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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

Filter your results Hide all filters

Displaying 3275 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S6W-39963

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 August 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 16 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure consistent and accurate recording and reporting of audiology waiting times across all NHS boards, as recommended in the Independent Review of Audiology in Scotland report.

Question reference: S6W-39971

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 August 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 16 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made in implementing recommendation 6 of the Independent Review of Audiology Services in Scotland (IRASS) report regarding the development of a robust workforce plan for audiology services.

Question reference: S6W-39966

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 August 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 16 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will require NHS boards to include audiology-specific commitments in their British Sign Language local plans.

Question reference: S6W-39962

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 August 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 16 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on how NHS Lanarkshire is addressing the recommendations of the Independent Review of Audiology in Scotland report, and whether it will publish a detailed delivery plan for audiology services.

Question reference: S6W-39968

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 August 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 16 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made regarding supporting NHS boards to achieve Improving Quality in Physiological Services (IQIPS) accreditation for audiology services.

Question reference: S6W-39614

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 19 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reports that animal welfare objections that are raised in planning appeals are routinely disregarded as "non-material considerations", what steps it will take to issue guidance affirming that animal welfare can constitute a legitimate material consideration in the planning system.

Further to my answer to question S6W-38874 on 11 July 2025, in which I recognised the recent Court judgement reflecting the potential for animal welfare to be a material consideration, in determining any application or appeal, it is for the planning authority, or as the case may be the Scottish Ministers (or reporters on their behalf), who are considering the proposed development to decide what matters are material to their consideration on a case by case basis. Furthermore, the weight to be attached to any specific matter raised in any individual case rests with the decision-maker.

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/written-questions-and-answers.

Question reference: S6W-39547

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 25 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 19 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to review and improve the carbon calculator used to assess wind farm developments on peatlands, in light of the reported findings by ClimateXChange that it requires updating.

Question reference: S6W-39916

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 15 August 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 12 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it ensures that, when the Scottish Ministers make decisions to allow development under the Electricity Act 1989, they are meeting the requirements of the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004 for all public bodies to further the conservation of biodiversity when carrying out their responsibilities.

Question reference: S6W-39548

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 25 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 6 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to balance its target of achieving 20GW of onshore wind capacity by 2030 with the need to minimise carbon losses and ecological damage to Scotland’s peatlands.

Scottish Ministers must take into account all the views presented when considering applications for onshore wind projects. The merits of each proposal are considered on a case-by-case basis. A careful balance must be struck between the potential impacts of the development and the associated environmental, economic, renewable energy and climate change benefits.

Where new development proposals come forward, our Fourth National Planning Framework (NPF4) ensures the impacts of proposals on communities and nature, including cumulative impacts, are important considerations in the decision-making process. All applications are subject to site specific assessments.

Question reference: S6W-39058

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 24 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.

The public sector provides a range of digital public services and it is critical that these are secure and resilient.

The Scottish Government has been encouraging public sector organisations to adopt a proactive, risk based governance approach, with board-level accountability to build their cyber resilience.

To support the sector’s ability to prevent, detect and manage cyber threats, the Scottish Government has set out a framework that provides an approach for public bodies to follow. It includes guidance on how to:

Assess their cyber resilience maturity

Align with minimum security standards

Benchmark performance, and

Prioritise investment based on risk.

It is supported by practical tools such as self-assessment templates and critical systems mapping resources which enables organisations to identify needs, engage leadership and prioritise budget and support.

The Scottish Cyber Coordination Centre (the SC3) provides:

24/7 national incident response coordination

Daily threat intelligence and early warning notifications

Cyber exercising and preparedness programmes, and

Guidance on standards and best practice.

This national support is helping to equip our public bodies with the tools, intelligence and skills needed to build and maintain strong cyber resilience.