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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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

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Question reference: S6W-42614

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 15 December 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 12 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what advice it gives to schools regarding pupils using e-bikes and e-scooters to travel to and from school, and how it ensures their safety.

Question reference: S6W-42610

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 15 December 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 12 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what data it holds on accidents involving e-bikes and e-scooters in Scotland in the past three years, and what steps it is taking to reduce injuries and fatalities associated with their use.

Question reference: S6W-42612

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 15 December 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 12 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact of e-bike and e-scooter use on pedestrian safety, particularly for older people and those with disabilities.

Question reference: S6W-42613

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 15 December 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 12 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to raise public awareness about the safe use of e-bikes and e-scooters, including speed limits, helmet use and restrictions on pavement riding.

Question reference: S6W-42611

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 15 December 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 12 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what regulations are currently in place regarding the use of e-bikes and e-scooters on public roads and pavements, and how these are being enforced to ensure public safety.

Question reference: S6F-04540

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 15 December 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 December 2025

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government’s response is to the recent EIS findings that young people with additional support needs are being let down, and teachers are experiencing stress due to inadequate resourcing, in light of the reported reduction of nearly 20% in specialist ASN staff since 2010, despite a rise of over 710% in the number of pupils requiring such support since 2007.

Question reference: S6W-42245

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 01 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 10 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on introducing routine childhood type 1 diabetes screening.

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of early diagnosis of diabetes in the avoidance of its complications. The UK National Screening Committee advises on how testing and screening is used across the four UK nations. Based on their most up to date recommendation, there is currently no UK-wide screening programme for Type 1 diabetes in children because there is insufficient evidence that population screening would improve health outcomes compared to current practice.

While current clinical advice does not support mandatory screening for Type 1 diabetes, Scotland - through NHS Research Scotland - supported the UK’s largest screening trial for children with Type 1 diabetes, the ELSA study. The study aimed to screen 20,000 children aged 3 to 13 for early markers of Type 1 diabetes and identify those at high risk of developing the condition. The findings will play a key role in guiding future policy decisions.

Current NICE clinical guidelines recommend that any child displaying symptoms of Type 1 diabetes should be referred immediately to paediatric diabetes services for diagnosis and care. The Scottish Government expects all NHS Boards and healthcare professionals including GPs to consider all relevant clinical guidelines when assessing children who are presenting with symptoms of diabetes.

We encourage parents and carers to urgently contact their GP if their child is displaying symptoms of diabetes. They will be best placed to provide specific advice and support based on their child’s individual circumstances.

Question reference: S6W-42140

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 10 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the Scottish Qualifications Authority about the 2026 exam timetable to ensure that candidates are not disadvantaged by exams occurring on the same day, such as candidates who are sitting Higher English and Higher Health and Food Tech Exams.

The scheduling of the exam diet is an operational matter for the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA), which will be replaced by Qualifications Scotland. Following feedback from stakeholders, the SQA made a change to the published timetable on 9 December to move Higher Health and Food Technology away from the same day as Higher English.

I wrote to Nick Page, the Chief Executive of the SQA and met with the SQA in September regarding the 2026 exam timetable to underline that the priority should be ensuring that young people are supported following the return from the Easter break and do not face unreasonable workloads and additional stress from coincident and consecutive exams.

Developing the timetable is a complex task with over 200 separate exams across 130 different subjects and levels so coincident and consecutive exams are unfortunately unavoidable.

The SQA consult extensively with external stakeholders each year on the exam timetable before the publication, and work to ensure the number of coincident and consecutive exams are minimised. Their timetable advisory group includes representatives from practising teachers, head teachers, teaching unions, local authority representatives, learner agencies, and SQA staff.

Schools have well-established local arrangements to manage any impacts where coincident or consecutive exams arise. Learners are also eligible to use the Exam Exceptional Circumstances Consideration Service for the last exam of the day where they are scheduled for more than 6 hours of exams in one day and a request for extra time has been submitted as an assessment arrangement or English as an additional language (EAL) arrangement.

Question reference: S6W-42246

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 01 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 9 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that maternity wards have safe staffing levels.

We expect Health Boards to plan for their workforce in conjunction with their responsibilities under the Health and Care (Staffing) (Scotland) Act 2019. The Act places duties on Health Boards to ensure that at all times suitably qualified and competent individuals are working in such numbers as are appropriate for the health, wellbeing and safety of patients, the provision of high-quality care and the wellbeing of staff.

On the 29 October I announced the establishment of the Scottish Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce. The Taskforce will complement the existing audit and inspection system in place in Scotland, and provide support and expertise on implementation of policy, service standards, and improvement activity across NHS Boards. It will be chaired by the Minister for Public Health and Women’s Health.

The Scottish Government is also taking action as part of the Nursing and Midwifery Taskforce (NMT) to drive lasting change to improve retention and attraction into these professions. The NMT recommended actions are designed to have a meaningful and lasting impact on workforce wellbeing. They aim to address key issues such as workload, professional development, and workplace culture to create a more supportive and sustainable environment for Nurses and Midwives to work.

Question reference: S6W-42221

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 9 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Audit Scotland report, Cyber-attack affecting operations and services: The 2023/24 audit of Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, which was published on 27 November 2025, in particular the comment that “all councils [should] prioritise preparation and testing of plans…recent high-profile cases have shown that nobody is immune, but everyone can be prepared so disruption is minimised. This is especially important for councils, whose staff provide services to many of the most vulnerable within our communities”.

The Scottish Government encourages public sector organisations (including local authorities) to adopt a proactive, risk-based governance approach, with board-level accountability to build and improve their cyber resilience. The Scottish Government provides a range of resources and advice to help build public sector cyber resilience. It should be noted that local authorities are independent corporate bodies, entirely separate from the Scottish Government, and each must plan for, mitigate, and manage their own cyber risks.