The Scottish Parliament

Question reference: S6W-44439

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 March 2026
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 23 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what variation there is between the shortest and longest average waiting times for a first gynaecology appointment in each NHS board, and what targeted interventions it is deploying in the most deprived SIMD quintiles to ensure that its goal of eliminating cervical cancer and reducing gynaecology waits does not leave women in these communities behind.

Public Health Scotland (PHS) publish median and 90th percentile for length of time patients wait to be seen as a new outpatient on a monthly basis.

The median waiting time is the middle waiting time, calculated by ordering patients from shortest to longest wait. This represents typical length of time patients have waited. The 90th percentile reflects the upper limit on how long nine out of ten waits have lasted.

The latest data covers all waits for an ongoing new outpatient appointment up to 31 January 2026, as set out in the following table.

Table 1. Gynaecology: New Outpatient Ongoing Waits – 31 January 2026

NHS Board of Treatment	Median Ongoing Wait (Length In Days)	90th Percentile Ongoing Wait (Length In Days)
NHSScotland	107	327
NHS Ayrshire & Arran	85	220
NHS Borders	76	193
NHS Dumfries & Galloway	89	256
NHS Fife	72	194
NHS Forth Valley	65	138
NHS Grampian	64	243
NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde	93	260
NHS Highland	90	298
NHS Lanarkshire	130	316
NHS Lothian	163	498
NHS Orkney	14	54
NHS Shetland	79	193.6
NHS Tayside	179	451
NHS Western Isles	18	64.6

Source: Dashboard - Stage of treatment waiting times - Inpatients, day cases and new outpatients 24 February 2026 - NHS waiting times - stage of treatment - Publications - Public Health Scotland

The Cervical Cancer Elimination Strategic Action Plan will be published later this month following the Expert Group Final Report. With a focus on Vaccination, Screening and treatment the core of progress will be monitored through identifying, addressing and reducing barriers and inequity.

High uptake of the HPV vaccine in Scotland has already reduced the highest-grade cervical precancer by almost 90%, and maintaining high coverage is central to the Scottish Government’s approach to cervical cancer elimination.

However, we recognise that there are variations in HPV vaccine uptake, including lower uptake in more deprived communities, with recent S1 coverage ranging from 62% in the most deprived quintile to 83.4% in the least.

Tackling inequalities in vaccine uptake is therefore a primary focus of our work to eliminate cervical cancer in Scotland and aligns with the objectives of the Scottish Vaccination and Immunisation Programme’s 5 Year Framework and Delivery Plan. We are working with Health Boards and Public Health Scotland to increase vaccination opportunities, strengthen targeted promotion such as the chat.sign.protect campaign, and support those facing barriers to immunisation.

Targeted cervical screening, including self-sampling for unvaccinated and more deprived groups, will also help ensure no community is left behind.

Using some of the actions that have been identified through the Cervical Cancer Elimination work, we plan to raise attendance among under-screened women by:

Introducing patient navigators to work directly with under-screened groups and encourage screening attendance, starting with the boards participating in the first stages of HPV Self-Sampling.
Working towards full roll-out of self-sampling, beginning with making kits available opportunistically within GP Practices in areas of some of the highest levels of non-attendance and deprivation.
Establishing new partnerships with third sector organisations working with under-served women (including homeless women, those with disabilities and women in prison) to provide practical pathways for women to be offered screening when overdue.

In addition to this, National Screening Oversight (NSO), now Screening Oversight and Assurance Scotland (SOAS), developed an Equity in Screening Strategy published by Scottish Government on 27th July 2023, with a vision of equitable access for all eligible individuals, across the full screening pathway. To support this work, we have provided £1 million annually through the Screening Inequalities fund.

Question reference: S6W-44436

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 March 2026
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 23 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how much of the £12.9 million allocated to gynaecology services in 2025-26 has been directed specifically toward increasing theatre capacity for gynaecological procedures, and what mechanism is in place to track the direct impact of this funding on the number of women removed from the surgical waiting list each month.

Of the £12.9 million allocation into gynaecology services in 2025-26, over £9.4 million has been directed to inpatient/day-case activity.

The impact of this investment is tracked centrally through routine self-reported returns submitted by NHS Boards and via Public Health Scotland’s (PHS) monthly Stage of Treatment publication.

As of 31 January 2026 (latest), PHS data shows that waits of over 52 weeks for gynaecology inpatient or day-case had reduced by 21.8% since 31 July 2025.

Question reference: S6W-44293

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 March 2026
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 23 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how often the Union Street fire ministerial oversight group will meet, and which individuals and organisations will attend.

The Ministerial Oversight Board in relation to the Union Street fire first met on 11 March 2026 and has subsequently met a further three times. These meetings drew together Cabinet Secretaries and Ministers with a role in the response to and recovery from the fire, as well as policy and operational teams across the Scottish Government and Transport Scotland. We also extended the invitation to the meetings to senior leaders from Glasgow City Council. Processes to ensure effective Ministerial oversight will be kept under review by the group as we move from the immediate response into the longer-term recovery phase.

Question reference: S6W-44484

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 March 2026
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 20 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will establish a City Centre Fire Recovery Fund, similar to the one created after the 2018 Glasgow School of Art fire, to provide immediate financial relief and business rates holidays for the small businesses that have lost their premises, stock, and livelihoods due to the Union Street blaze in Glasgow on 8 March 2026.

