Seòmar agus comataidhean

Thank you very much, minister, for that opening statement. Committee members have some questions, and we will start with Elena Whitham.

Can I clarify that, Dr Gulhane? Are you talking about GPs or about dentists?

I thank the minister and her officials for attending. We look forward to seeing you back again next week in relation to a legislative consent memorandum for the Tobacco and Vapes Bill.

The next item on our agenda is consideration of two negative instruments. The first is the Burial (Applications and Register) (Scotland) Regulations 2024. The purpose of the regulations is to make provision for standardised burial application forms and information to be included in burial registers, and to set out record retention requirements.

The Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee considered the regulations at its meeting on 3 December 2024 and agreed to bring them to the Parliament’s attention on the general reporting ground in respect of the wording of regulation 3(2)(a)(v). In its report, that committee welcomed that the Scottish Government has undertaken to amend the regulations to improve the drafting of that provision at the next available opportunity. No motion to annul the regulations has been lodged.

As members have no comments on the regulations, I propose that the committee makes no recommendation in relation to them.

Members indicated agreement.

We already have free dental care and treatment for 18 to 25-year-olds, as one of your officials referred to today. How much has the Scottish Government invested in that? What has it cost the NHS? I do not mean that the cost is detrimental, but I want to know how much has been invested in dentistry.

Thank you. We will move straight to questions.

The fifth item on our agenda is an evidence session on NHS dental services. I welcome Jenni Minto, the Minister for Public Health and Women’s Health; Tom Ferris, the chief dental officer for Scotland; and Tim McDonnell, the director of primary care for the Scottish Government. I invite the minister to make a brief opening statement.

Next week, the committee will also take evidence from the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care on the 2025-26 budget.

That concludes the public part of our meeting.

The second instrument is the Sports Grounds and Sporting Events (Designation) (Scotland) Amendment Order 2024. The purpose of the amendment order is to amend the list of designated sports grounds in schedule 1 to the Sports Grounds and Sporting Events (Designation) (Scotland) Order 2014, which is SSI 2014/5, to reflect a promotion to and a relegation from the relevant levels of the Scottish football pyramid for the purpose of ensuring consistency of approach to the application of the alcohol and other controls and frameworks that are set out in the Criminal Law Consolidation (Scotland) Act 1995.

The Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee considered the amendment order at its meeting on 3 December 2024 and made no recommendation on it. No motion to annul the instrument has been lodged.

As members have no comments, I propose that the committee makes no recommendation on the amendment order.

Members indicated agreement.

Minister, the Scottish Government made a commitment to provide NHS dental care and treatment that would be free at the point of need for everyone in Scotland. Please give us an update on where the Scottish Government has got with that.