Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government is developing a Strategic Framework for Scotland’s Early Learning and School Age Childcare Profession which will set out the priorities for the sector and actions we will take to ensure a sustainable, thriving childcare workforce. We will consider the payment of SSSC fees as we develop the Framework.

In an update published to their website on 2 February 2023, Ofcom’s latest figures show that full fibre coverage in Scotland has been extended to around 1.1 million properties – 41% of all properties, which is the same percentage coverage as England (source: https://www.ofcom.org.uk/research-and-data/multi-sector-research/infrastructure-research/connected-nations-2022 ).

This is, in large part, a direct result of the policies we have put in place to enhance Scotland’s digital infrastructure and improve digital connectivity. This includes our R100 programme, where the vast majority of connections delivered through the R100 contracts are full-fibre and gigabit-capable, delivering speeds up to 30 times faster than our original superfast commitment.

We expect all eligible premises within R100 contract build plans to have been connected by the time of the programme’s completion. As the R100 Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme is demand-led, it is not possible to know with certainty the percentage of properties that will secure a connection via the Scheme upon completion.

Marine Scotland has not received any information or indication of an increase in sea bass landed in Cumbria by fishers from England with permits to fish on the Solway Firth.

The current commercial level of European sea bass which may be caught within British fishery limits is subject to the provisions contained within The Sea Fisheries (Amendment) Regulations 2023, which came into force on 1 April 2023.

Scottish fisheries does not have a historic record of targeted commercial sea bass catches in the Solway Firth. Accordingly Marine Scotland does not conduct assessments or provide advice on sea bass stocks in the Solway Firth.

There is no sea bass catch entitlement specific to the Solway Firth. The commercial level of European sea bass which may be caught within British fishery limits is subject to the provisions contained within The Sea Fisheries (Amendment) Regulations 2023, which revised article 10 of Council Regulation (EU) 2020/123.

Marine Scotland has issued five commercial sea bass licences in total during the past 5 years (one each year to the same vessel (2019-2023)). The vessel is registered with our Fishery Office in Ayr.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-15796 on 22 March 2023. 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 .

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-15795 on 22 March 2023. 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

NHS patients are eligible to have a free dental check-up every six months if required. The time between check-ups can vary from 3 months to 2 years, depending on the oral health of the patient.

As part of the recovery of NHS dental services, on 1 February 2022 we introduced an enhanced examination fee for all patients, which included for the first time a fee for a child examination. The latest statistics from Public Health Scotland show that over 1.6 million NHS examination appointments were completed between April and October with an average of more than 300,000 courses of treatment per month, meaning we are on course for over 3.5 million contacts in the 2022-23 financial year.