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This information is not held centrally. Since 2024, the statistics for registration and participation are released by Public Health Scotland (PHS) on a quarterly basis. Reports can be accessed at NHS dental data monitoring report - Quarter Ending March 2024 - NHS dental data monitoring report - Publications - Public Health Scotland .

Prior to this, NHS dental registration and participation data was published by PHS annually and can be accessed at Show all releases - Publications - Public Health Scotland.

Scottish Government recognises that the registration rate for NHS dentistry amongst children fell between 2019 and 2020, and this can be attributed to the impact of the pandemic which significantly curtailed dental activity, including registration of new patients.

While we recognise that child registrations have not yet recovered to pre pandemic levels overall, official statistics published by Public Health Scotland in May - and showing registration by age cohort – show continued good levels of registration in older children aged six and over.

For younger age groups, where registration continues to be below national average, it should be noted that these cohorts received additional contacts through our flagship Childsmile programme. Childsmile offers every child attending nursery in Scotland free daily supervised tooth brushing, and fluoride varnish application to those in our most deprived communities.

Following recommendation from the Deans of the Scottish Dental Schools, with respect to competence and confidence of pandemic-affected students, undergraduates and vocational trainees in the system during the pandemic were required to repeat the 2020-21 academic year. The Scottish Government has been clear that it could take up to five years for repercussions to fully resolve, however vocational training has now resumed in full and dental school outputs are back to pre-pandemic levels.

Despite this interruption, the Scottish Government has maintained a strong track record in growing the NHS dental workforce in Scotland, with 57 dentists per 100,000 of the population, compared to 42 in England and 46 in Wales.

NHS Education for Scotland statistics published on 4 June 2024 also show an improving picture in workforce numbers, with the number of ‘high street’ NHS dentists from the period March 2023 to March 2024 increasing by almost 5%.

The longer term trend is also positive - these figures show the number of ‘high street’ NHS dentists has increased by 28% from the period March 2007 to March 2024.

The Scottish Government is continuing to work on a range of initiatives to bolster the NHS dental workforce through consideration of both domestic and international pipelines, as well as of the shape and structure of the workforce required into the future. This work includes collaboration with its counterparts across the UK and devolved governments to improve workforce pathways for international dentists, in addition to harnessing skill mix to improve capacity within dental teams.

The current capital balance owed to Scottish Enterprise remains at £7 million and Scottish Enterprise remains in negotiation with the company over repayment. In the interim, the company is meeting the current interest repayments due on the loan.

The Scottish Government has not carried out an overarching assessment of the typical environmental remediation costs for sites of former steelworks in Scotland.

The Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero and Just Transition met Sanjeev Gupta on 27 March 2024. Minutes of ministerial meetings are not routinely published.

The Scottish Government owning the Steelworks for a short period of time enabled all parties to achieve what they required from the sale and purchase of the business. The Scottish Government in doing so, supported the recommencement of steel production in Scotland and protected the livelihood of families across the Lanarkshire steel communities.

The Scottish Government has no record of receiving representations from IndustriALL Global Union or IndustriALL Europe Union regarding Liberty Steel’s operations.

Tata Steel, Liberty House and the Scottish Government were all aligned in agreeing a transaction that secured the earliest realisation of the commercial and wider economic benefits of the deal, and the selected structure was the best available means to deliver this.

Since June 2022, Scottish Government officials have met with Tata Steel UK on 23 June 2022 and 5 December 2022 regarding the sale of the Dalzell steelworks in 2016. No meetings have been held with Liberty Steel on this topic during the last two years.