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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

Filter your results Hide all filters

Displaying 323 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S4O-02878

Asked by: Michael McMahon, MSP for Uddingston and Bellshill, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 January 2014
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 5 February 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what advice it has received regarding an independent Scotland’s share of the UK’s overseas properties.

Question reference: S4O-02848

Asked by: Michael McMahon, MSP for Uddingston and Bellshill, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 January 2014
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 29 January 2014

To ask the Scottish Government when ministers will next meet the board of NHS Lanarkshire.

Question reference: S4O-02831

Asked by: Michael McMahon, MSP for Uddingston and Bellshill, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 January 2014
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 23 January 2014

To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish the statistics for the Scottish Welfare Fund for the final quarter of 2013.

Question reference: S4O-02788

Asked by: Michael McMahon, MSP for Uddingston and Bellshill, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 January 2014
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 15 January 2014

To ask the the Scottish Government when it last met Energy UK.

Question reference: S4O-02726

Asked by: Michael McMahon, MSP for Uddingston and Bellshill, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 December 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 December 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the BBC in relation to its proposals for public service broadcasting as outlined in the white paper on independence.

Question reference: S4O-02706

Asked by: Michael McMahon, MSP for Uddingston and Bellshill, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 December 2013
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 11 December 2013

To ask the Scottish Government when Health Improvement Scotland's review of NHS Lanarkshire will be completed and published.

Question reference: S4O-02639

Asked by: Michael McMahon, MSP for Uddingston and Bellshill, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 November 2013
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 27 November 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the Department for Work and Pensions about any additional administration costs to local authorities of administering discretionary housing payments.

Scottish Ministers have repeatedly challenged the Department for Work and Pensions and UK Ministers on housing benefit reform.

I raised this most recently at the Finance Ministers’ Quadrilateral meeting with the Chief Secretary to the Treasury where I stressed the need for adequate funding for local authorities in relation to the administrative and operational costs associated with welfare reform.

The Scottish Government is taking all reasonable action it can within the limits of the current constitutional arrangements to mitigate the damaging effects of the welfare reforms by investing up to £244 million over the period 2013-14 to 2015-16.

Question reference: S4W-17759

Asked by: Michael McMahon, MSP for Uddingston and Bellshill, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 October 2013
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 6 November 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how many dawn raids police have carried out in each of the last 10 years.

Question reference: S4O-02560

Asked by: Michael McMahon, MSP for Uddingston and Bellshill, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 October 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 7 November 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what it considers the adverse environmental impacts are of pyrolysis incinerators.

Question reference: S4W-17417

Asked by: Michael McMahon, MSP for Uddingston and Bellshill, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 September 2013
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 8 October 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what support it provides to kinship carers who provide informal care arrangements.

Children in informal kinship care arrangements are not deemed to require formal supervision but may have other support needs. In recognition of those needs, the Kinship Care Order proposed through the Children and Young People (Scotland) Bill aims to provide additional support, that will offer a more stable environment for children living in kinship families, who do not require regular supervision from the Children’s Hearings System or Social Work.

In financial years 2012-13 and 2013-2014, we are providing funding of £446,109 to Children 1^st to deliver the Kinship Care National Training and Outreach Service and £305,700 to Citizens Advice Scotland to deliver a dedicated Kinship Care Advice and Information Service.

We are providing Mentor UK with a two year Strategic Funding Partnership Grant of £175,000 to help break the inter-generational cycle of children becoming looked after and having poorer outcomes. Mentor UK were also funded by the Scottish Government to produce a resource guide for kinship carers. The guide, Kinship Care – children cared for by family and friends, aims to inform kinship carers and help them to have a better understanding of what is involved in taking on the care of a child, it also explains what support they may expect to receive.