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: S5O-04230

Asked by: John Mason, MSP for Glasgow Shettleston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 February 2020
Current Status: Answered by Liam McArthur on behalf of the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body on 5 March 2020

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what requirements there are for people working in the Parliament to join the Protecting Vulnerable Groups scheme administered by Disclosure Scotland.

The SPCB employs staff within the Education Team that are required to be registered with the Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) Scheme. The Education Officer posts have been assessed as undertaking duties which fall within the scope of ‘regulated work’ as defined in the Protection of Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Act 2007. This means that anyone appointed to these posts will be required to be registered with the PVG Scheme and their ongoing suitability to work with children is checked by Disclosure Scotland.

Question reference: S5O-04266

Asked by: John Mason, MSP for Glasgow Shettleston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 March 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 12 March 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how it ensures that the action that it takes to restrict hate speech does not inadvertently discourage freedom of speech.

Question reference: S5O-04163

Asked by: John Mason, MSP for Glasgow Shettleston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 February 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 26 February 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the importance of young people leaving school going onto positive destinations.

Question reference: S5O-04151

Asked by: John Mason, MSP for Glasgow Shettleston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 February 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 20 February 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what treatment programmes are available to help people addicted to gambling.

Question reference: S5T-01934

Asked by: John Mason, MSP for Glasgow Shettleston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 06 January 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 7 January 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what action it can take in response to reports that ATMs are increasingly charging for taking out cash.

Question reference: S5O-03960

Asked by: John Mason, MSP for Glasgow Shettleston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 December 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 January 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding the timing of the UK and Scottish budgets.

Question reference: S5O-03876

Asked by: John Mason, MSP for Glasgow Shettleston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 November 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 5 December 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to reduce the amount of time that the police spend assisting people with mental health issues on matters that should not require their presence.

Question reference: S5O-03843

Asked by: John Mason, MSP for Glasgow Shettleston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 November 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 November 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what it can do to tackle the issue of “split ticketing” for train fares, whereby it can be cheaper to purchase tickets for component parts of a journey rather than one straight-through ticket.

Question reference: S5O-03808

Asked by: John Mason, MSP for Glasgow Shettleston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 November 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 21 November 2019

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body how many Members have had their fingerprints taken for the two-factor authentication system for access to the complex.

Question reference: S5O-03773

Asked by: John Mason, MSP for Glasgow Shettleston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 November 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 20 November 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how minority groups within Pakistan are being helped as part of Scotland’s Pakistan Development Programme.