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Agenda item 3 is an evidence session with the Minister for Public Health and Women’s Health and her supporting officials on the Tobacco and Vapes Bill legislative consent memorandum, LCM-S6-51, which was lodged in the Scottish Parliament by the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care on 21 November.

The legislative consent process set out in chapter 9B of the standing orders requires the Scottish Government to notify the Parliament, by means of a legislative consent memorandum, whenever a UK Parliament bill includes provision on devolved matters. Each LCM is referred to a lead committee to scrutinise and report on, before the Parliament decides whether to give its consent to the UK Parliament legislating in the manner proposed.

The Tobacco and Vapes Bill was introduced in the House of Commons on 5 November 2024. The purpose of the bill is

“to make provision about the supply of tobacco, vapes and other products, including provision prohibiting the sale of tobacco to people born on or after 1 January 2009”

and to make provision

“about the licensing of retail sales and the registration of retailers; to enable product and information requirements to be imposed in connection with tobacco, vapes and other products; to control the advertising and promotion of tobacco, vapes and other products; and to make provision about smoke-free places, vape-free places and heated tobacco-free places.”

I welcome to the committee Jenni Minto MSP, Minister for Public Health and Women’s Health; Professor Linda Bauld OBE, chief social policy adviser; Fiona Dill, teams leader for the tobacco, gambling, diet and healthy weight directorate; and Ruth Foulis, lawyer with the legal services directorate.

I invite the minister to make a brief opening statement.

Thank you very much, minister. The committee has a number of questions about the LCM. On a point of clarification, you referred in your statement to nicotine products. Can I check that the bill would not cover smoking cessation products such as lozenges, chewing gum and patches?

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.

I have a brief question, which you might not be able to answer now, about an issue that has been raised with me. Traditionally, there have been one or two-person dental practices on our high streets, but there now seems to be an expansion of corporate dental businesses across the country. Do you see that as being advantageous to Scotland, or are you concerned about the ability to provide traditional NHS dentistry for the population?

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.

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.

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.

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.

Good morning, and welcome to the 35th meeting in 2024 of the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee. I have received apologies from Gillian Mackay, and we are joined remotely by Sandesh Gulhane and Carol Mochan.

The first item on our agenda is a decision on taking business in private. Do members agree to take agenda items 6, 7 and 8 in private?

Members indicated agreement.