Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government works closely with the UK Government’s National Shipbuilding Office to ensure that the Scottish Shipbuilding industry benefits from the national and international opportunities of its Shipbuilding Strategy. There are no current plans to develop a Scottish shipbuilding strategy.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-40705 on 3 October 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.

Community benefits and social value are part of the ground-breaking Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 which the Scottish Parliament passed over a decade ago. That Act requires public bodies to consider how procurement exercises can improve the economic, social and environmental wellbeing of their areas, facilitate the involvement of SMEs, the third sector and supported businesses, and promote innovation. It also required them to specifically consider whether to include community benefits in contracts worth £4 million or more.

The £16.6 billion of Scottish public procurement spend in 22-23 is estimated to have generated around £13.7 billion of economic activity for Scotland, contributing £7.5 billion to Scottish GDP, and supporting around 120,000 full time equivalent jobs. £3.3 billion of public sector procurement spend was with suppliers based within the local authority area of the purchasing body. During 23-24 alone, Transport Scotland contracts achieved 613 new entrant positions, 72 graduate positions and 36 apprenticeships.

CMAL as procuring authority look to secure benefits for local communities including local training and employment opportunities.

Ferries, although vital to the islands communities and businesses, do not meet the definitions required to apply Section 45 of the Subsidy Control Act. I would also refer the member to the answer to S6W-40705 on 3 October 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.

CMAL, as procuring authority, received no submissions from UK based shipyards in response to the Single Procurement Document stage for the two new NIFS freight flex vessels.

CMAL, as the contracting authority, will consider bids appropriately in accordance with the requirements of the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015.

The Scottish Government has held no talks with the General Dental Council (GDC) regarding the provision and publication of statistics relating to private dental clinics. Regulation of dentists is reserved to the UK parliament and the GDC is the independent statutory regulator for the dental team. It does not however regulate dental premises, with Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) being the regulator of independent clinics in Scotland. Where available, HIS publishes inspection reports for independent clinics on its register.

Private non-NHS practices are registered and regulated by Regulation of independent healthcare – Healthcare Improvement Scotland, which is part of NHS Scotland and is responsible for service provision and quality improvement.

Through implementation of the Supporting documents - Child And Adolescent Mental Health Services: national service specification - gov.scot. Health Boards are required to fully engage with children, young people and families, and to gather outcomes data against these standards including on the experiences of young people accessing support through CAMHS. Health Boards are also required to report on performance and governance as part of their responsibilities under the Specification.

The Scottish Government continues to work closely with all Health Boards to support implementation of the CAMHS specification and to improve the service provided to children, young people and families, as well as improve performance across CAMHS. We remain committed to supporting all Boards to meet the standard that 90% of patients start treatment within 18 weeks of referral. We continue to provide enhanced support to those Boards not on track to meet the standard, providing access to professional advice, ensuring they have robust improvement plans in place and monitoring their implementation.

The Scottish Government delivers NHS dental care through the NHS Board system via independent contractors. Wholly private practices are regulated by Health Care Improvement Scotland (HIS) and the General Dental Council (GDC). HIS is part of NHS Scotland and is responsible for service provision, quality improvement and investigate complaints prior to escalation to the GDC. The GDC is the UK-wide regulator for dentists, promoting best practice. The Professional Standards Authority (PSA) oversees the GDC. The Care Inspectorate has a role in Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) in some dental spaces and provides guidance on preventive practice for all oral health improvement programmes e.g. Childsmile.