Seòmar agus comataidhean

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

Criathragan Hide all filters

Displaying 48968 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S6W-42614

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 15 December 2025
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.

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.

Question reference: S6W-42611

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 15 December 2025
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.

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.

Question reference: S6W-42613

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 15 December 2025
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.

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.

Question reference: S6W-42612

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 15 December 2025
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.

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.

Question reference: S6W-42610

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 15 December 2025
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.

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.

Question reference: S6O-05377

Asked by: Bill Kidd, MSP for Glasgow Anniesland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 January 2026
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 15 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how the measures announced in its draft Budget for 2026-27 will further its aims of tackling child poverty.

Question reference: S6O-05374

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 January 2026
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 15 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the importance of the supply chain to the Scotch whisky industry.

Question reference: S6O-05371

Asked by: Michelle Thomson, MSP for Falkirk East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 January 2026
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 15 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what the current status is of its plans to add sex to the characteristics covered by the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021.

Question reference: S6O-05376

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 January 2026
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 15 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the open letter from Scotland’s elite swimming athletes sent to the First Minister on 6 November 2025.

Question reference: S6O-05375

Asked by: Sue Webber, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 January 2026
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 15 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether reliance on local enforcement to tackle antisocial and dangerous e-scooter use is creating a postcode lottery in public safety, with some communities protected and others left exposed.