Parliamentary questions
Monica Lennon
3,484 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
19 Dec 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to the potential economic impact on patients who may face a prolonged recovery and loss of function due to limited surgical options in NHS Lanarkshire.
Answer · Neil Gray: The Scottish Government recognises that prolonged recovery and reduced function can have personal and economic implications for patients.We expect Health Boards to consider these factors when planning surgical pathways and to prioritise patient outcomes, incl…
19 Dec 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact on (a) recovery times and (b) long-term function of thumb carpometacarpal joint replacement surgery not being offered to patients and fusion surgery being undertaken instead.
Answer · Neil Gray: The Scottish Government does not undertake direct clinical outcome assessments.Health Boards are expected to consider these factors when determining the most appropriate surgical option for individual patients, in line with current clinical guidelines and bes…
19 Dec 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what guidance exists to ensure consistency in surgical treatment options for patients with thumb arthritis across Scotland.
Answer · Neil Gray: The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that patients across Scotland receive consistent, evidence-based care for thumb arthritis.We expect clinicians and NHS Boards to adhere to current guidelines and follow best practice including from authoritativ…
19 Dec 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure equitable access to (a) thumb carpometacarpal joint replacement surgery and (b) other surgical procedures across all NHS boards.
Answer · Neil Gray: The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring equitable access to all clinically approved surgical procedures, including thumb carpometacarpal joint replacement surgery, across NHS Scotland.Each NHS Board has a process for assessing and adopting innovative…
19 Dec 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government which NHS boards offer thumb carpometacarpal joint replacement surgery.
Answer · Neil Gray: Currently, thumb carpometacarpal joint replacement surgery is offered in: NHS Lothian, NHS Fife, NHS Grampian, NHS Highland & NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (Inverclyde).
17 Dec 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to address Scotland’s reported shortage of planners, including investment in the planning skills pipeline, the expansion of the Future Planners Programme and greater support for mid-career re-training, in line with the commitments set out in the Autumn Stat…
Answer · Ivan McKee: Our approach to addressing the shortage of planners is tailored to the Scottish context and pre-dates the Autumn Statement. We are directly investing £850,000 in new talent.We have secured a path into planning for 48 new student planners through our awa…
16 Dec 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it allocated £500,000 received through Barnett consequential funding in 2024-25 to trading standards for tobacco and vapes enforcement in Scotland, which would be proportionate to the UK allocation, as set out in the Legislative Consent Memorandum for the Tobacco and V…
Answer · Jenni Minto: The Scottish Government have a long history of working with local authorities and COSLA to make sure council finances are sustainable and will continue to work with our partners across the public sector to address any budget challenges.Alongside this, the Sco…
15 Dec 2025 · Written Question
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.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: Road Safety Scotland (RSS) believes road safety is a lifelong-learning skill and good attitudes and behaviours must be nurtured from an early age, through both the availability of high-quality resources, and good example from others. To this end, RSS has deve…
15 Dec 2025 · Written Question
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.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: Prior to Christmas, and working with the NHS, Police Scotland published advice warning parents against gifting e-scooters - Scots parents warned against gifting e-scooters after spate of serious injuries | STV News.This builds on advice published last year on…
15 Dec 2025 · Written Question
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.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: I refer the member to answer to question S6W-32672 on 9 January 2025. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/wr…
15 Dec 2025 · Written Question
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.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: Legislation surrounding the use of e-bikes and e-scooters is a reserved matter for the UK Government.For an e-bike to be legal for use in the UK, they must be an electrically assisted pedal cycle, with the electric motor unable to propel the bike when travell…
15 Dec 2025 · Written Question
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.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: Data on collisions which cause injury and take place on the road network, including adjacent pavements and cycle lanes, is collected by Police Scotland as part of the Great Britain-wide dataset known as STATS19.The following tables provide the number of injur…
15 Dec 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact of active travel investment on reducing road accidents involving cyclists in Lanarkshire.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: Our funding for active travel infrastructure does not have as a specific condition the requirement to evaluate the impact of reducing accidents involving cycling, and so it is not possible to provide figures related to the full active travel investment in Nor…
15 Dec 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide additional funding to local authorities in Lanarkshire to implement school street schemes aimed at reducing congestion and improving safety for pupils.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: While Transport Scotland provides funding to support the development of active travel infrastructure, decisions on specific interventions, such as work to improve routes to schools, are made by local authorities in line with their statutory duties under the R…
