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: S4W-23991

Asked by: John Mason, MSP for Glasgow Shettleston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 12 January 2015
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 23 January 2015

To ask the Scottish Government whether, in light of paragraph 28 of Conduct of Relationships, Sexual Health and Parenthood Education in Schools, no teacher will be required to promote a particular type of relationship to which they have a deeply held objection.

It is correct that no teacher should promote or oppose a particular kind of relationship. This is a feature of the guidance on Conduct of Relationships, Sexual Health and Parenthood Education in Schools.

In fact, paragraph 28 of the Conduct of Relationships, Sexual Health and Parenthood Education in Schools states that “no school, or individual teacher, is under a duty to support, promote or endorse one type of relationship over another. Discussions about relationships should acknowledge that same sex couples can now marry as a result of the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Act 2014. Teaching should be based on facts and should enable pupils to develop an understanding of how the law applies to different relationships.”

Question reference: S4T-00883

Asked by: John Mason, MSP for Glasgow Shettleston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 05 January 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 6 January 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what contact it has had with the administrators of City Link Limited.

Question reference: S4W-23508

Asked by: John Mason, MSP for Glasgow Shettleston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 December 2014
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 17 December 2014

To ask the Scottish Government whether the people appointed named persons under the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 are in place and, if so, whether it will provide a breakdown by gender.

Question reference: S4W-23495

Asked by: John Mason, MSP for Glasgow Shettleston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 December 2014
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 11 December 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on Glasgow City Council's decision to reduce the budget of the Glasgow Association for Mental Health by 40% and what it can do to ensure that its services can continue.

Question reference: S4O-03837

Asked by: John Mason, MSP for Glasgow Shettleston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 December 2014
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 17 December 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on how the Scottish budget method of consultation and committee deliberation compares with that of the UK.

Question reference: S4O-03753

Asked by: John Mason, MSP for Glasgow Shettleston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 November 2014
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 27 November 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what the economic benefits of immigration from the EU are to Scotland.

Question reference: S4O-03695

Asked by: John Mason, MSP for Glasgow Shettleston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 November 2014
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 13 November 2014

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what its position is on offering a small discount or other incentives to encourage the use of cashless payments in the Garden Level Restaurant.

Question reference: S4W-22768

Asked by: John Mason, MSP for Glasgow Shettleston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 October 2014
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 30 October 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how many convictions were or have been secured in (a) 2012, (b) 2013 and (c) 2014 under the Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications (Scotland) Act 2012, also broken down by club.

Statistics relating to people convicted of offences under the Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications (Scotland) Act 2012 are available on page 79 of the Criminal Proceedings in Scotland 2012-13 statistical bulletin. This is available via the following web link:

Information held centrally does not enable these convictions to be broken down by club.

Comparable information for 2013-14 will not be available until publication of the Criminal Proceedings in Scotland 2013-14 statistical bulletin. This is due to be published in December 2014.

The dates of all Scottish Government official and national statistics publications are pre-announced, and the up to date list of future publications can be found at:

Detailed information on charges under the Act, including the sporting affiliation of those charged (where known), is included in Charges reported under the Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications (Scotland) Act 2012 for 2012-13 (including the one month of 2011-12 for which the Act was in force) and 2013-14. Both reports are available via the following web links:

Question reference: S4W-22751

Asked by: John Mason, MSP for Glasgow Shettleston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 06 October 2014
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 30 October 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what the estimated economic impact of the 2014 Commonwealth Games was for (a) Glasgow, (b) the west of Scotland and (c) Scotland during the Games.

The Scottish Government is committed to maximising the benefits and creating a lasting legacy for the whole of Scotland from Glasgow hosting the 2014 Commonwealth Games. These Games have provided the entire country with an excellent opportunity for regeneration, innovation and sustainable economic growth.

As part of the Games legacy evaluation, we are working with Games partners to deliver a robust economic assessment of the Games. This report will be available for Glasgow and Scotland in spring 2015, however early indications from the pre-Games report, published on 28 April 2014, show that:

Construction and refurbishment of the venues and Athletes’ Village, over the six years leading to 2014, has contributed (on average) £52 million to Scotland’s gross value added, and supported 1,000 jobs each year.

As of the end of June 2014, Scottish companies had been awarded 484 Games-related contracts, worth £290 million.

To date, 37 national and international events have been secured using the Games venues, with an estimated economic impact of over £14 million.

By the time of the opening ceremony, over 50 national Legacy 2014 programmes and over 80 Supporting Legacy 2014 projects were already in place, benefitting people, communities and organisations across Scotland, including the West of Scotland. For example, in the West of Scotland, over 100 trainees have taken up employment through the Legacy 2014 Employer Recruitment Incentive programme, and more than 150 young people have received training and volunteering opportunities through the Legacy 2014 Scotland’s Best programme. Additionally, businesses in the West of Scotland were awarded 66 of the contracts associated with the Games.

An XX Commonwealth Games Highlight Report was published on 14 August 2014. We also expect to produce a post-Games report in 2015, an interim legacy report in 2017 and a final legacy report in 2019, detailing the benefit of these Games to Glasgow and the whole of Scotland.

Question reference: S4O-03652

Asked by: John Mason, MSP for Glasgow Shettleston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 October 2014
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 6 November 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on Glasgow City Council’s decision to award a house in multiple occupation licence to the Bellgrove Hotel and whether it considers this an appropriate level of regulation for a building housing over 140 people.