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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: S6W-40479

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 September 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 25 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking in response to the findings of Scotland’s Childcare Guarantee, A Report on Childcare Modelling Scotland, by Pregnant Then Screwed Scotland, and the proposed policy of capping childcare costs at 5% of household income.

Question reference: S6W-40445

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 September 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 24 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact of the permanent removal of ScotRail peak fares on season ticket holders, and whether regular commuters will receive proportionate financial benefits compared to occasional travellers.

Question reference: S6W-40446

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 September 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 24 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, following the removal of ScotRail peak fares, whether it will review the proposed reduction in season ticket discounts to ensure that regular rail users are not financially disadvantaged.

Question reference: S6W-40444

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 September 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 24 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the development of Coul Links, and in light of the reported over 700 formal objections submitted, including from conservation bodies, scientists and residents, how it is ensuring that community and expert voices are being heard as well as those of private commercial interests.

Question reference: S6W-40443

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 September 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 24 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason it is proceeding with the proposed development of Coul Links, in light of the reported assessment by NatureScot that it might cause irreversible damage to a nationally important dune ecosystem and concerns that the project could undermine its commitments to halt biodiversity loss.

Question reference: S6W-40014

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 05 September 2025
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 8 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to improve coordination between private and NHS services for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) diagnosis and care, and whether it will consider establishing a national framework for shared care to help reduce waiting times and ease pressure on NHS resources.

The Scottish Government does not currently have plans to establish a national framework for shared care. However, we are engaging with the Royal College of GPs (Scotland) to understand the current issues around shared care agreements for patients with ADHD.

Officials have also written to all health boards seeking clarification on what neurodevelopmental assessment and support they currently have in place for adults, this included a question on local protocol for patients with a private diagnosis. We are currently collating and considering this information.

Question reference: S6W-40015

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 05 September 2025
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 8 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to (a) expand non-pharmacological interventions alongside medication and (b) support transitions from child and adolescent to adult services for patients with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

The Scottish Government is providing further funding of £500,000 this year to improve neurodevelopmental assessment and support for children and young people, and their families.

Further, our Autistic Adult Support Fund provides £1 million of funding per year to organisations that support autistic adults both pre- and post-diagnosis. As autism and ADHD often co-occur, adults with ADHD have benefitted and will continue to benefit from this support. A recent independent evaluation of the Fund showed that 72% of individuals and 71% of families supported via the Fund reported improved wellbeing as a result.

The Scottish Government published the Transition Care Plan (TCP) Guidance in 2018, describing the standards required in the planning of good transitions for children and young people moving to adult services. This guidance is underpinned by a rights based approach and ensures the young person is involved in discussions about their care.

The National Neurodevelopmental Specification notes that the guidance should be used to ensure that transitions between children and young people’s services and other services are robust and that, wherever possible, services work together with the young person and families/carers to plan in advance for transition.

Question reference: S6W-40018

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 05 September 2025
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 8 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to reduce adult diagnostic waiting times for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) across Scotland.

The Scottish Government funds the National Autism Implementation Team (NAIT), which is currently supporting NHS Boards to develop, enhance and redesign existing local adult neurodevelopmental services. We continue scope the work required to improve Adult Neurodevelopmental Pathways nationally, understanding that a stepped care model is needed to reduce waiting times for adult neurodevelopmental assessments and ensure a consistent approach to them across Scotland.

We continue to fund NHS Education for Scotland and NAIT to deliver professional learning on neurodevelopmental conditions. Training is offered at informed, enhanced, specialist, and expert levels, with strong uptake across all tiers.

Question reference: S6W-40060

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 05 September 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 8 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what current work it is undertaking to address the reported rise in misogyny across Scotland, as highlighted in motion S6M-18495 and recent incidents where survivors of sexual violence have reportedly been targeted, and what its justification is for deciding to no longer proceed with its commitment to a standalone Misogyny Bill, in light of the recommendations from the Misogyny and Criminal Justice in Scotland Working Group and reported evidence of harm.

Given the short amount of time left in this Parliamentary session, there is insufficient time for a Misogyny Bill to be finalised and introduced. This is a complex area of policy and law, and it would be necessary that any Bill which brought misogyny into criminal law contained clear and unambiguous provisions in regard to the circumstances in which they apply. This would include the policy implications of the recent Supreme Court judgment.

We want new legal protections for women and girls to be in place, and the hate crime model presents an opportunity to do so. On Thursday, 28 August 2025, we laid in draft an SSI to add the characteristic of sex to the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021. If passed, it will make it an offence for a person to stir up hatred against women and girls, and where an offender is motivated by, or demonstrates, malice and ill-will towards women and girls in committing a criminal offence, that offence will be aggravated by prejudice relating to the characteristic of sex.

Further, we continue to take forward a range of actions in schools to address gender based violence and sexual harassment. Our Mentors in Violence Prevention (MVP) Scotland Programme is working to tackle gender stereotyping and attitudes that condone violence against women and girls, and addresses a range of behaviours including name-calling, sexting, controlling behaviour and harassment. We have also published a national framework for schools to help tackle sexual harassment and gender-based violence. Rape Crisis Scotland also provide a national sexual violence prevention programme to local authority secondary schools across Scotland. The programme aims to provide consistency in approaches to the prevention of sexual violence and contributes to Equally Safe (our strategy to prevent and eradicate violence against women and girls). Since the programme started in 2016, it has reached over 48,000 pupils.

Question reference: S6W-40059

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 05 September 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 8 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what immediate steps it is taking to ensure that women attending protests or public events, including any outside the Scottish Parliament by extremist groups or any where tensions may rise, are protected from harassment, intimidation and abuse.

The right to demonstrate and protest are fundamental human rights which the Scottish Government is committed to upholding. Those simply going about their business should be able to do so without the fear of any form of abusive behaviour. Where such behaviour occurs it should be reported to the police to allow them to take action.

The Scottish Government fully supports Police Scotland to take appropriate and proportionate action to safeguard public safety including at protests. Police Scotland has powers to tackle any behaviour which is antisocial or criminal, as well as public order powers to impose directions or conditions on, or disperse, public assemblies where this is deemed necessary.