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: S4O-04437

Asked by: John Mason, MSP for Glasgow Shettleston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 June 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 10 June 2015

To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers that resources for GP practices should be moved from richer areas to poorer areas.

Question reference: S4O-04425

Asked by: John Mason, MSP for Glasgow Shettleston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 May 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 4 June 2015

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what improvements can be made to committee rooms so that on-screen presentations can be seen by everyone present.

Question reference: S4O-04396

Asked by: John Mason, MSP for Glasgow Shettleston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 May 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 3 June 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it can take to reduce the use of barbed wire in the vicinity of cattle in order to protect the quality of hides for leather production.

Question reference: S4O-04317

Asked by: John Mason, MSP for Glasgow Shettleston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 May 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 13 May 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with Glasgow City Council regarding children with an autistic spectrum disorder being sent to mainstream schools.

Question reference: S4O-04283

Asked by: John Mason, MSP for Glasgow Shettleston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 April 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 6 May 2015

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the status of the Edinburgh Glasgow Improvement Programme.

Question reference: S4O-04215

Asked by: John Mason, MSP for Glasgow Shettleston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 April 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 April 2015

To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers that more could be done to improve the legal rights of fathers in relation to parental custody disputes.

Question reference: S4O-04176

Asked by: John Mason, MSP for Glasgow Shettleston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 March 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 26 March 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what the financial impact would be in Scotland of an increase in the inheritance tax threshold to £1,000,000.

Question reference: S4W-24622

Asked by: John Mason, MSP for Glasgow Shettleston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 February 2015
Current Status: Answered by Fiona McLeod on 10 March 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how many children attend nursery outside of their council area and which local authorities are experiencing (a) additional and (b) less attendance as a result.

Question reference: S4W-24623

Asked by: John Mason, MSP for Glasgow Shettleston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 February 2015
Current Status: Answered by Fiona McLeod on 10 March 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how many places at private nurseries are funded by Glasgow City Council, and how this compares with the rest of the country.

Question reference: S4W-24413

Asked by: John Mason, MSP for Glasgow Shettleston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 February 2015
Current Status: Answered by Annabelle Ewing on 18 February 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what it has done to improve the employment rate for people from ethnic minorities and whether this has improved in comparison with other groups.

We believe that individuals from different ethnic backgrounds enrich Scotland socially, culturally and economically and recognise the importance of increasing employment rates amongst ethnic minorities.

During the period 2012-15 we will provide over £5.2 million to support organisations working with ethnic minority communities to develop and improve their employability skills and access to employment.

The employment rate for ethnic minorities in Scotland increased by 6.4 percentage points over the year to September 2014, from 56.4 per cent to 62.8 per cent. This is a return to pre-recession levels. Work continues to ensure that we see similar improvements for other groups disadvantaged in the labour market.