George Adam on 28 September 2021
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it has taken and work has been carried out to ensure that business conducted by its ministers does not involve the use of any (a) personal email accounts and (b) informal means of communication.
Answer
Government Business is conducted on the Scottish Government’s internal IT system, "SCOTS," which is available to all Ministers and staff. It runs on a secure network and, using an approved SCOTS laptop or tablet, is accessible from all Scottish Government offices, including London and Brussels, as well as remotely via most home broadband connections (subject to location).
The IT equipment provided in the Scottish Government has been specifically designed to support the secure drafting, sending and storing of digital information classified at OFFICIAL and OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE level.