Question reference: S6W-44387

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 March 2026
Current Status: Answered by Kaukab Stewart on 20 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact that historic financial mismanagement at Women’s Aid Argyll and Bute had on the delivery of frontline services for vulnerable women and children, and what assurances it has received from the new SCIO management regarding the current stability and transparency of the service.

All Scottish Government funding provided to Argyll and Bute Women’s Aid is subject to monitoring and reporting requirements to ensure it is being used for agreed purposes. From 2016, oversight by the Voluntary Action Fund included project visits and six-monthly progress reports. Since late 2020, Inspiring Scotland has reviewed quarterly financial and forecast reports for this funding.

We are satisfied that the current oversight arrangements are proportionate and robust. Funded organisations are subject to random financial spot checks to verify reported spend, or to more in-depth financial monitoring visits to review financial procedures against best practice. In addition, all registered charities are required to submit annual accounts to the charity regulator, OSCR, and companies must file their annual accounts with Companies House.

It is not appropriate for the Scottish Government to comment on individual organisations’ employment and grievance handling processes, other than to note that all organisations should ensure that they comply with relevant legislation. These are a matter for the Board of Argyll and Bute Women’s Aid and I will not comment on individual cases. As such, the Scottish Government has not engaged Audit Scotland, the Care Inspectorate or the Pensions Regulator in relation to the historic financial mismanagement at Argyll and Bute Women’s Aid.

Question reference: S6W-44469

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 March 2026
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 20 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what specific funding it will provide to South Lanarkshire Council in 2026-27 to support the Reinventing the High Street initiatives proposed by the FSB, including (a) pop-up grants and (b) temporary use licenses for vacant retail units in town centres.

Scottish Government has no plans to provide specific funding for the initiatives proposed by FSB in their 2024 report The Future of the High Street. However, we remain committed to supporting vibrant, thriving towns and town centres, and we are continuing our long standing commitment to regeneration with investment of up to £52 million in 2026-27.

This investment supports the revitalisation of our towns and town centres, helps to bring vacant properties back into productive use, and unlocks opportunities for town centre living, business and community enterprise activity. It also includes support for the Scotland Loves Local programme and Business Improvement Districts.

Since 2014, South Lanarkshire Council has received £25.8 million in regeneration capital funding. This investment has supported a number of projects, including the recently completed Carnwath Business and Community Hub which has transformed a vacant and derelict site in Carnwath town centre.

Question reference: S6W-44461

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 March 2026
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 20 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what its most recent assessment is of the number of hospitality businesses in South Lanarkshire that will recieve support as a result of the 40% non-domestic rates relief for licensed premises introduced in its Budget 2026-27, and what steps it is taking to ensure that the £110,000 per-business cap does not unfairly disadvantage any local independent groups that operate multiple sites across Lanarkshire’s high streets.

The Scottish Budget sets out a decrease in the three non-domestic property rates for 2026-27 and offers more than £320 million of support through transitional relief schemes and retail hospitality and leisure relief over the next three years.

The Scottish Government estimates that around 1,300 properties in South Lanarkshire could benefit from the 15% Retail, Hospitality and Leisure relief, subject to the £110,000 cap per business per year, announced at the Scottish Budget. Around 200 of those properties are also estimated to benefit from the additional 25% relief for licensed hospitality premises and music venues confirmed at Stage 1 of the Budget Bill, a total relief of 40%, subject to the £110,000 cap per business per year.

Non-Domestic Rates (NDR) area property tax and the NDR Valuation Roll includes information on properties subject to NDR, rather than businesses. The number of businesses in South Lanarkshire that may benefit from relief schemes is therefore uncertain.

Local authorities are responsible for administering reliefs. Retail, Hospitality and Leisure relief is likely to be considered a subsidy under the Subsidy Control Act 2022 and local authorities should consider whether this relief is awarded as Minimum Financial Assistance (MFA). MFA allows public authorities to award low-value subsidies without needing to comply with the majority of the subsidy control requirements and has a financial threshold which allows recipients to receive up to £315,000 over three financial years (the current and preceding two financial years). Therefore a business-level cap has been applied to protect businesses from the risk of subsequently needing to repay relief awarded beyond MFA thresholds.

Question reference: S6W-44390

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 March 2026
Current Status: Answered by Kaukab Stewart on 20 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what specific monitoring and audit protocols were in place for the funding it provided to Women’s Aid Argyll and Bute between 2016 and 2021, and how it plans to strengthen oversight of third-sector grant recipients to prevent any instances of fraud and embezzlement to happen in the future.

Question reference: S6W-44389

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 March 2026
Current Status: Answered by Kaukab Stewart on 20 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assistance it can provide to former employees of Women’s Aid Argyll and Bute who have reported significant pension detriment due to historic financial mismanagement, and whether it will engage with the Pensions Regulator to ensure that these workers are not left financially penalised by the actions of past management.

Question reference: S6W-44388

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 March 2026
Current Status: Answered by Kaukab Stewart on 20 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with Audit Scotland and the Care Inspectorate regarding the findings of the 2026 embezzlement conviction at Women’s Aid Argyll and Bute, and what steps it is taking to investigate reported whistle-blower claims that the financial irregularities exceeded the £40,000 identified in court.

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