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-42856

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 21 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) in relation to (a) health and safety concerns and (b) reportable accidents in the Scottish salmon industry.

The Scottish Government has not had any discussions with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) in relation to the Scottish salmon industry. Health and Safety legislation is a matter reserved to the UK Government and HSE is the relevant regulator for workplace health and safety across Great Britain.

While the Scottish Government fully expects employers to maintain workplaces that are safe for workers in line with health and safety legislation, it cannot direct any organisation regarding these reserved matters. The Scottish Government promotes strong, constructive relationships between employers and trade unions, particularly where they are recognised, or where it is clear workers are seeking this collective representation.

Question reference: S6W-42860

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 21 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reports of the scale of health and safety accidents in the salmon industry, what plans it has to urgently raise this issue with the (a) salmon industry and (b) Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

The Scottish Government fully expects employers to maintain workplaces that are safe for workers in line with health and safety legislation, but cannot direct them in respect of these reserved matters. The Scottish Government promotes strong, constructive relationships between employers and trade unions, particularly where they are recognised, or where it is clear workers are seeking this collective representation.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-42856 on 21 January 2026. 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-42826

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 21 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to increase the number of EV charging points and associated parking spaces that are suitable for heavy goods vehicles.

Transitioning to zero emission HGVs plays an important role within the draft Climate Change Plan currently under consultation. The Scottish Government worked with the haulage, finance, energy, union and manufacturing sectors to co-design the HGV Decarbonisation - Pathway for Scotland, published in 2024. The Pathway emphasizes the importance of HGV charging being in place to support the efficient and effective movement of goods.

The Scottish Government has invested £284,000 in research with fleets and academics to identify where in Scotland en route energy infrastructure for HGVs will be required, in addition to depot energy. The first iteration looked at both charging and hydrogen fuelling. The second iteration of this research focused solely on charging and can be found at Towards Zero Emission HGV Infrastructure in Scotland: Phase 2 Report. The next iteration, also focused solely on charging, will be published in the summer and will cover around 10% of all Scottish truck miles.

This research has been shared with the electricity networks and the National Energy System Operator to support future electricity network investment planning. It has been warmly welcomed by haulage fleets, trade bodies, chargepoint operators and commercial investors. It has also been of interest to international partners learning from best practice.

Building on this evidence, the Scottish Government has made £2 million available in 2025-26 for consortia and SMEs to develop business cases for potential future investment into HGV decarbonisation covering both vehicles and charging infrastructure. Early indications are that fleets and financiers are engaging well in developing projects for potential delivery from late 2026. Further information can be found at Heavy Goods Vehicle Market Readiness Fund.

Any Scottish Government investment into heavy vehicle charging infrastructure will encourage the shared use of infrastructure across operators and sectors where possible, as was the case with the recent investment of £41.7m into zero emission bus fleets. In addition to the 252 zero emission buses and associated charging funded, around 17 bus depots will be open to HGVs wishing to charge from the end of 2026 under the Scottish Zero Emission Bus Challenge Fund’s second round of funding (ScotZEB2).

Since 2014 the Scottish Government has invested over £80m into public sector bodies to decarbonise their vehicle fleets. This has included funding the trialling and introduction of electric refuse collection vehicles and HGVs, including provision of charging facilities. We are now working with the public sector to develop a Public Sector Fleet Decarbonisation Action Plan.

Transport Scotland will soon be publishing a Net Zero Route Map which will include the decarbonisation targets for HGV fleets carrying out contracted work for Transport Scotland, including work to install charging points at depots

Question reference: S6W-42827

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 20 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how many EV charging spaces that are suitable for heavy goods vehicles are available in each local authority area.

The Scottish Government does not collect this data. En route HGV charging facilities and most depot charging for HGVs are privately owned and operated.

In September 2024 the Scottish Government published research on the locations required for charging or hydrogen fuelling HGVs on long journeys, based on real world telematics data, to inform investment decisions by the electricity networks, chargepoint operators and others.

A second report refining the detail for charging and covering 2% of Scottish HGVs was published in July 2025. It found that the charging infrastructure needed for all HGVs in Scotland will comprise at least 63 en-route charger locations, of which 26 are already built or under development – meaning approximately 37 additional sites are required.

The next iteration, to be published in summer 2026, will use data from around 10% of Scottish truck miles.

Question reference: S6W-42989

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 20 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government when the new "ask and act" obligations included in the Housing (Scotland) Act 2025 will be fully implemented, to ensure that people are not being discharged from hospital into street homelessness.

The Scottish Government is committed to full and successful implementation of the new homelessness prevention duties.

The Housing (Scotland) Act 2025 includes a provision that Part 5 (homelessness prevention, including ask and act) should be commenced no later than three years from Royal Assent (given November 2025). However, we are clear that relevant bodies do not have to wait for the duties to come into force to adopt the ask and act approach, based on shared responsibility and earlier intervention to prevent homelessness.

We are funding and currently commissioning learning from prevention pilots and independent research to assess the impact of the duties on the relevant bodies named in the Housing (Scotland) Act 2025, including health bodies.

This will help inform the development of guidance and secondary legislation in the coming period and support a smooth and effective rollout, ensuring that individuals are not discharged from hospital or other institutions into homelessness.

Question reference: S6W-42829

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 20 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it is making to support the switch of freight transport from road to (a) rail and (b) water.

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of modal shift to help achieve transport emission reduction targets and to assist companies to move goods by rail or water instead of by road. We have shown leadership in setting out positive policies that work for the rail freight industry through our rail freight strategy, our regulatory growth targets for rail freight and our mode shift grants.

Since 1997, mode shifts grants have funded over 50 projects with a total spend of over £74 million which has resulted in the removal of over 50 million lorry miles from the road.

Question reference: S6W-43156

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 16 January 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 30 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what specific key performance indicators or service level agreements are in place for NHS contractors regarding delivery response times for terminally ill patients requiring continence products, and how it monitors NHS boards' compliance with these standards to prevent geographic disparities in care.

Question reference: S6W-43164

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 16 January 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 30 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how many delayed discharge bed days in the last 12 months were attributed specifically to delays in the availability of home care equipment or domestic adaptations.

Question reference: S6W-43158

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 16 January 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 30 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what the average time was in 2024-25 for cancer patients to be discharged from hospital once home adaptations were identified as a requirement, set out as the (a) mean, (b) median and (c) mode figure, and what measures are in place to introduce a fast-track adaptation scheme specifically for palliative patients.

Question reference: S6W-43162

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 16 January 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 30 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how the actions outlined in the Palliative Care Matters for All Strategy 2025–2030 will specifically address reports of a so-called postcode lottery of equipment provision for terminally ill patients living at home.