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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-04694

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 19 December 2011
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 4 January 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with the UK Government about the venues for military inquests of Scottish soldiers killed in action overseas.

Sections 12 and 50 of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 make provision for a fatal accident inquiry to be held in Scotland into the death abroad of any service personnel domiciled in Scotland. These provisions have not yet been commenced by the Ministry of Justice. Scottish Government officials are in regular contact with the Ministry of Justice regarding the commencement of those provisions.

A protocol is being drawn up between the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Justice for how transfers of responsibility for investigations into deaths of Scottish service personnel will be carried out.

When it becomes possible for such inquiries to be held in Scotland, the court venue will be identified as part of the investigation process by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service and in discussion with court authorities. It is expected that the inquiry will be held at a court near to the home of the nearest relatives.

Question reference: S4O-00490

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 December 2011
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 15 December 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive when the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Employment and Sustainable Growth last met the leader of Aberdeen City Council.

Question reference: S4W-04234

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 November 2011
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 7 December 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding rolling out the 4G network across Scotland.

The Scottish Government most recently held official-level discussions with the UK Government about mobile telecommunications issues on 16 November 2011. The opportunities for Scotland arising from the UK Government’s October announcement of £150 million to improve mobile “not spots” and this initiative’s relationship to 4G deployment were raised in the discussion.

However, the bulk of the Scottish Government’s discussions in relation to 4G has taken place with the regulator Ofcom, which has responsibility for conducting the forthcoming 4G auction and regulating its outcomes. Ofcom consulted on its assessment of likely future competition in mobile markets and proposals for award of the 800MHz and 2.6GHz spectrum bands earlier this year. The Scottish Government’s formal response made clear its view that there is a need to ensure the use of this spectrum facilitates the highest possible coverage for Scotland, particularly in rural areas, and that rural Scotland must benefit from 4G mobile services at an early stage. The Scottish Government’s formal response can be found at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2011/06/14092555/0.

Question reference: S4O-00437

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 November 2011
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 1 December 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what recent discussions it has had with Aberdeen City Council about improvements to the trunk road network in the north east.

Question reference: S4W-03774

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 November 2011
Current Status: Answered by David Stewart on 16 November 2011

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether there are penalties for failure in the contract for installation of the Parliament’s new voting system.

The specification included a penalty clause that reduced the amount of the fee payable by us to the contractor if installation extended beyond the agreed date. The system however passed all the tests which were carried out over the summer recess period therefore there was no reduction on the installation fee paid to the contractor. In addition to the late delivery penalty clause in the contract, there is a defects after acceptance clause which means that the supplier will fix the current defects at their own cost.

Question reference: S4W-03776

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 November 2011
Current Status: Answered by Tricia Marwick on 16 November 2011

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether it has discussed changes to Standing Orders to allow for votes to be taken in the event of failure of the electronic voting system.

Question reference: S4W-03773

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 November 2011
Current Status: Answered by David Stewart on 16 November 2011

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what testing was done on the Parliament's new voting system before it became operational.

As part of the evaluation process, prior to contract let, a test environment was set up which allowed testing using sample votes. Post contract let, after installation of the system in the chamber, rigorous acceptance testing was undertaken to demonstrate that the system functioned as specified and that it met stringent performance and reliability criteria. The outcome of the acceptance testing, which included vote tests, was that the system passed and was deemed ready for use.

Question reference: S4W-03775

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 November 2011
Current Status: Answered by David Stewart on 16 November 2011

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body how long it will take to resolve the problem with the Parliament's new voting system that arose on 27 October 2011.

Question reference: S4W-03772

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 November 2011
Current Status: Answered by David Stewart on 16 November 2011

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what guarantee there is on the Parliament’s new voting system.

The voting consoles come with a twelve month guarantee and a ten year maintenance and support contract is in place for the hardware and software.

The contract also made provision to ensure that the contractor guarantees that the goods meet the specification and that they perform in accordance with the Parliament’s requirements. In addition the contract has a “defects after acceptance” clause which ensures that the current defect will be resolved at no cost to the Parliament.

Question reference: S4W-03771

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 November 2011
Current Status: Answered by David Stewart on 16 November 2011

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body how much the Parliament’s new voting system cost.