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 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-39208

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 07 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 10 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to USDAW's survey of 1,011 Scottish retail staff in 2024, which found that, in the previous twelve months, 70% experienced verbal abuse, 45% were threatened by a customer and 8% were assaulted.

Those working in our retail sector should be lauded for the important work they are continuing to do during such challenging economic circumstances. They, like anybody, should be able to work without fear of abuse.

Retail workers (as well as all other workers) are protected by a wide range of criminal laws (i.e. the statutory offence of threatening or abusive behaviour; the common law offence of assault; and the common law offence of breach of the peace).

In addition, the Protection of Workers (Retail and Age-Restricted Products) (Scotland) Act 2021(“the 2021 Act”) came into force in August 2021 and created a statutory offence of threatening, abusing, or assaulting a retail worker, adding to the offences that can already be used to prosecute those who abuse retail workers.

Scottish Government partners, like the Scottish Retail Consortium (SRC) and Scottish Grocers’ Federation (SGF), share best guidance and resources, such as the free GroceryAid helpline, and Victim Support, for victims of violence and abuse in a retail setting.

As part of its budget for 2025-26, the Scottish Government is making an additional £3 million available for Police Scotland to work with the sector to tackle retail crime.

Question reference: S6W-38910

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 23 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 10 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to review the Scottish Outdoor Access Code, as established by the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003, including any impact of access rights on private landholders.

Question reference: S6W-38967

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 10 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that Hamilton Sheriff Court maintains a full complement of police officers, and what safeguards are currently in place to protect court staff and the public when there is no police presence during proceedings.

While the deployment of police officers is an operational matter for the Chief Constable, it is for the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS) to undertake risk assessments to identify and mitigate any potential risks to court users, court staff, Judiciary and justice partners. I can confirm that Police Scotland and SCTS to work in partnership to ensure that court security is maintained, whilst making best use of resources.

Question reference: S6W-38863

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 3 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many of the energy consents that it has issued since February 2023, when National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) was adopted, include requirements for biodiversity enhancements, as set out in policy 3 of NPF4.

All information relating to determinations made by Scottish Ministers under the Electricity Act 1989, including any conditions, are publicly available on our Energy Consents website: https://www.energyconsents.scot/ApplicationSearch.aspx

NPF4 is a material consideration in the determination of applications, and it is read and applied as a whole. It is for the decision maker to determine what weight to attach to policies within NPF4 on a case-by-case basis. The weight to be applied to all material considerations and the need for conditions to be attached to any consent is a matter for the Minister taking the decision to consider on a case-by-case basis.

Question reference: S6W-38864

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 3 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether it is appropriate to attach conditions to energy consents, granted under the Electricity Act 1989, to secure proposals for biodiversity enhancements, under the terms of National Planning Framework 4.

Question reference: S6W-38866

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 3 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it ensures that energy consent projects that it approves contribute to positive outcomes for biodiversity, as required by National Planning Framework 4.

Question reference: S6W-38867

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 3 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on what the relevance of National Planning Framework 4 is in determining energy consents.

Question reference: S6W-39057

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 July 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 29 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what immediate steps it is taking to improve cyber resilience across local authorities, in light of the recent cyber incident affecting Glasgow City Council, where personal data may have been exfiltrated following malicious activity on servers managed by a third-party supplier, and the earlier ransomware cyberattack on West Lothian Council’s education network.

Question reference: S6W-39058

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 July 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 29 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to ensure that (a) local authorities and (b) other public bodies are adequately resourced and supported to prevent, detect and respond to cyberattacks, particularly in the context of the Scottish Cyber Coordination Centre’s remit and the updated Public Sector Cyber Resilience Framework.

Question reference: S6W-38874

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 June 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 24 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding its potential applicability to Scotland’s planning system in relation to animal welfare being deemed a material consideration, what assessment it has made of the judgment in the case, Animal Equality UK, R (On the Application Of) v North East Lincolnshire Borough Council & Anor [2025] EWHC 1331.