Questions and answers

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 ��˿�� 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-02639

Asked by: John Mason, MSP for Glasgow Shettleston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 November 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 5 December 2018

To ask the Scottish Government whether children in Glasgow must demonstrate greater needs than those in other parts of Scotland in order to gain access to an Additional Support for Learning school.

Question reference: S5F-02717

Asked by: John Mason, MSP for Glasgow Shettleston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 29 October 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 1 November 2018

To ask the First Minister what action the Scottish Government is taking in response to the reported rise in antisemitism.

Question reference: S5O-02491

Asked by: John Mason, MSP for Glasgow Shettleston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 October 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 31 October 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what support it can give to older people who find themselves lonely and isolated.

Question reference: S5O-02384

Asked by: John Mason, MSP for Glasgow Shettleston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 September 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 20 September 2018

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reports of the number of free-to-use ATMs reducing at a record rate, whether it will provide an update on what action it is taking to support communities on this issue, particularly those in remote and rural areas.

Question reference: S5O-02318

Asked by: John Mason, MSP for Glasgow Shettleston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 August 2018
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 5 September 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with banks and the UK Government regarding branch closures.

Bank branch closures are a matter of great concern, affecting communities across Scotland with no constituency unaffected.

Whilst the regulation of banking services remains a reserved issue, Scottish Government ministers have been in regular contact with both the UK Government and Scotland's banking community to ensure that the high street banks' future strategy for Scotland takes into account the needs of customers, local communities and staff.

Specifically, the then Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Jobs and Fair Work, Keith Brown, together with Paul Wheelhouse in his role as Minister for Business, Innovation and Industry raised the matter at meetings of the Financial Services Advisory Board (FiSAB). They convened a round table meeting with representatives of Scotland's retail banks to discuss the future of banking in Scotland.

Mr Wheelhouse spoke with and wrote to the Economic Secretary to the Treasury, setting out the Scottish Government's concerns and asking what action the UK Government would take to preserve access to essential banking services and to mitigate the impact of these branch closures on individual customers, communities and business affected.

Question reference: S5O-02244

Asked by: John Mason, MSP for Glasgow Shettleston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 June 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 20 June 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether Parkhead should be the location for a new health and social care hub for the east end of Glasgow.

Question reference: S5O-02086

Asked by: John Mason, MSP for Glasgow Shettleston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 May 2018
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 10 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government whether the next local government elections are still planned for May 2022.

The date of the next Local Government Elections remains on the first Thursday in May 2022 as set out in legislation.

In the interests of the voter, Local Government Elections in Scotland should be held on a dedicated polling day when no other electoral event is taking place.

The Scottish Government has no plans to move the date at this time but will keep the matter under review until there is greater clarity around the date of other elections, and in consultation with local government partners.

Question reference: S5O-02006

Asked by: John Mason, MSP for Glasgow Shettleston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 April 2018
Current Status: Answered by Annabelle Ewing on 25 April 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to assisting fathers gain access to their children in situations where courts have granted access but mothers refuse to comply.

Question reference: S5O-01995

Asked by: John Mason, MSP for Glasgow Shettleston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 April 2018
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 18 April 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to a new railway station at Parkhead Forge on the Airdrie line, which would also serve Celtic Park and the Emirates Arena.

The Scottish Government is committed to improving connectivity across the rail network but have no plans for a new rail station at Parkhead Forge. However, the Scottish Government has recently published the Local Rail Development Fund and the Rail Enhancements and Capital Investment Strategy. The Strategy sets out the approach to investment in our railways and underlines that we will focus firstly on maintaining and renewing the existing core network, then exploiting all reasonable service based opportunities to deliver service and capacity improvements and to meet key strategic objectives, before considering any infrastructure-led solutions. It also introduces a new ‘pipeline’ approach for rail enhancement projects which will ensure that decisions are made following industry engagement with local stakeholders, when business cases are fully developed and both price and affordability are certain. The £2million Scottish Government fund will allow stakeholder organisations with a responsibility or interest in local transport issues, including local interest groups, to commission appraisal work to evaluate very specific, local rail connectivity issues.

Question reference: S5O-01957

Asked by: John Mason, MSP for Glasgow Shettleston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 March 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 29 March 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with Glasgow City Council, Police Scotland and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde regarding the Bellgrove Hotel.