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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

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Question reference: S6W-43674

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 February 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 26 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to provide a package of targeted social security increases for families with a baby under the age of one, with the aim of reducing poverty for these families by at least six percentage points.

Question reference: S6W-43673

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 February 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 26 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will allocate any of the £50 million committed to whole family support in its draft Budget 2026-27 to organisations that provide expert, joined-up support to families from pregnancy through to age two.

Question reference: S6W-43388

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 10 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what dedicated services and resources are in place for the (a) diagnosis, (b) treatment and (c) ongoing management of postural tachycardia syndrome (PoTS) in NHS (i) Lanarkshire, (ii) Greater Glasgow and Clyde and (iii) Forth Valley.

Question reference: S6W-43385

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 10 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what work has been done to reduce waiting lists for the treatment of postural tachycardia syndrome (PoTS) in NHS Lanarkshire.

The Scottish Government remains focused on reducing waiting times across Scotland. This year, we have allocated more than £137 million to Health Boards to help tackle the longest waits for appointments and procedures.

Funding has been directed to specialties where it can have the greatest impact against the longest waits, including over £500,000 for Cardiology and £500,000 for Neurology – the specialities most likely to support people with PoTS.

Question reference: S6W-43386

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 10 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what clinical pathway is currently in place for patients with suspected or confirmed postural tachycardia syndrome (PoTS) in NHS (a) Lanarkshire, (b) Greater Glasgow and Clyde and (c) Forth Valley.

Question reference: S6W-43387

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 10 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure consistent, NHS board-wide referral pathways for postural tachycardia syndrome (PoTS) patients, in light of reports that some services are declining referrals.

Question reference: S6W-43312

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 26 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don-Innes on 10 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of any potential impact of HMRC changes to the Wear and Tear allowance for childminders on (a) the number of registered childminders in Scotland and (b) the affordability of childcare provision for families, and what discussions it has had with HMRC or the UK Government regarding the changes.

Self-assessment for income tax is reserved to the UK Government, however given the devolved nature of childminding legislation and regulation, it is disappointing childminders in Scotland were not consulted regarding changes to the administration of the wear and tear tax relief allowance.

Scottish Ministers are considering the concerns raised by childminders and in correspondence from the Scottish Childminding Association and will make representations to the UK Government on behalf of Scottish childminders, recognising the reserved nature of self-assessment for income tax.

Our support for the childminding sector in 2025-26 included a further £1.6m funding for the Scottish Childminding Association to continue delivering a national programme of childminder recruitment and retention.

Question reference: S6W-43313

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 26 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don-Innes on 10 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how any concerns raised by childminders are incorporated into wider workforce strategy planning.

Childminders are a vital part of our childcare sector providing nurturing, flexible, high-quality care which is why we continued our support in 2025-26 with a further £1.6m funding for the Scottish Childminding Association to continue delivering a national programme of recruitment and retention.

The Scottish Government works closely with the Scottish Childminding Association and other partners across the childcare sector to understand concerns from childminders and other childcare providers so that these issues can be factored into ongoing policy development.

Question reference: S6W-43304

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 23 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 5 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reports that two local authorities' planning services in England have been subject to cyber-attacks, whether it plans to take advice on how to prevent similar attacks occurring in Scotland.

The Scottish Government continually monitors the cyber threat landscape and works closely with public sector bodies to help prevent and mitigate cyber-attacks that may affect digital public services in Scotland.

The public sector delivers a wide range of digital services, and it is essential that these are secure and resilient. The Scottish Government works collaboratively with the UK Government and public bodies, including The Digital Office for Scottish Local Government, Police Scotland and the National Cyber Security Centre to share advice, guidance, threat intelligence and good practice to strengthen cyber resilience across the public sector.

To support this, the Scottish Government set out a revised Strategic Framework for a Cyber Resilient Scotland, providing guidance on how the public sector should:

Assess their cyber resilience maturity,
Align with minimum security standards,
Benchmark performance, and
Prioritise investment based on risk.

The Scottish Government has in place the Notifiable Scottish Public Sector Cyber Incidents Procedure. This is a voluntary process which encourages all public sector bodies to report cyber incidents to the Scottish Cyber Coordination Centre (the SC3). The process also encourages reporting of cyber incidents to the Scottish Government, National Cyber Security Centre and Police Scotland, where appropriate, to ensure quick response and recovery.

Question reference: S6W-43297

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 23 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 3 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government by what date it will update cervical screening information to raise awareness that cervical screening cannot detect other cancers, such as ovarian cancer.

The NHS inform webpage for cervical screening has been updated to highlight that cervical cancer screening cannot detect other cancers of the reproductive system, such as ovarian cancer. In addition, NHS Scotland’s Get Checked Early cervical screening webpage also advises cervical screening cannot detect other cancers.

Public Health Scotland have also confirmed that cervical screening public information resources, such as the information leaflets provided to women invited for cervical cancer screening, will be updated to make it clear cervical screening cannot detect other cancers. These resources are due to be published and distributed later this year.