15 Dec 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it monitors the effectiveness of Safe Routes to School programmes in Lanarkshire, and what improvements are planned for 2026.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The Scottish Government is committed to making it safer and easier for people of all ages and abilities to choose active and sustainable travel.The focus of active travel delivery at a local level is a matter for each Local Authority, but funding from the Sco…
15 Dec 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what investment has been made in active travel infrastructure in Lanarkshire in each of the last five years to improve road safety for children walking and cycling to school.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The principle fund for Local Authorities to develop Active Travel routes, including routes to schools, is the Active Travel Fund Infrastructure Fund (ATIF), in particular Tier 1 formerly known as Cycling Walking and Safe Routes. Since 2021 North Lanarkshire C…
15 Dec 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure that all schools in Lanarkshire can deliver Bikeability training, and whether any additional resources will be provided to local authorities to support this.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The Scottish Government is providing £2.5 million to Cycling Scotland to deliver the Bikeability programme in 2025-26.Record levels of participation in Bikeability were maintained during the 2023-24 academic year (the latest period for which statistics …
15 Dec 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much funding has been allocated to Bikeability training in Lanarkshire since its introduction in 2010–11, and what plans it has to increase uptake among primary school pupils.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The Scottish Government is providing £2.5 million to Cycling Scotland to deliver the Bikeability programme in 2025-26.Since 2012-13, local authorities have applied for funding distributed by Cycling Scotland, on behalf of Transport Scotland, to overcome…
15 Dec 2025 · First Minister's Question
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 201…
3 Dec 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, regarding its definition of rewilding for public bodies, which was published in 2023, what work it has undertaken to develop, apply or review it.
Answer · Gillian Martin: The definition of ‘rewilding’ in the report ‘Defining Rewilding for Scotland's Public Sector’ prepared for the Scottish Government by the James Hutton Institute, has never been adopted by the Scottish Government.While the Scottish Gove…
3 Dec 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how its rewilding definition aligns with international rewilding principles, including those recently published by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Answer · Gillian Martin: The definition of ‘rewilding’ in the report ‘Defining Rewilding for Scotland's Public Sector’ prepared for the Scottish Government by the James Hutton Institute, has never been adopted by the Scottish Government.
3 Dec 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what meetings it has held at a ministerial level to consider the definition of rewilding for public bodies, on what dates any such meetings took place, and what the outcomes were.
Answer · Gillian Martin: The Scottish Government does not use the term rewilding, which encompasses a wide range of activities and can be interpreted in different ways.The Scottish Government commissioned research by the James Hutton Institute in 2023 which considered the definition …
30 Nov 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that maternity wards have safe staffing levels.
Answer · Neil Gray: 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 indivi…
30 Nov 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on introducing routine childhood type 1 diabetes screening.
Answer · Jenni Minto: 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…
27 Nov 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further 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, what support it provides to local authorities to protect themselves against potential cybersecurity attacks.
Answer · Angela Constance: The public sector provides a range of digital public services and it is critical that these are secure and resilient.Local Authorities are independent corporate bodies, entirely separate from the Scottish Government, and it is up to each council how it plans …
27 Nov 2025 · Written Question
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 pl…
Answer · Angela Constance: 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 …
27 Nov 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further 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, what recent discussions it has had with local authorities regarding their resilience to deal with cybersecurity …
Answer · Angela Constance: The public sector provides a range of digital public services and it is critical that these are secure and resilient.Local Authorities are independent corporate bodies, entirely separate from the Scottish Government, and it is up to each council how it plans …
24 Nov 2025 · Written Question
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.
Answer · Jenny Gilruth: 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 t…
11 Nov 2025 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what progress it is making in discussing Scotland’s Draft Climate Change Plan: 2026–2040 with stakeholders and MSPs.
7 Nov 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure equitable access to medicines for people with metastatic breast cancer, in light of the decision by the Scottish Medicines Consortium not to fund the medicine, Piqray, which is available to patients in England.
Answer · Jenni Minto: Following a submission for alpelisib (Piqray®), as a treatment for postmenopausal women, and men, with advanced breast cancer, the SMC | Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) published not recommended alpelisib (Piqray) advice in December 2022. The marketin…