- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 December 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 9 January 2026
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 Vapes Bill.
Answer
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 Scottish Government will continue to work with our partners on how we operate and collaborate on reforming public services to ensure communities across Scotland continue to receive high quality, sustainable public services that they expect and deserve.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 15 December 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 8 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.
Answer
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 developed a full suite of learning resources for 3-18 year-olds, linked to Curriculum for Excellence.
These include: Go Safe with Ziggy (early years); Road Stars (primary school); the Junior Road Safety Officer scheme (peer resource for upper primary); Your Call (lower secondary) and Crash Magnets (upper secondary). These resources are regularly reviewed and developed or renewed as appropriate. RSS is currently reviewing the suitability of its resources for children and young people with mild-to-moderate Additional Support Needs, and developing a new resource for children and young people with complex Additional Support Needs. In addition, the secondary resources (Your Call and Crash Magnets) are currently being renewed and will be replace by one single resource in Spring 2026. All RSS resources are hosted on the RSS website which can be accessed via Home - Road Safety Scotland.
Each school will have instructions and messaging unique to their local area within their school travel plans, which will include messaging around e-bikes and e-scooters.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 15 December 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 8 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.
Answer
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 travelling at more than 15.5mph.
It is illegal to ride an e-scooter on a public road, pavement, cycle paths, shared paths or any public place in Scotland. It is only lawful to use e-scooters on private land with the landowner’s permission.
It is every road and path users’ responsibility to respect others and the Highway Code outlines both rules and guidance for everyone.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 15 December 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 8 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.
Answer
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 e-bikes that provided clarity on the standards required to be permitted to ride on public roads and remains relevant today.
Members of the public who are seeking clarity on the standards required to ride on public roads can visit Riding an electric bike: the rules - GOV.UK.
Given the increasing prevalence of illegal e-scooters on our roads, and as part of our policy development work, Transport Scotland plans to investigate the potential for a public awareness campaign in 2026.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 15 December 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 8 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.
Answer
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/written-questions-and-answers.
Transport Scotland is also undertaking policy development work on e-scooters, part of which will involve stakeholder engagement and public consultation which will include assessment of their impact on the perceived safety to older people and those with disabilities.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 15 December 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 8 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.
Answer
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 injury road collisions recorded as involving an e-bike or an e-scooter over the last three full calendar years.
Number of injury road collisions involving e-bikes, by severity
| | Fatal | Serious | Slight | Total |
2022 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
2023 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 7 |
2024 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 9 |
Number of injury road collisions involving e-scooters, by severity
| | Fatal | Serious | Slight | Total |
2022 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 8 |
2023 | 1 | 8 | 7 | 16 |
2024 | 0 | 6 | 10 | 16 |
E-scooters and e-bikes are not designated vehicle types collected within STATS19, and as such they can only be identified using free-text fields which capture other vehicles and similar. This is likely to represent an incomplete record of e-bikes in particular, as it is not always possible to identify where e-bikes may have been recorded as bicycle or electric motorcycle, which are both designated vehicle types.
The Scottish Government is committed to enhancing safety across Scotland’s road network. Scotland’s Road Safety Framework to 2030 sets out a vision for Scotland to have the best road safety performance in the world by 2030. This contains mode and user specific targets focussed on our priority areas.
In the 2025-26 financial year, the Scottish Government has invested a record £48m in road safety, alongside significant investment in sustainable and active travel programmes to promote safety.
A dedicated stakeholder group has also been established to monitor risks, identify emerging trends, and develop targeted measures for vulnerable road users.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 December 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 8 January 2026
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
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 North Lanarkshire and South Lanarkshire.
There were 395 pedal cycle casualties in 2024, 10 less than the previous year. The number of seriously injured pedal cycle casualties in 2024 was 158. There were 3 pedal cycle fatalities in 2024, 4 less than 2023. Since 2014 there has been a 56% decrease in all pedal cycle casualties.
