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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-04470

Asked by: John Mason, MSP for Glasgow Shettleston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 August 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 13 August 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to prevent the persecution of raptors.

Question reference: S5O-04456

Asked by: John Mason, MSP for Glasgow Shettleston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 June 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 25 June 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what the extent will be of the remit of the Advisory Board on Social Renewal.

Question reference: S5W-29604

Asked by: John Mason, MSP for Glasgow Shettleston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 June 2020
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 17 June 2020

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reports from England that a woman took abortion pills at 28 weeks gestation, what assurances it can give that such practice is not possible in Scotland, as these pills can be posted out without a physical consultation with a medical professional.

A revised approval came into force on 31 March to help abortion services to continue safely during the COVID-19 outbreak. This enables early medical abortions to proceed via telemedicine and with a home delivery or collection of the package of mifepristone and misoprostol medication, where this is clinically appropriate for the patient. In line with Scottish Abortion Care Providers guidelines, abortion medication should only be taken at home where the patient’s pregnancy is under 12 weeks gestation.

Patients are still being seen in person where there are clinical reasons for this, including where there is uncertainty about the gestation of the pregnancy. We will continue to monitor progress with NHS Boards, but there is no evidence as yet of any increase in complications related to the new approval or of patients being able to take pills at home when their pregnancy was over 12 weeks gestation.

Question reference: S5O-04431

Asked by: John Mason, MSP for Glasgow Shettleston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 June 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 June 2020

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the Black Lives Matter campaign, how dealing with racism and Scotland's links with slavery are taught in schools.

Question reference: S5O-04405

Asked by: John Mason, MSP for Glasgow Shettleston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 June 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 11 June 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Bill could impact on sectarianism, in light of this not being specifically mentioned in it as a characteristic that might attract expressions of hatred.

Question reference: S5O-04354

Asked by: John Mason, MSP for Glasgow Shettleston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 May 2020
Current Status: Answered by Clare Haughey on 28 May 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking in response to research by GambleAware, which suggests that 46% of people with a gambling problem are not accessing treatment and support.

The Scottish Government is already working with GambleAware and the Gambling Commission on the implementation of the Commission's National Strategy to Reduce Gambling Harms , which was published in 2019. It is estimated that one percent of the adult population in Scotland has some sort of problem with gambling. The three-year strategy calls for collaboration, evaluation and research as the basis for improvement. The aims of the strategy are to develop an appropriate regulatory framework to prevent harm and to develop existing, and new, treatment pathways to treat the harms associated with gambling. In Scotland, we are working closely with Public Health Scotland to assess existing evidence on which pathways to treatment are likely to be most successful in Scotland. This includes some evaluation of pathways being trialled in other nations. We are also keen to understand why some people with problematic gambling are not accessing treatment and support services.

Question reference: S5O-04377

Asked by: John Mason, MSP for Glasgow Shettleston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 May 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 4 June 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what the finance secretary's response is to reports that extra funding commitments pledged by the UK Government to assist with the response to the COVID-19 outbreak have not been fulfilled.

Question reference: S5O-04284

Asked by: John Mason, MSP for Glasgow Shettleston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 March 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 March 2020

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the comments in its China engagement strategy regarding respect for human rights, what its position is on the recent full judgement of the China Tribunal on forced organ harvesting from prisoners of conscience.

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.