However, since 2023-24, Local Authorities have received funding from Transport Scotland through the Road Safety Improvement Fund (RSIF) for targeted road safety schemes to reduce road-related risks and casualties. £2m of the funding (provided from the Sustainable and Active Travel budget) is dedicated to promoting safe active travel journeys on the local road network.
This is the third year of the RSIF and the amounts allocated to both North and South Lanarkshire can be found in the following table:
Year | Local Authority | Amount |
2025-26 | North Lanarkshire | £750,173 |
| | South Lanarkshire | £737,456 |
2024-25 | North Lanarkshire | £518,137 |
| | South Lanarkshire | £496,642 |
2023-24 | North Lanarkshire | £501,244 |
| | South Lanarkshire | £474,939 |
All schemes will be evaluated one and three years after they are delivered to assess the impact they have had on casualty and risk reduction. The evaluation of schemes from 2023-24 are still to be published.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 December 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 8 January 2026
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
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 are available).
Additional resources for local authorities are available on request via Cycling Scotland Bikeability Plus funding. Furthermore, local authorities can utilise Local Authority Direct Award (LADA) funding and People and Place funding via Regional Transport Partnerships to deliver Bikeability training or fund delivery capacity.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 December 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 8 January 2026
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
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 barriers and increase participation in Bikeability Scotland on-road Cycle Training.
Between 2012-2013 and 2025-2026 the following has been awarded:
- - South Lanarkshire: £289,153
- - North Lanarkshire: £315,690
In the current academic session (2025-2026) South Lanarkshire has been awarded £41,667 to support additional coordination time and an increase in instructor capacity. Funding will assist South Lanarkshire to reach their target of 55 participating primary schools, with 2,500 pupils participating across Level 1 and Level 2 training.
North Lanarkshire has been awarded £46,641, to support additional instructor time, and to increase the number of bikes available to pupils during training. Funding will assist North Lanarkshire to reach their target of 60 participating primary schools, and 4,000 pupils participating across Level 1 and Level 2 training.
The funding above does not include the value of support that each local authority contributes to the programme, including staff and teacher time. For the last full academic session (2024-2025) Cycling Scotland estimate this is valued at:
- - South Lanarkshire: £43,406
- - North Lanarkshire: £75,752
Bikeability Scotland is delivered in partnership with Scottish local authorities and takes place under the local operating guidelines. Within South Lanarkshire, Bikeability Scotland delivery is coordinated by Traffic and Transport. Within North Lanarkshire, Bikeability Scotland delivery is coordinated by Active North Lanarkshire.
In addition to grant funding, Cycling Scotland supplies training resources for all instructors, pupils and parents, and delivers fully-funded training for all staff and volunteers to become instructors.
Learn-to-ride
To support more children to develop the skills necessary to participate in Bikeability Scotland on-road cycle training, Cycling Scotland has partnered with local early years teams to introduce learn-to-ride activities in the nursery setting.
North Lanarkshire staff helped co-design the original Play on Pedals training resources in 2014. Since 2015, Cycling Scotland has provided funding totally £50,661 to contribute to the Early Years team’s success in providing Play on Pedals in every North Lanarkshire Council run nursery.
Strategy
Cycling Scotland has published the Bikeability Strategy Doc 2025 to 2028. This was agreed by the Bikeability Scotland Delivery Group, following consultation with all local authority coordinators, and sets out the strategic direction that every child should have access to Bikeability, delivered to a high quality and coordinated to meet local requirements.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 December 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Ivan McKee on 8 January 2026
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 Statement by the UK Government.
Answer
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 award winning Future Planners Programme and an additional 30 students are being supported by our bursary scheme as they undertake professionally accredited planning degrees.
In addition, the National Planning Hub is directly supporting planning authorities in the short term to increase capacity. It is providing surge support, expert brokerage and sharing learning and knowledge to bridge any skills gaps. The approach is agile, and designed to be responsive to issues identified by authorities. The National Planning Improvement Champion is also supporting authorities on planning performance.
We will continue to work in partnership with planning authorities and other stakeholders to deliver innovative solutions to increase the capacity and resilience of the Scottish planning service.
